Posts
370
Joined
4/16/2010
Location
AU
I guess I'm interested in feedback from KTM owners as to how well the DDS clutches hold-up?
My last single conical clutch (Belleville) was in a Honda VFR750R (RC30) racebike, I found, even with Barnett Kevlar fiber plates, that after 3 or 4 practise starts, that the fibers' would wear enough so that the clutch would start slipping, so bad that the bike lost ALL forward drive. I think a dirtbike rider would be harder on a clutch than a roadracer, even tho a 750 has a bit more weight to get off the line.
The problem was that a single conical spring only has about 3 or 4mm total travel, so if a clutch pack that has a total of 10 fiber plates, if each plate wears .1 of a millimeter, that is 1.0mm overall. Enough for the single conical spring to lose a lot of preload on the plates.
Multiple coil springs on the other hand have about 10mm of travel and would still have good preload pressure if it lost only 1mm of preload.
My ZXR750 Kawa, that I raced about the same time as the VFR, ran 6 coil springs and the same Barnett fiber plates, the ZXR was raced for 3 seasons without any clutch slip.
Sure the single spring has less spinning mass but unless you are soft on the clutch, or change the fiber plates all the time, I would expect there to be problems?
My last single conical clutch (Belleville) was in a Honda VFR750R (RC30) racebike, I found, even with Barnett Kevlar fiber plates, that after 3 or 4 practise starts, that the fibers' would wear enough so that the clutch would start slipping, so bad that the bike lost ALL forward drive. I think a dirtbike rider would be harder on a clutch than a roadracer, even tho a 750 has a bit more weight to get off the line.
The problem was that a single conical spring only has about 3 or 4mm total travel, so if a clutch pack that has a total of 10 fiber plates, if each plate wears .1 of a millimeter, that is 1.0mm overall. Enough for the single conical spring to lose a lot of preload on the plates.
Multiple coil springs on the other hand have about 10mm of travel and would still have good preload pressure if it lost only 1mm of preload.
My ZXR750 Kawa, that I raced about the same time as the VFR, ran 6 coil springs and the same Barnett fiber plates, the ZXR was raced for 3 seasons without any clutch slip.
Sure the single spring has less spinning mass but unless you are soft on the clutch, or change the fiber plates all the time, I would expect there to be problems?
This is just the engineering side. I only rode a few hours on one with this clutch and don’t know how it holds up
I love the feel and traction. Not sure if it’s the full Hinson set up that is the advantage or the new spring style though.
The Shop
We run the stiffer washer and change the cushions when we swap plates and couldn't be happier. Add the hydraulic actuation and this is the best dirt bike clutch on the market, OEM or otherwise.
KTK/Husky clutches are durable enough that if the Japanese ever went to that setup (belleville washer, stainless baskets) Hinson would be very worried methinks
Post a reply to: Pro's & Con's, clutch springs - Belleville (DDS) verses coil.