Fixing a Suzuki 400 clutch - The Somchai solution

Mar 2, 2011
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A short story, how to "repair" a clutch, "the Somchai way"
Because of my boring situation, I recently bought a 400 Suzuki. Bike was "cheap", and I knew, there is some work waiting.
The most important thing, was the clutch. I could never find a "friction point", for a smooth startup. It was always jumpy.
I adjusted cables and clutch, according to the workshop manual. Didn't help very much.
So finally, I decided to open the clutch.
At first glance, it looked ok....

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After removing the pressure plate (later identified as a plate from a GZ125 :crazy:),

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the first part that I saw, was a clutch driven plate and not the clutch drive plate.
Really, the first one was a steel plate....

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I think, Somchai used it as some kind of "distance ring", because of the wrong size/thickness of the other plates...:huh:
Well, I took out the whole clutch packet, and found:
6 steel plates
and
6 friction(?) plates.
According to the parts manual, there should be
8 friction(?) plates
and
7 steel plates + two other parts (removed by Somchai, maybe to save weight?)
So, now I need a complete "original" second hand clutch, because of the missing and wrong parts.
Another fine example for me, to never ever bring my Bike/Car to a Somchai garage.....

Maybe, time to open a decent repair shop. Anyone interested? :smile1::smile1::smile1:
 
Apr 14, 2011
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Is it a Suzuki Bandit 400? If it cannot be found near you, find someone going over to Chiang Mai from Singapore, plenty of parts here.
 
Mar 2, 2011
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NobleGrp;269287 wrote: Is it a Suzuki Bandit 400? If it cannot be found near you, find someone going over to Chiang Mai from Singapore, plenty of parts here.
Yepp, it's a Bandit.
I found a second hand clutch in Germany already.
All needed parts and more, ~2000 Bt.
I will pick it up in two weeks, when I go to Germany and bring it back to Thailand. (like some other Bike parts).
Buy him a beer too.
?