Motorcycle Repair: blowen clutch basket on 98 tlr1000, clutch basket, spring coils

Question
Hi I had a interesting experiance my back wheel locked up  causing me a wee bit of drama , once I got back and started to look for the issue I pulled clutch cover off to find my Clutch basket in 100pieces and a clutch plate broken , the basket and ripped right off the backing sprocket it was a mess have you ever heared of this happing , i am going to rerplace the parts broken and hope that the gears arent broken any help in truying to figure this out would help greatly

Simon
Auckland
new Zealand

Answer
Hi Simon,

Yes, I have heard of the exploding clutch even though it is not
a really common occurrence

The cause is related to the cam system and lack of coil
clearance. This is not usually a problem with the stock
parts but is more likely when someone has added
after-market springs or spring spacers or such.

When the engine applies power to the clutch the
inner clutch cam system in the clutch increases the force
on the clutch plates to prevent slipping.

If the force is very high and the spring coils bind the
force is transmitted to the outer clutch spring plate and
it pulls the clutch basket apart and then soon after
the rest of the clutch breaks up.

The key is to use stock parts or parts you know
have been proven to work by others.
If the springs have enough clearance not to bind
under high power when the cam ramp is
engaged then you don't get clutch explosions.

Be cautious of using any non stock parts or spacers
designed to increase clutch spring pressure.
These are the worst culprit as they reduce
the clearance and cause spring coil binding.

Non stock modifications are the usual cause of these clutch problems.

WS
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