[ridervfr]

Yeh, those rear hubs from those VFRs with the single sided swing arms (SSSA) for short lol; its as bad as the abbreviations for the aviation industry LOL. They are bullet proof, never have fussed with them in 30 years ownership on one bike which is close to 100,000 miles. I did remove one on a bike I picked up second hand that had an ugly rear rotor that I swapped out and had to remove the rear hub set up. The big nut takes like 130 ft pounds or so, its also steaked.

Anyway, I plan on getting the bike on my lift today and do it. Its a nice bike the EX, I really have to question all the electronic stuff that are on the bikes of today and wonder about the longevity of them and ease of keeping one on the road without being married to a dealer or having deep pockets. Peace

 

[fog]

Sorry My Bad, Never took mine apart and was always so tight , thought it didn't have one..
FOG

 

[ducatiman]

I really have to question all the electronic stuff that are on the bikes of today and wonder about the longevity of them and ease of keeping one on the road without being married to a dealer or having deep pockets.

Couldn't agree more.....computerized "ride modes", service "reminders" , etc etc offer the manufacturers glitzy showroom selling points but eventually...WILL FAIL in service. Example....a late Ducati model oil change service reminder can only be reset by the dealer ....with many refusing to reset it unless THEY actually do the oil change!
Built in dealer dependence...many more similar examples exist. I'll take my old, obsolete, air cooled 2V Duc any day over the new breed, just as you'll prefer your EX's.

 

[Apriliarider]

Its a nice bike the EX, I really have to question all the electronic stuff that are on the bikes of today and wonder about the longevity of them and ease of keeping one on the road without being married to a dealer or having deep pockets. Peace

I couldn’t agree more. I mean, I’ve ridden a few of them, like the Diavel, Pani and Aprilia RSV4.

They’re great bikes to ride, the ride mode thing really does work….though I prefer to just leave them in the full power mode.

The traction control works to the point of giving too much confidence. I didn’t even attempt to toggle through the menus to FiND the launch control to try that out.

I walked away impressed with the power and its ease of accessibility. The seamlessness of the rider aids was similarly impressive.

The way it all worked with me as a rider and made for a smooth and pleasurable experience made me a fan. Until I had time to digest those experiences.

That’s when I came to the realization that no back yard, shade tree mechanic was ever going to work on those machines.

I’ll take my old bikes anyday. At least I can work on them and figure stuff out.

 

[SkyShadex]

Replaced the springs. Adjusted the lever. Super easy job aside from cleaning off the gasket lol. I won't get a chance to test it out until tomorrow but it looks like it'll be fun.

Chain and sprocket come in tomorrow so I'll get to do that and experiment with the inner tube in the cush drive. Beats spending 80 bucks on a piece of rubber.

 

[SkyShadex]

Just realized I may have caused my own problem with the clutch. I've been topping off the oil in the bike with the liquidmoly 10-40w I use for my car. Figured if it was good enough for my high strung project car, it'd be more than enough for the EX.

Which would've been the case... if not for friction modifiers lol...

Maybe the new springs will cancel out the oil? either way. an oil change is in my near future...

 

[haybaler]

Here's what the ruined clutch can look like after using incorrect motor oil:
Suggest oil and filter change, and possible flush.

 

[SkyShadex]

Well... that looks familiar
Although none of the tabs look like that, they all look brand newish. But the first plate I pulled off, the pads are black like that.

which after looking at what they are supposed to look like... I think is normal?

 

[bpe]

Special Notes

Note 1:
Installing friction plates the same orientation as in the above picture would be wrong (backwards), and undoubtably lead to clutch failure. Due to not being able to properly lubricate itself.

Note 2:
Contrary to what may have been mentioned earlier in this thread. The EX clutch even when properly set up (correct oil, cable adjusted correctly etc) is notorious for slipping. Notorious for slipping at high rpm's. Hence the reason for the ever popular and proven Barnett spring upgrade.

 

[fog]

that clutch (pictured) is fine, plenty of friction material. just needs new springs and to be burnt clean
FOG

 

[SkyShadex]

that clutch (pictured) is fine, plenty of friction material. just needs new springs and to be burnt clean
FOG

Cool, so I might still be in the clear. Gonna go pick up some conventional 20w50 now and swap it out.

 

[bpe]

that clutch (pictured) is fine, plenty of friction material. just needs new springs and to be burnt clean
FOG

Well, it's fine except for the one friction disk that has little to no friction material.

Cool, so I might still be in the clear. Gonna go pick up some conventional 20w50 now and swap it out.

I believe Fog is referring to the clutch pictured in post #27. Although yours is probably fine also.

 

[SkyShadex]

Gotcha, well the springs are definitely doing their job. No more clutch slippage, even with the wrong oil. If my clutch isn't slipping then we're good. Bike is quickly becoming a tourer.

 

[SkyShadex]

Looks like there's little left in friction material and some blueing on the steels. I've probably put about 1500 miles on the bike since I've had it. Unknown mileage beforehand so who knows. Guess I'll look at replacing those eventually

 

[bpe]

I don't know, those look pretty good to me. As long as the plates are flat. The friction disks are about 3mm thick when new. With a service limit of 2.75mm.

 

[SkyShadex]

I'd say they are closer to 2mm than 2.75mm looking at my tape measure and eyeballing it. Oh well! Clutch doesn't slip now with the springs so that's a problem for future me. On to the chain/sprocket/rubber job!

Thanks everyone for the help

 

[Apriliarider]

Yeah, I don’t see anything wrong with that. If there were next to no oil relief grooves remaining, then I’d say it was smoked. Looks to me like there’s at least another 10K in those plates, maybe 20.

 

[fog]

If you had proper springs and proper adjustment the clutch plates would last forever. K put wimpy springs in there to sell the bike to girls. the springs should be discarded imediatlly

FOG

 

[po18guy]

Much inaccuracy of throttle control while cornering is due to necessary slack in the throttle cable and the loose fit of the throttle tube to the bar. Ride-by-wire solves half of this, but even then there is backlash in the trans - no way around that.

Put the bike on the centerstand and in say 3rd or 4th gear. Rotate the rear wheel back and forth. Has almost the same slop as a cush drive without the cush.

 

[ridervfr]

I shimmed the rear hub a week or so ago and have been commuting on the bike more. I feel a slight difference when I snick the bike into gear and I want to say that its easier to initiate gear changes (ie-quiet) I want to say that is not in my head as I have some decent seat time with this bike. I used a remnant of a crashed Ducati inner rubber thing (think it was around the battery or computer possibly. Cut the pieces up, and inserted them as little U's and then sprayed Honda polish on it and slipped the hub back on. I feel the best stuff I have done with the bike was the clutch springs from Barnett and the Pingel petcock, Works rear shock is nice too, oh-the seat is really nice and kinda makes the looks/comfort of the bike. Peace