my LC hybrid update project.. hyd clutch update and more...

[m in sc]

so next year will be 20 years since i first cobbled this (1st iteration) project together and figured it needed some updates. nothing major, but detail stuff. Also some major items but that's in the works in parallel, so to speak.

this will include a lot of little things, but 1st i wanted to update the hydraulic clutch setup. I 1st did it in 07? ish, then landed on a ducati master & slave cyl, but never really liked the cosmetics. also, i wasn't sure what the slave came off of so i bought an aftermarket one for a multistrada and made up a cleaner adapter (this is all bolt on not cover mods). running a rebuilt brembo clutch master.



this is the 2 mount holes, i added 2 more to utilize the 4 M5 bolt holes in the cover.

at work at lunch one day.





test fit. its double drilled so i can rotate the slave 180 if i want to later.



turned some hex stainless, and tapped it to make it adjustable the stuff in it is an old head stud from an rd motor cut, dressed, then hardened at the end. the brass nut is an 11mm hex/8mm thread vw exhaust nut.
the female side it drilled to accept a stock pushrod, even stepped to take the shouldered part. but shallow enough so only the end contacts internally. its drilled about 1.5" in.



the black line is a visual marker for setup i can look thru the old clutch cable boss hole to see the amount of movement.  the hex on the shaft was turned down just a tad so it had rounded edges and slides in the adapter smooth with maybe .010" of clearance.



I have a stock clutch adj cover i nee do mod to fill int he gaps here but you get the point. can also see the other 2 M5 countersunk screws for mounting here.



fully assembled, ive ridden it its really good.





Does it NEED a hydraulic clutch? no. i do like the feel though. this unit is a bit larger diameter than the older one bore wise, so it has more feel to it at the grab point. was cheap too, i paid less than 60 bucks for it. nice thing is it has a c-clip to keep the piston on so it cant fall out. the stock ducati one would just fall out if it was out and somebody hit the lever. Boo.

I have more planned for the lower end of this bike. I also did a new clutch basket.. so it will make the hyd clutch a bit more useful as its getting a nice beefy clutch and a few other.. things to support future improvements.. (which may also include some top end improvements..? ) in the next couple of months.  But as of now, just getting the 'basement' in order.  aside from the hyd clutch, right now all the other work is being done off bike, its still running riding great.




new basket and cush rubbers.















spare cases were dropped off for some cleanup work to be done.


.... 

[The Red Scourge]

Wow!  It looks great so far.  I can't wait to see more of it!

[85RZwade]

Bold and mysterious undertakings; waiting with anticipation 

[Kawtriplefreak]

Very cool.

[SoCal250]

hmmm, more engineering and performance shenanigans going on at the Haase workshop
Looking forward to seeing what is behind door #1!

[m in sc]

Its going to be a new bottom end with all new stuff TBH.

the NEW crank, IS a vitos crank. why? few reasons. 1: if it wasn't trued right, i can fixt that. I checked it on v blocks, theres one spot thats 0.0005", the rest was dead nuts. 2: It comes with Koyo 8-ball ball bearings, so , no reason not to use it. 3: also, they have the 'pork chop' flywheels. some history on that:

the last new crank i built for this bike i went all in , pro x rods, all top notch stuff. flywheels looked great, and did it myself. few yrs later, i thought i had a piston going . nope. took topend off and found this:



that shiny spot is the weight that came loose from the crank and was hitting the rod. it wiggles around pretty good in there too. so, at the time i had a rebuilt crank on hand of unknown origin, and i threw it in.

fast forward to the lightweight and i used a similar vitos style LC crank, and its been top notch. talking to a few people that ACTUALLY know what they are doing, they gave good reviews after seeing them in hard (race) use for a few years. 

The replacment bottom end that been in it for the past..7? years has been good but i dont have a ton of confidence in it, and it was sort of hodge-podged together at the time. Its GOOD, but this bike IMHO should be better than 'ok' for me. Just a want.

The top end stuff is in the works, but may be next year before that might get installed. Just fresh LC top with some new porting by somebody wayyyyy more talented than i am. But for the meantime, its just going to get a fresh bottom end.

[m in sc]

got the cases vapor blasted locally to support my local shop. and, he's good and fast. so fast, i didn't ride the bike w the big rack but told me it was done.. so, i borrowed 2 ratchet straps from a co-worker and.. went and got it. on the way the led headlight bulb died, so also had to change that out with an H4. Unusual, never had anauxito one die before. anyway... very please w results. got home, chased every damn thread, cleaned it all out and brake cleaned it, then put in the new main case studs.

[SoCal250]

ooo, those are purdy!

[Kawtriplefreak]

Very nice.

[IR8D8R]

It looks like if you cut off the clutch slave's third mounting ear and milled a spacer slug that fit into the adjuster cover hole you could almost use the stock mounting bolt holes. Would it be stiff enough with only 2 ears?

IR8D8R

[m in sc]

the bolt circle 1: is slightly larger on the master 2: more importantly, it isn't parallel to cl axis and 3: no, not in my opinion.

I mean, that's an hours work on manual machines to make, wasn't hard at all IMHO. im sure there are other slave cyls out there that you could make work like that, or just make one from scratch, which i did consider, and use the guts from this one.  I looks like its sticking  WAY out there especially sinc eim running a flat timing cover, but TBH, its maybe 3mm longer than the old one. 

[teazer]

Nice looking clutch rebuild.  Had to do that a couple of times on an RD and a couple of TZs which are a little different.

BTW, do not be tempted to clear coat those nice vapor blasted cases. I did that once and they looked like they had been painted and I could have achieved that same look with a 10 buck rattle can. Don't be like me..

[m in sc]

I know better. lol. but good  advice. I considered getting them ceracoated black but prefer the bare aluminum.  I've had lots of carbs vapor blasted,  they all still look new

[m in sc]

few assembly pics. this motor is super low miles, so the transmission had zero, and i mean -zero- signs of wear. there aren't even bright spots on the shift forks.  so, decided to use it.

every piece of hardware is new, all case bolts and nuts are stainless aside from the main ones which are oem yamaha. Oddly, i couldn't find my new neutral switch, so put in a used one for the moment. changed -every- seal and bearing.

there isn't much remarkable about it mod wise, except a few tricks i did.  the top case, where the transfers are, i radiused the sharp edges, and gasket matched the ducts. i chamfered the bearing oiling holes to help the mixture get in there easier, and on the bottom of the top case i also radiused the sharp edges above the crank to help flow a bit. will this matter in the long run? beats me but it sure cant hurt to make it all get into and out of the cases to transfer ports with smoother more laminar (as much as possible) flow.

the crank measured out as i said almost perfect (0.0005" at one spot on one bearing for about 20 degrees), its super smooth. also, i polished surfaces to a mirror finish that contacts a seal, shift shaft, primary drive gear,  & (new) clutch push rod. the shifter detent star wheel was also polished smooth and the Neutral trough was shaped a bit deeper to get a more positive neutral. the shift fork shafts were also polished.  Just a detailed rebuild for the most part.

radiused edges on top case:


















look at that crusty switch! will trim breather tube back a bit later. 

[kpke]

Beautiful work. What is that "extra" big slotted screw thing on the bottom just adjacent to the drain plug?