Rekluse clutches

after three more races like this the bike is excellent. i am checking the post heights next week in the clutch drum, if these aren't flat i will report as i'm having them skimmed. better than the filing by hand system (i used my grinderette w/ P36 - 4" disc).

i will also try the 18/12 combo although this is hard to beat at present. it doessn't 'slam' engage for some reason now and i hardly recognise the comment i made above.

i can't get neutral anymore but i suspect that what with the binging and the banging that i now have grooves in the drum again!

i've mentioned elsewhere that i now have a full brake pad and another with the middle third machined out and the feel is ni-on perfect and i can either lock it up or feel it rolling. may eventually try the second full pad but i want this new pad to be fully bedded in first.

kiwi-is this thread any good?

regards

Taffy

SLIPPING CLUTCH

After getting excited reading the great rap you guys have beeg giving the Rekluse I just had to get one.

Like it a lot but clutch is slipping a fair bit. A bit too much I reckon. 8O

Fitted as per specifications:

15 Tungsten Carbide balls
15 Steel Balls (1 Steel 1 TC etc)
2" C200L2 Wave Spring (as recommended and as it came assembled in box)
2 Rekluse Steels

Idled without any brake, engaged very smoothly just of idle.
Took it for a 30km ride (road/track). Was slipping a lot when moving hard through gears.

Thought I'd try another Rekluse steel. Pulled cover off and could smell the clutch plates. Obviously getting grilled.

Fitted 3rd Rek steel and it's still slipping. There's also just a hint of moving forward when idling.

Just did my first oil/filter change at the same time as the install. Used Motorex Cross Power 4T 10W/50 as supplied by the dealer so that should be OK.

Any help appreciated.

Is Motorex Cross power T oil synthetic or petroleum based or a combo? Auto clutches and especially Rekluse clutches do not work well with synthetic oil. The slippage problems are exacerbated even more with the torque of the 650.

Chubba,
What is your installed gap? To get an accurate install gap I found it necessary to pull off the main clutch cover. You can also try the spring setup I have in my gallery. I dont know the part numbers since I did not do the initial install. I get a very slight bit of slipping on initial take off under load (deep sand or a hill). After about 3000-3500 there is no slipping under any condition I have found. I have run Motrex 10/50 full synthetic and Delo with no difference in performance. Rekluse was recommending Delo untill recent formula changes to the product. Rumor has it that they are considering recommending the Two 2Cool additive.

The installed gap is critical and must be in the reccomended range. If the gap is too large there isnt enough travel is the clutch to fully lock it up and excessive slippage and a burnt out clutch will result.

If gap is ok ten try 20 carbide balls for extra clapping force.

Cheers
Horto

I finally got my thing sorted...
My son liked it so much he bought one for his 525.
His first state round enduro is this long weekend 5 & 6 June.
Installed it, gap good, engages good, first time we hit the dirt the clutch looked fully on.
Pulled case off and all ball bearings stuck on, in engaged position.
Only got steel ball bearings. Not a mix of TC and Steel like mine for the FE650.
Scott woried that the clutch will do it again during race and thinking of fitting std clutch.
Any ideas what could cause this to happen.
He did still use the lever and high revs into the burm but I thought the rekluse would still be OK using that style.
What gives?
Brett

I'd say the use of manual clutch and hig revs may be the reason. The manual clutch is forcing the clutch from the centre whilst the ball are forcing back in from the outside edge this may have caused plate to hog or become concave and allow balls to travel further than normal up the ramps. I think your son needs to learn how to ride a auto clutch and forget about his old manual clutch techniques after all that the whole point of having a auto clutch in the first place.

Cheers Horto

I have had the same problem with the balls sticking. I had to use 15 steels and 15 TC balls as well as the spring setup in my gallery.

Re: rekluse

brookester said:

Hi Gix,

Did you buy the Rekluse in the UK? If so where from and how much?


Thanks, brookester

Click to expand...

Sorry to butt in, I bought a Rekiluse for my 03 650 from Superb Motard in Bonny Scotland. Run in SuperMoto without a hitch - love it to bits.

Big Yellow Berg #101
Scottish Championship @ Crail 2005

i ought to mention that i've added another two tungsten balls against two stainless steel. that now makes it 20 tungsten to 10 stainless. yes it's better, it still slips in 4th or 5th if i'm in the wrong gear and helps me get going.

i've taken 30 seconds off a 6 minute lap this year and the improvements up to the date i started doing it were
1) the LX2 cam
2) rekluse auto clutch
3) OEM tall seat

regards

Taffy

i've had the clutch hub machined flat where the 6 mount points are for the rekluse. in the rekluse instructions you're invited to fit a plate over the 6 points and then file down by hand to flush with the plate.

i used a grinderette.

the engineer found i was out by .004-.005". which is a lot i guess! let you know after this weekend. if it makes a difference i shall suggest that all potential rekluse owners get their hubs machined and cut out the 'hand filing'.

regards

taffy

I've been holding back my opinion on the Rekluse for some time now... wanted to make sure I gave the good folks at Rekluse every opportunity to dial-in their product.

