Part 1: Removing the stock clutch
Starting out…
Get the brake lever out of the way.
Make sure to put a basin under the clutch to catch the gear oil.
Working in a star pattern, remove the five 8mm bolts securing the clutch cover.
Take off the clutch cover. Aren't you glad you put a container under there?
Working in a star pattern, loosen the six 8mm bolts fastening the pressure plate to the hub.
Remove the bolts and springs.
Remove the pressure plate. BTW, I messed up the picture here— all of the friction plates line up. The outermost friction plate should actually be rotated one notch as in the previous picture.
Remove the pushrod along with the needle bearings. Notice the lack of a race (washer) covering the needle bearings in this picture? That's because it's stuck to the inside of the pressure plate. If it also did so on yours, be sure to grab it and put it back on the needle bearings. That'll help the needle bearings stay clean while you're doing the install, and you won't accidentally forget to reinstall it (yikes!). Again, the outermost friction plate in this picture should actually be rotated one notch (not that it matters since you'll be removing the pack in a moment).
Remove the clutch plates. If you can't scoop them all out, don't fret. You can get the rest after you remove the clutch hub nut and pull the hub out.
Bend the tab on the lockwasher until it's flat.
Remove the 27mm clutch hub nut. This is no easy task if you don't have a clutch holding tool. I made one such later out of c-clamp type vise-grips, which I modified by grinding the clamping surfaces down to fit in the hub splines. At this point, however, I just put the bike in 4th gear and jammed a rock between the rear tire and swing arm. Brutal, I know…
Remove the lockwasher.
Remove that old stock hub! You'll probably want to hold the clutch housing (the outer rotating bit) in place while pulling the hub. If you pull the housing out, you may have to move the smaller of the two gears behind it around to get it to go all the way back in. I spent like half an hour fiddling with that damn gear… You'll know if it's not all the way in if by the end of the install you don't have enough thread to put the clutch hub nut completely on. This is a complete pain in the ass, so avoid it if you can. Oh yeah, and be sure to collect the thrust bearing (washer) which may be stuck to the back of the hub!
Part 2: Installing the slipper clutch
Prepare the slipper clutch by removing the six 4mm allen bolts on the pressure plate.
Now we have the slipper hub, the snazzy red pressure plate, and a small pile of six allen bolts.
Remember that thrust bearing (washer) I told you to grab off the backside of the stock hub, 'cause it probably stuck there? Well, put it back on the shaft already!
Stick that fancy new slipper hub on.
Since you're going to loctite the clutch hub nut on, you'll want to clean the threads on both the shaft and the nut (although the slipper clutch should have come with a new nut). Be careful to not get alcohol all over the inside of the gearbox— you don't want to have to flush the contaminated oil out.
Install the hub washer that came with your slipper clutch.
Put a dab of red loctite on the threads of the new clutch hub nut, wiping off the excess if necessary. The Suter install manual recommends loctite 262, however I used loctite 271 because it was at hand.
Thread the clutch hub nut on and again wipe off any excess loctite if necessary. Remember, if the nut doesn't go on all the way, the housing isn't properly seated against the gears behind it.
This is my custom clutch holder tool. It started out a c-type vise-grip, and after cutting off the clamping surfaces and grinding them to fit in the clutch hub splines, it became a clutch holder tool of awesomeness.
Now is the somewhat tricky part. Stick a short 27mm socket on your favorite torque wrench, and set the wrench to 75Nm. Wrap the clutch holder clamp area with a rag so it doesn't mar those nice splines on the hub. Now, stick the socket on the clutch hub nut, and clamp the clutch holder on the hub as pictured. Finally, you may tighten the hub nut down (you may have to hold the clutch holder tool in place by hand or some other means).
Take a moment to appreciate your hard work. You're almost done!
Measure the clutch pack with better calipers than mine. Yours should read 34.7mm. If it doesn't, you may have to replace your clutch pack, or calipers, or both if you're unlucky.
Insert the clutch pack. Remember way back when I accidentally lined up all the friction plates, instead of rotating the outermost one by one notch? Yeah, I did here, too. Don't make the same mistake.
Stick the pushrod and thrust bearing pack inside the clutch shaft. Notice the race (washer) that wasn't there in part 1? Remember, I found it on the backside of the stock pressure plate. If you're missing yours, it's probably there. Don't leave it out! Oh yeah, and the friction plates are still incorrectly aligned in this picture…
Place that sexy pressure plate on the clutch assembly. You may have to align the large slits on the spring washer on the hub to the holes behind it. Uh oh, the friction plates are still incorrectly aligned!
Insert the six 4mm allen bolts and finger tighten them. Then, working in a star pattern, torque each one of them to 8Nm. Yep, I'm attaching the pressure plate with the friction plate misaligned.
Bye, bye, sexy red thing. Note to self: So, I probably should take my clutch back apart and rotate that outer friction plate one notch like I've been preaching.
Insert the five 8mm bolts. The top two are the long ones.
Tighten them in a star pattern to 9.8Nm.
Reattach your brake lever with loctite 243 and 25Nm of torque.
Part 3: Important
Oh yeah, I almost forgot… FOR THE LOVE OF GOD AND ALL THAT'S HOLY, put some gear oil in there!
Thanks for visiting! Please feel free to contact me on ApriliaForum, or you may contribute directly by following the instructions on the main page.