Hydro clutch on the ‘87 WR430

[Darrel78]

I used a cheap eBay hydro clutch and adapted it to my bike today. Easy to do. Very smooth and easy.

 

[Darrel78]

Couple more pictures

 

[Kartwheel68]

With the hydraulic system you could shorten the lever at the case and get a shorter pull.

 

[oldbikedude]

Thanks for the pictures. Let us know how it works

 

[FirstEliminator]

Would this same cable set-up fit a 70's engine?

 

[Darrel78]

Would this same cable set-up fit a 70's engine?

I’m afraid that I’m not familiar with the early models but I don’t see why it wouldn’t. I drilled/tapped the end of the slave cylinder 6mmx1 to allow it to “float “ a bit. The price is cheap enough for someone to experiment with.

 

[Darrel78]

With the hydraulic system you could shorten the lever at the case and get a shorter pull.

Isn’t there a short and long version of the arm? And yes, a shorter arm would give additional travel for clutch release.

 

[ajcmbrown]

Darrel, you've just convinced me to shorten the clutch arm, since after riding a friends PE250 with the most hopeless front brake, then converted to hydro, it was much less effort to brake but still limited by the drum, the clutch would benefit enormously by a shorter clutch arm, less effort and more lever travel, win, win in my opinion!

 

[ajcmbrown]

Just as an aside, his clutch almost took two hands to operate too, until converted.
Tony.

 

[grouty]

Did you change the end that fits in the clutch arm ? It looks to be different from the ebay picture.

 

[ajcmbrown]

Yeah, the end needs changing but they are readily available from most bike shops as a "cable repair kit" and come in a small aluminium tin. At least down here in Oz they do.

 

[1982 XC 430]

The bottom Piston design sure looks like a copy of the Magura aftermarket kit. I used it on my Maico 490. I will say that I'm not with all the hype that a Hyd Clutch is going to make the lever effort any less. Actually its impossible to make it less or more unless you change the ratio of the lever on either end. So basically your comparing the friction of a Cable to the friction of Fluid. I have done the same thing in Hot Rod cars, unless Your going to change the leverage ratio at one end or another, you have not changed the effort to move it. I will say that when at an event and catch somebody looking at my bike they are generally pulling the clutch lever and comment on how easy it is. I just don't mention my other Maico is just the same, with a new quality cable.

 

[silverstreakNZ]

You realise the piston diameters at either end do actually change the leverage ratio ?

 

[ajcmbrown]

You realise the piston diameters at either end do actually change the leverage ratio ?

Correct SSNZ, that's exactly what it does. The hopeless front brake on my friends Suzuki also became usable once converted, the drum can only be as good as it is, but the change in operating effort made it acceptable.

 

[Darrel78]

Update! After running this setup for a while I began to notice the clutch dragging slightly after the bike was warm. Not bad but definitely different hot verses cold. I ended up using the short arm from a 250 to solve the problem. Length difference between the long and short arm is roughly 5mm in case someone wants to shorten their long arm. I tested over travel this time also to ensure I wasn’t hitting any limits on the clutch release mechanism. I adjusted my setup to give about 3mm of over travel. Good easy clutch now. Same complete disengagement hot or cold. I still use two fingers to work the clutch. I think this setup is smoother but I didn’t measure against a new clutch cable so we’re dealing with opinion rather than facts.

 

[1982 XC 430]

Yes I do realize that the Piston Diameter and the stroke can be changed that would make it easier. However by doing this You are making the Clutch Arm move slower. This could also be reversed and a quicker Clutch Arm would result, with higher lever effort. One could do the exact thing by making the Clutch Arm longer or shorter ( as a lot of bikes have two options) or making the Lever have a greater or lessor leverage. When I did my Hot Rod car project the Kits generally come with a 3/4" Bore Master Cylinder but other diameters are more easy to come by than what's available for MC's. I experimented with 3-4 different sizes settling with a 5/8" bore. Less peddle effort and slower clutch release than the 3/4" bore.

 

[huskyJames]

Darrel I have the same bike I am setting up and fine tuning right now. After running the shorter arm would you still recommend doing this? saw the last post was a month old so maybe ya have a little more time on it now.

 

[Darrel78]

Darrel I have the same bike I am setting up and fine tuning right now. After running the shorter arm would you still recommend doing this? saw the last post was a month old so maybe ya have a little more time on it now.

huskyJames, I recommend it. Very straightforward and easy mod. The short arm addressed the clutch dragging issue. No issues with mine so far. I’m well satisfied with it.