t140 clutch action

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Jan 2, 2009
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My mate has a Triumph T140 1981 with a clutch action which requires alot of pull. It also feels a bit 'vague' as it is pulled on the cable.
I no the route is a bit poor, and maybe a Teflon lined Vehill cable may help, but are the any mods that can be done to the clutch to make it easier?
Thanks, Stu
 
bigstu said:
My mate has a Triumph T140 1981 with a clutch action which requires alot of pull. It also feels a bit 'vague' as it is pulled on the cable.
I no the route is a bit poor, and maybe a Teflon lined Vehill cable may help, but are the any mods that can be done to the clutch to make it easier?

It shouldn't really feel like that, as the action should be reasonably light and easy, and not vague, so I suspect it isn't set up correctly, or the cable routing is poor, or both?

The factory did fit some clutch drums that had bonded-in friction material in them (and one less plate I think?) at about that time, which never did work very well, and they soon dropped the idea.
 
My experience has been that if Surflex plates are used, the required spring preload to prevent slip is more than the cr@ppy pressed-steel pressure plate can tolerate, and it warps, leading to a heavy, draggy clutch. I rebuilt my clutch with ALL new components, and it was still unsatisfactory.
The clutch centre with the shock absorbers can get worn and sloppy (the spider gouges out the clamping plates, and it's virtually impossible to get a slip and drag-free clutch.
The uprated friction plates (in alloy, not steel) sold by TMS and others do perform as advertised, and provided there's no wobbliness in the clutch centre assembly, a decent, light clutch is possible, as the springs need far less preload.
It took me 3 sets of plates from various sources to find this out! :roll:
I can highly recommend them, and along with an alloy pressure plate (mine came from SRM), I've now got the best clutch I've ever had on a Triumph.

Obviously the cable condition and routing is important too - The Triumph clutch cables I've tried are just a little too short to achieve an ideal installation, and the cable rubs against the RH carb, but this could be down to the bars I'm using (western type wide jobbies).

Hope this helps ;)
 
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