Article [11] ST1100 - Clutch springs how-to

El Guero

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I'd posted in some other thread about how I was changing my clutch springs and some folks asked how to do it, so here I am obliging.

This all started with my clutch. It never slips, but after the bike warms up the bike will shudder when you let the clutch out in first gear. It didn't happen when the bike was relatively cool or if you really rode the clutch out. The bike has about 44k on it. I eventually decided it was probably the clutch springs and it has always got on my nerves, so I decided to have a go at it.

Parts you'll need: (I didn't have all of these at first so I'll save you the trouble)

1 gallon of your favorite oil
1 oil filter
1 crush washer, if you like
5 clutch springs (22401-MT3-000)
1 clutch cover gasket (11342-MY3-000)
1 slave cylinder gasket (22862-MW7-650) *this one is a maybe
2 exhaust gasket (18291-MN4-920)
1 muffler gasket (18392-MK4-000)

The service manual does a pretty good job of explaining what to do. Pull the bags, seat, side covers, cowl, right side service cover, right side pocket, lower fairing, and right middle fairing. While you are doing this you are going to want to drain the engine oil out. When I did it, I went ahead and replaced the crush washer and oil filter for good luck.

When you get that far, you start to get to the hard part. Pull the crash bar and the heat shield on the exhaust. You will now need to remove the right side header as it occludes the clutch cover. Removing the pipes from the cylinder head is simple enough. The hard part is removing it from the collector. At first I thought it was rusted on there but good - I spent 2 days PB-Blasting it and then heating it with a blowtorch. What finally got it off was a lot of twisting. All of the heat and lube may have helped, but basically I had to just twist it a lot harder than I was comfortable with until it finally came off. Trying to lever it forward didn't do anything... Twist the top ends of the pipe until they clear the PAIR tubes, and then just keep going at it until it comes off. What happens is that the muffler gasket more or less melts into place.

If you get this far this is what you'll see:


Next you need to remove the clutch cover. There is a catch to this - I ordered a replacement for my clutch cover gasket since it is 16 years old. When I pulled the cover, the gasket stayed intact. I was about to reuse it, but after all the bull:pie1::pie1::pie1::pie1: with the exhaust I decided I'd really rather it didn't leak. Problem is, the gasket was still stuck to the cover pretty damn good, and dangling between the engine and the front wheel is not a good place to scrape a gasket. So, I also removed the slave cylinder from the clutch cover. I didn't need to bleed the clutch or anything, but I did have to replace the gasket under the slave cylinder as well. You may be able to get away without doing this but I couldn't.

When you get the clutch cover off, you'll see this:


To change the springs, all you have to do is undo those 5 gold-colored bolts, remove that plate, remove the old springs, replace them with new springs, and then put the whole thing back together. This was the easiest part of the whole job. For you super ST-nerds, I didn't measure my old clutch springs, but they were visibly shorter than the new ones by about 1.5 to 2 mm as far as I reckon.

To finish, just put everything back together, replacing gaskets as you go. This would have been a pretty simple job if I'd had all of the gaskets and the exhaust came off easier. Can't tell if it fixed my shuddering bike yet, but I guess I'll have eliminated one more possible cause if it does :p:
 
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El Guero

El Guero

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Iowa City, IA
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1995 ST1100
Re: Clutch springs how-to

It's a hot day in Iowa and I think it worked - no hard chatters or bucking this morning. Seems to shift better with the clutch now than it used to as well.
 
Joined
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Podunk, AZ. aka Glendale
Re: Clutch springs how-to

Great write up!:bow1: Thanks for posting this information, I feel this same work may be just around the corner for me as well.
 

Mellow

Joe
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This isn't quite the step-by-step we prefer in articles however, great info and I think needs to be highlighted as an article anyway. Thanks!
 
Joined
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004
Wanna add, ya don't need to change the oil to do this job. With the front end jacked up (when I did this job, the whole front was removed from the bike), the oil level is below the front lip of the opening. So, unless ya need an oil change, no need to drain it.

Also, maybe I just got lucky on my 150,000 ++ mile STick, but I didn't even change out the seals on the exhaust. All the old ones went back together fine with no leaks. Had all the parts on hand, tho, they're setting in the tub o' STuff. :D

I sat a straight edge across an old and a new spring and the diff in length was very obvious. There's a pic here somewhere...
 

Mark

Gotta make tracks
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May not be much on the 'step by step' but it will ease my mind when I have to do mine... it has needed it for a while now...

THANKS!
 
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El Guero

El Guero

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Iowa City, IA
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Sorry it wasn't step-by-step but by the time I knew anybody wanted pics, I was more or less done... It's a simple job, I mostly just wanted everybody to have the parts list!

BTW, it seems to have mostly fixed my clutch problems. I've been riding 2-up the last day or 2 and despite the extra gas needed to scoot around I haven't got all the chatter from the clutch that I had before. Depending on how I pop the clutch it will still buck a tiny bit but nowhere near as bad as before.
 
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El Guero

El Guero

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Thought I should update this. It didn't fix my problems at all after having done some more riding. Whoops!
 
Joined
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004
Ah, well, time for new plates. At least ya have experience (to a point) on this job. :D

Keep us poSTed.

Should'a mentioned this earlier: changing out the clutch springs did cure the minor slip I was having on STick. She's still doing fine at 198,000 miles on the original clutch with new springs.
 

Mark

Gotta make tracks
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On the bright side you already know what youi need and how to get to all the parts and pieces!

Yeah... I know... not really a 'bright side'...
;)
 
Joined
Apr 10, 2012
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Donegal, Ireland.
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Vstrom 650
My clutch began slipping last week,I suspect the springs may be worn,but I'll try new fluid first and clean the slave cylinder.I see davidsilva do an aftermarket clutch kit for ?75 plus vat,
I wonder has anyone fitted an aftermarket clutch? and how they compare to oem?
 
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