tonti clutch life

[yackee]

Any idea as to what the average life of the Tonti clutch is? Asking because I took the T3 (50k miles) out for an early-fall run today, and on full throttle I *thought* I felt clutch slippage. RPMs seemed to jump while acceleration decreased. It's hard to say for sure, my tach needle bounces. But my impression was reinforced by sound as well. What's normal life on the clutches?

[ray bear]

How long is a piece of string, Depends on many factors but I would want to get better mileage than that however I keep my adjustment in order and dont abuse the clutch and do limited city mileage which would shorten life.

[n3303j]

All depends how you drive. I've never worn the friction material off any clutch (bike or car). I've done done 250K miles on cars and over 100K on various motorcycles.

I've seen people use up clutches in 20K miles.

So it's just a matter of how much it is ridden while partially engaged.

[fotoguzzi]

Or, it might not be worn out. The gear lube can migrate up the clutch push rod, get on the friction material and then it slips. The cone seals on that push rod are know to fail. Solution is a stack of o rings.

[moto-uno]

  That's not an unreasonable clutch life . If it's one of the earlier ones with the 2mm clutch spline , it's worth changing it
out just to get the newer 4 mm spline . The 2mm splines were easily notched and neutral was hard to find unless still
moving . I recently installed a Stein Dinse clutch kit in mine . Not overly thrilled with it , it has a very quick engagement
and makes for not too classy take offs from a stop . Doesn't slip at all . It's coming out this winter, different friction plates
are going in .   Peter

[n3303j]

MG Cycle is selling the Stein Dinse plates.
Never had any smooth engagement problems with them.
They are a bit thicker then stock and I shimmed the throw out bearing to get full disengagement.

[80CX100]

Or, it might not be worn out. The gear lube can migrate up the clutch push rod, get on the friction material and then it slips. The cone seals on that push rod are know to fail. Solution is a stack of o rings.

^^^^This^^^^ clutch may just be fouled with oil.

     When I first got my new to me CalVin, sometimes when I pulled out to pass and cracked the throttle hard, the clutch would slip, revs rise,more exhaust noise but no increase in speed.

     The PO had overfilled the tranny with a full litre rather than 750ml of gear lube and the clutch plates were fouled with oil.

      I did the clutch plate rinse with mineral spirits, it cured the problem and it's worked perfectly for 5? yrs since. (Plenty of threads on here on how to do it)

      fwiw ymmv

[Scout63]

Check adjustment first starting at the gear case and working up to the handlebar.  If it is slipping with plenty of slack, then dig into it.  It’s a great chance to check and sort the clutch, rear main seal, ujoint bearing and seal, swingarm bearings and seals etc. 

[yackee]

Thanks everyone. I did the "mineral spirit flush" trick and it seems to have made a difference. I recently changed the engine oil, and as always when I fill up the sump the bike spits a lot of oil through the breather until it finds a level it likes. There was a decent amount of oily spooge around the clutch rod area, maybe some of the breather oil worked its way past the seals and to the flywheel.

I also ordered new conical seals and the doohickey with the two o-rings.

Can I install the conical seals with the engine and tranny in place? I am not sure what's possible to replace along the clutch push rod without dropping the engine or crabbing the frame (neither of which I am in a position to do right now).

[fotoguzzi]

Yes you can do it once the swing arm is out. You shouldn’t have any problem getting the rod back in the tranny but you could just pull it out far enough to see/remove/replace the cone seals.
you can slide the push rod out once you take the throw out bearing away then slip the seals on and back in.
 There was a o-ring fix with a stack of 5 or 6 in place of the cones. If you go there I have a trick tool you can make to squeeze the o rings into the hole on back of tranny.

[bigbikerrick]

When i installed the “0 ring stack” in my eldorado, i used a Bic pen outer tube to push the O rings in. Its worket great for about 10 yrs.
Good luck
Rick

[fotoguzzi]

I used an aluminum arrow shaft cut to size.

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

I've had the conical seals leak, so no longer use them. Moto International used to sell a set of "six special sized o-rings", Dan Eberhardt figured out the size, and I buy them in a bag of 100 from McMaster-Carr. I'll send anyone in the US six of them for FREE.

Charley Cole thought they added too much friction, but if they're greased (o-ring grease) during installation, this isn't an issue. Best to polish the clutch pushrod with a green Scotchbrite pad so that it's smooth too.

https://www.thisoldtractor.com/moto_guzzi_loopframe__for_sealing_the_clutch_push-rod_to_the_transmission_input_shaft.html
https://www.thisoldtractor.com/moto_guzzi_loopframe_clutch_push_rod__installation.html

[guido guzzi]

When i installed the “0 ring stack” in my eldorado, i used a Bic pen outer tube to push the O rings in. Its worket great for about 10 yrs.
Good luck
Rick

^^ THIS ^^ No way I could get even one o ring inside the shaft with a screwdriver; especially because the shaft is recessed inside the back cover of the transmission. 

[Scout63]

^^ THIS ^^ No way I could get even one o ring inside the shaft with a screwdriver; especially because the shaft is recessed inside the back cover of the transmission. 

It is a fiddly job, but with the bic pen housing, grease and steady pressure they go in.

[LowRyter]

I'd guess they'd go 100k but it's just a guess.

[Frenchfrog]

As long as a piece of string.Too many variables : type of friction material, whether you go into neutral at the traffic stop lights or not, mainly highway riding or mainly urban etc...