Clutch rod

[jdosher]

What is the slave cylinder side of the clutch rod supposed to look like? Should it be flat, or does it have a dimple in it? It also looks like it's been heat treated.

The details:
I installed a Revloc DynaRing and I've been working on getting it properly set up. One of the issues I've recently had is that the gap has "magically" decreased over the last couple rides. I couldn't figure it out at first, but after looking at the clutch rod I think I've discovered the problem. I think what's happening is the needle bearing (on the clutch side) was packing up with material and the rod itself was spinning.

Originally I wasn't quite able to create the required minimum 1mm gap using all the shims Revloc provides. Allan has sent me a new part which should take care of that....except now that it appears my clutch rod has effectively "shortened", I again can't create the full gap.

So, assuming the end is supposed to be flat, I'm planning on filling in the dimple with my TIG welder. The new parts from Revloc should allow me to get the full gap, the needle bearing shouldn't pack up with clutch material, and I should be good to go. ...Right?

 

[jhendr3702]

its got a dimple

 

[motogroove]

Do not lose any sleep over the heat treated look. That is normal.

I was horrified the first time I saw mine, and thought I had cooked it myself. But that was many years ago and I've never had a problem with the clutch.

No problem there.

 

[jdosher]

They must heat-treat the end of the clutch rod. Mine actually has a fairly big dimple in it though. It might explain why I'm having trouble getting enough gap for my dynaring, even with all the shims. What I can't explain is how I went from the minimum gap (~1mm) to almost no gap after a few rides. Either the dimple went from almost flat to how it is now, or the clutch had residual pressure in the system when I set up the dynaring. I know that if the clutch master cylinder isn't allowed to fully return to its resting point the piston blocks a return port. I very well may have had the adjuster on the clutch lever in too far. I'm usually good about that kind of stuff, but I won't discount user-error here ;-)

There isn't supposed to be a ball bearing at the clutch end of the rod, is there!? I don't see one in the parts drawing, and I don't really think this answer is right, is it?:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20081112094839AA0ENKj

I'm pretty good about not losing parts when I take things apart, but you never know...

 

[GMP]

In the past, some have attempted to gain clutch travel and reduce drag by shimming the rod with a valve shim of the proper diameter. While this will not work in the normal case, as it just changes the offset position of the slave cylinder, it is a way to adjust rod length for your application if the Dynaring changes overall clutch pack thickness. You could add a shim, or a hardened ball bearing, and grind the rod if needed to fine tune.

 

[jdosher]

Hi Glenn,
Good to know. I was thinking about trying that. I found a 2mm ball bearing in my shop, but it's too large so I'm going to use something else to shim it out. I'm going to ask Alan from Revloc to send me more of the shims used with the dynaring, but I may try a smaller ball bearing or shim just so I can get a ride in this weekend. My clutch rod happens to have a larger divit machined in the end, so I think I'm losing some effective length there.