mperu99

Member
Jun 10, 2007
7
0
Hey all, I have a 1998 rm250 that seems to have a clutch issue.
I have tried adjusting the cable from short to long with no ill effect.
1st symptom is after bike is started, even after warm up.. pull the clutch in, and drop into first gear, the bike wants to lurch forward, at times i have to hold the front break and give it a little gas to keep it from dying, then off i go.. and when you just idle around and pull in the clutch and rev it still seems to want to lurch a bit.
2nd symptom after riding a bit, at a stop fire the bike up.. pull in the clutch and drop it into first gear and start to release the clutch the bike seems to jerk around. and I mean like it jerks, lets go, jerks, lets go and jerks again all while still trying to let the clutch completely out. Now all of this happens in just seconds. I remembered the bike never doing that before.. Is my clutch going? I am using 10-40w and have tried various oils.. nothing is changing the way its peforming.. which is bad i think.

Thanks.. Mike from Kansas
 
Last edited:

76GMC1500

Uhhh...
Oct 19, 2006
2,142
1
Well, pull the clutch cover and take a look at the clutch basket. I'm sure you'll see the problem there. Look closely at the fingers of the basket. They shouldn't be notched.
 

_JOE_

~SPONSOR~
May 10, 2007
4,697
3
sounds like something is warped. and like 76gmc said, zook baskets are crap and notch up easily. You can usually file them smooth once, then replace it with a hinson or something else of high quality. Clutch plates and the pressure plate can warp and cause the jerking, notched baskets usually cuase a drag. Pull it apart and get a peice of plate glass and some feeler guages. Lay the plates on the glass and see how much warpage there is by sliding the guages under them. I'm not 100% sure on how to check the pressure plate though. Good luck.
 

mperu99

Member
Jun 10, 2007
7
0
ALL, thanks for responding,, I will pull the cover off and take a look, Are we allow to post images on here? if so i can take a picture of the clutch assembly and post it that way you all who have better experience can tell me what you are looking at is good or bad.

Thanks.
 

76GMC1500

Uhhh...
Oct 19, 2006
2,142
1
Some can post images. Host them on photobucket or something, 800x600 max size. If you can't post them you can link to them and we'll be able to take a look.

If the jerkyness is as bad as you describe, there is probably some pretty significant notching going on. If you look in through the oil fill cap, you can probably see enough of the clutch basket to determine if it is notched.
 

mperu99

Member
Jun 10, 2007
7
0
76GMC1500 said:
Some can post images. Host them on photobucket or something, 800x600 max size. If you can't post them you can link to them and we'll be able to take a look.

If the jerkyness is as bad as you describe, there is probably some pretty significant notching going on. If you look in through the oil fill cap, you can probably see enough of the clutch basket to determine if it is notched.


Ok when you say notched, what specifically am i looking for? what will it look like? or what indication that shows notching?

thx
 

84cr125

Member
Apr 8, 2007
292
0
Once you take it apart you will notice that where the plates hit the clutch basket that there are either big or small wear mearks. These wear marks or even pits cause the plates to stay in place so when you pull in the clutch, the clutch isnt actually fully disenguaging because the plates are stuck in these grooves.

so basically your looking for grooves that look like this. Although they mightnot be as extreme as this a little groove can go a long way.
grv_bskt.gif
 

76GMC1500

Uhhh...
Oct 19, 2006
2,142
1
This picture was posted a while ago in a post about severe clutch basket notching. If you look at the right side of the fingers on the clutch basket, you can see the notches. The fingers should be smooth on both sides. The clutch is disassembled in this picture. With the clutch assembled, these notches will line up with the tabs on the outside of the friction plates.

CR250ClutchBasket001copy.jpg
 

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