Here's the bottom line:

Rekluse clutches will not work with the Husaberg 650, and only marginally with the 550.

There, I said it!

And this is confirmed by Sean at Rekluse as well. It seems the big 'bergs simply don't spin the clutch basket fast enough to keep in front of the torque curve.

I've recently switched back to Revloc and I tell ya', it's really good to be back.

I've had a Revloc in my 2003 KTM 525MX/c for more than 2 years and 12,000 miles. It's never needed adjustment. It still feels and works like new. Now THAT's impressive!!!

Unfortunately, my 2004 FE650 blew through 3 sets of clutch discs in less than a year while using the Rekluse product. Once leaving me stranded in Mexico. With the Rekluse you could always feel the clutch slipping just a bit. Just enough to cook the plates. It would never fully lock-up. What an uncomfortable feeling being able to rev your engine at speed and just have the clutch slip for a second or two before things hooked-up. And the minute you backed-off the throttle, it would start slipping again.

And to answer some quick and obvious questions; Yes, I ran Delo 400. Yes, I tried the Kevlar plates. Yes, I tried all the different clearance settings. And finally yes, I ran from zero to a full set of tungsten balls.

There's simply no comparison between the two. I think Al and the gang at Rekluse have a truly ingenious product that has received excellent reviews from many, many users. But as far as both my 'bergs and KTM's are concerned, Revloc's are king. They free-wheel cleanly at idle (yes, you can actually find neutral!), hook-up quickly, and never slip once you've left the line (unless of course you're in some technical section lugging). Frankly, short of take-off, they feel just like a regular clutch.

So my advice is to spend the extra $500 and get the best dam clutch you can get. As much as I like the guys at Rekluse, their product was simply not designed for the Big Bergs...

Well Gix, I can appreciate your position. And believe me, I worked closely with Rekluse to resolve the problem.

In the end, it was Rekluse who finally concluded that their product would not hold up to the punishment of the big 'bergs. This was based on both experience and their own calculations...

perhaps someone could share the set up with you and teach you a few tricks old dog? :roll: :roll:

spill. 8O 8O

regards

taffy

Well now....I have to agree with Ken in a few areas.
1)Revloc seems to have a superior product. I had one on my FC550 for 3 years. Never had a failure or an adjustment. Second owner aggresively rides the bike and races flat track as well. Still on the original clutchs. A few people rode the bike in Moab, I heard no complaints.

2) The Rekluse...Left me stranded in Baja without a bike to ride for 8 days after about 15 minutes of operation. I have had the thing apart probably 20 times to and swapped a few parts out to make it work. I felt as though I was doing R&D for Rekluse. They sold me an unfinished product.
Currently it performs acceptably, not great, just acceptable. If I could get it to engage quicker and harder it would be great. If I get it to engage how I want it the bike creeps, that is completly unacceptable. A few people have ridden the bike and like it (although they think it may slip alittle right off the bottom) . The rest thought it was "kinda flakey". I guess it takes a little more practice to ride and is not neaarly as forgiving as the Revloc.
I would have stuck with revloc but just cant get over the price tag. I have spent $500 in my own time and labor to end up with a lesser product with the rekluse.

As always....this is just my opinion, and of course I could be wrong :wink:

I have put on over 10,000 troublefree miles on two RevLoc equipped big bore KTMs. The RevLocs have performed flawlessly and have been essentially maintenance free during this time. I have also extensively sampled several big bore Rekluse equipped bikes. All the bikes had properly setup auto clutches with the engagement points adjusted to begin just off of idle. All of the clutches demonstrated excellent low speed behavior and had a nice smooth, progressive engagement. All the bikes were using the "old" Delo 400 15/40 oil, and the Rekluse clutches were fitted with near the maximum number of tungsten carbide ball bearings. Under full power in the higher gears the Rekluse equipped KTM 525 EXC clutches "slipped" noticeably more than in the RevLoc equipped 525s. The harder you pushed them, like in hill climbs, the more they seemed to slip. Disconcerting to say the least. The RevLoc clutch thrives under similar circumstances.

I have only 10 TC ball in my 03-FE501 and it doesn't slip at all in upper revs unless I deliberately ride 2-3 gears higher than normal.

It may be that your clutch travel is bottoming out to early, ie the ball bearing pressure plate is bottoming out on the throw out washer/manual clutch shaft If so this which would prevent it from closing plates up any further regardless of how many TC ball or how small the installed gap.

Try adding extra spring tower washers, to space pressure plate further away from throw out shaft, and then add thicker steel clutch plates to maintain correct installed gap. Or try using a smaller throw out washer or ball bearing spacer to provide more clearance/travel between pressure plate and manual clutch shaft.

Hope this make sense and helps.

Cheers Horto

The 04's have a differnt clutch design than the 03's and below. That may be part of our problems.