20 min clutch loss

[rrbuell]

2005 buell xb12r (firebolt)

so yesterday I was driving home and I got about 6 miles from the house. I stopped at the light and my bike started to inch forward. thinking I had some play in my cable, I turned my thumbwheel out to get a little more clutch. then at the next light it continued to inch forward. at this point I think I am in a losing battle, thank god it was only stop signs after that. but by the time I made it home I had no clutch. and the bike continued to pull forward. shut the bike off and adjusted the clutch cable to no avail. now when I pull the clutch lever in it makes a pop noise from behind the clutch inspection cover. fast forward to an hour ago. I drained the primary removed bolts, clutch cable ramp, and loosened tensioner. removed cover and this is what I see. could this be the culprit or is it a deeper issue
any info would be appreciated. I know I have to get a new cover obviously but what else should I look for.

 

[rrbuell]

I think normal wear over the years has plagued my primary cover and I believe that the clutch ramp just put to much pressure on the primary cover and broke it. what do you think?

 

[rah7777777]

I might be thinking wrong, but I didn't think the case and ramp made any sort of contact?

But I've never gone any deeper in the trans then installing a Free Spirits easy pull clutch devise and changing fluids.

 

[rrbuell]

I might be getting the free spirits easy pull clutch for one while im doing this. I don't know what else would have caused this.

 

[rah7777777]

I'd really just have to see it in person or see a really good diagram of how its suppose to be setup.

Certainly someone else might know.
Give it until Monday when the board activity jumps from all those who are bored at work. Haha

 

[stellio78]

They can be repaired http://www.buellxb.com/Buell-XB-Forum/Buell-Firebolt-XB12-XB9/Service-for-sale-Primary-cover-fix

 

[dflack001]

It is definitely a weakness the primary covers have. I have done the repair myself...it's not too bad a job. Only tool I had to buy was a drill press. Where are you located?

 

[rah7777777]

Well looks like it might be good news for you....

125 isn't too bad, especially if you don't want to mess with it.

 

[dflack001]

Not fan that he used steel...I used billet aluminum and left a bigger opening to get the cable hooked up. I would do it for that price...if you were close enough to me to bring it yo me I could do it for less. I'll post a pic of mine finished...

 

[rrbuell]

I'm in Oklahoma. May be a job that I could do. Were the symptoms I had they same as what you had. And making that plate fixed it?

 

[rrbuell]

RAH how much was the easy clutch?

 

[ztied]

I agree with rah77777,I don`t recall it touching the case in any way,and that seems like a long time wear not just a quicky.Maybe someone put it together wrong.can you post pictures of the clutch itself,if it hasn`t been tampered with.

 

[ztied]

Please check your clutch assembly before you put it back together in case something broke on there.

 

[rrbuell]

As soon as I get home I will. Everything seemed very clean and the piece from the cover was sitting inside so I removed it.

 

[rah7777777]

I don't remember what I paid for the easy clutch. I know I got it from Trojan overseas (that and the free spirits belt tensioner)

It was about half the cost of the muller clutch lite if I remember right. But it was about 5 years ago....

 

[rrbuell]

Clutch

Clutch2

Clutch3

 

[racepro716]

That looks exactly the same as when mine broke and almost left me stranded 500 miles from home. I was able to nurse it (2013 firebolt) back though. My fix was to have aluminum blocks welded in between the webs on the inside of the cover, then had whole inside cover machined and put a much stronger steel plate in, screwed to the new welded in blocks. It looks kind of like the fix on here but I think it's going to be a lot stronger. Around 3000 miles since and still running strong. I could have bought a new cover ($400 or so) but would have never trusted it again.
Wayne

 

[rrbuell]

Racepro this primary cover is done for so I'll probably try the fix myself. And then have all these parts powder coated while I'm at it.

 

[dflack001]

Its exactly the same break as mine. The fix worked great! The ramp assembly definitely sits on that lip of the primary cover, which is why I'm a fan of aluminum as opposed to steel, its softer and less likely to damage the ramp assembly. The thing you have to be careful of is that you don't use too thick a piece of metal on the back side of the primary, it will rub on part of the clutch assembly. If I ever get my pictures off my phone I'll get a diy together of how I did mine. In the mean time if you Google it you should be able to get a gist of what needs to be done. If I recall, I googled it and then just clicked on the pictures of the ones that were broken or fixed and went to there site. If you have any questions pm me I'll be glad to help out!

 

[rrbuell]

Thanks dflack. I'll probably tackle this tomorrow. I'll pm you if I get stuck.