The clutch system is basically a mechanical device that engages and disengages the power of your bike to either change the gear or while the bike is idling. Its history dates back to the 19th century when Karl Benz experimented with a clutch system that used leather belts but was unable to handle the intense friction and heat.
As the years passed and technology evolved, clutches were then made from modern composite material and advanced ceramic. As a result, many more iterations were available in the mass market, right from automatic clutch in s to the hydraulic clutch in s. More recently i.e. early s, the dual-clutch transmission was introduced to offer faster and more efficient gear shifts; it became an instant hit in high performance vehicles.
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It is a complex mechanism with multiple parts running in sync to provide efficient transfer of power from engine to the wheels. A clutch in a bike is a releasable or flexible coupling that primarily connects two adjacent shafts - one is the crankshaft coming from the engine and other tends be the input shaft of the gearbox. The moment the clutch lever is pressed, the pressure plate causes the clutch plates (steel or friction plates) to disengage.
Here are the major components of clutch plate and their uses: -
• Flywheel – It is a heavy steel plate that balances engine rotation while minimizing vibration. It also smoothens the engine rpm to make clutch engagement more seamless. Its key purpose is to lock against the clutch disc and carry the torque that the engine produces.
• Clutch Disc – It is a large round disc that slides into the transmission input shaft. When the clutch lever is pressed, it transfers no power and spins freely. When the clutch lever is released, it is engaged between the clutch pressure plate and flywheel to transfer the power of the engine to the gearbox and subsequently the wheels.
• Clutch pressure plate – This is placed on the opposite side of the clutch disc. Its key functionality is to release pressure from the clutch when the pedal is pressed. Metal fingers that are situated in the middle act as a spring. When pressed together, the pressure disc moves away from the friction material.
• Clutch cable – It is a cable situated near the engine that connects the clutch assembly and clutch lever. It is a component that encounters major wear and tear and is required to be replaced after a set time interval.
The two most common concerns associated with the clutch system are chatter and slipping. Chatter is primarily caused by too much friction with the lack of oil between clutch plates (mostly steel plates). Slipping, on the other hand, occurs due to inadequate friction, either due to worn-out friction plates or inadequate oil.
Dry Clutch – These types of clutch operate on friction without any lubrication. They tend to be lighter and have a greater response capacity. Also, a dry clutch does not have oil covering the pressure and clutch plates and does not have a similar cooling temperature as a wet clutch.
Wet Clutch – Specifically covered in oil to reduce friction, wet clutch plates operate cooler as well. They are also quieter in idle and provide much smoother operation and gearshifts.
This technology was introduced a few years back by OEMs such as TVS Motor in Apache RR 310. The slipper clutch is basically a mechanism that reduces the engine braking effect, and its key purpose is to prevent rear wheel lock or hopping during aggressive downshifts. It does partial slipping until the engine’s speed matches with the bike’s speed upon braking.
Its technical functionality uses little ramps that push the clutch plates apart when the transmission side tries to push the flywheel side.
Here are its key benefits: -
• Enhances stability
• Prevents rear wheel lockup
• Reduces engine braking
• Smoothens downshifts
The motorcycle clutch is one of the most crucial components. It is recommended to avoid using the clutch harshly as that reduces the life of your transmission. By understanding how it works and taking proper care of it, riders can ensure that their motorcycle is running smoothly.
Also Read:
How A Typical Motorcycle Clutch Works, And How To Make It Last Longer
The amount of pressure plate force applied to the clutch is called the clamp load and is determined by the spring pressure applied by the pressure plate. The most popular basic pressure plate designs include the Borg & Beck, diaphragm, and Long style (also called a Ford lever). The Borg & Beck (sometimes called a Chrysler style) has fallen out of favor with most clutch builders, leaving the Long style as the popular racing pressure plate with the diaphragm as the most popular for the street.
The Long style uses three sets of coil springs that are controlled by a thin release arm tied to each of three sets of springs. This arm can be modified with additional weight to add rpm-based centrifugal force to the base clamp load for high-horsepower engines used in competition. The Long style is not a good choice for street operation, although it can be used. Mainly it often requires a fairly high pedal effort. As a final note, Long-style pressure plates employ a different attachment pattern than the Borg & Beck and diaphragm so these pressure plates are not interchangeable.
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The diaphragm, also known as a Bellville spring, offers a significant advantage over the more traditional coil spring pressure plates. As a coil spring is compressed, load increases. However, with a diaphragm, once it reaches its center pivot point when the clutch is fully released, the load is drastically reduced. This allows the user to keep the clutch pedal in during street operation at a stoplight for example, without taxing leg strength as would be the case with a Borg & Beck or Long-style pressure plate.
Another major variable is the diameter of the clutch assembly. For mild V-8 street operation, 10½-inch clutches will easily get the job done. Larger engines generating more torque and horsepower increase this to 11- and 12-inch units. A larger diameter merely increases the clutch surface area, which increases its clamp load and therefore torque capacity.
This is a good place to mention that while clutches are generally rated by horsepower, it is really the engine’s torque that is the major factor for choosing a clutch. The more torque, the higher the twisting motion created by the engine which demands a more-aggressive clutch holding capacity. Remember that horsepower is merely torque over time expressed as work. This is also why clutch companies will want to know items like vehicle weight, gear ratio, as well as engine size and whether there is a power adder.
Increasing clamp load with higher pressure plate spring force is a simple way to hold more torque but this also increases pedal effort. Another option for clutch builders is to improve capacity with an increase in diameter or with more aggressive materials using a higher coefficient of friction. For street clutches, the traditional organic material continues to constantly evolve and is an excellent choice for mild applications as this material offers the advantage of smooth clutch engagement.
Other compounds, such as ceramics, Kevlar, and sintered iron offer a much higher coefficient of friction, which increases holding capacity. But these materials can make clutch engagement more aggressive and more likely to produce clutch chatter. Lately, several companies, such as Centerforce, McLeod, Ram, Spec, and others, now combine these more forceful compounds on one side of the clutch disc with more forgiving organic compounds on the opposite side. This accomplishes the goal of increasing the holding power while ensuring easy engagement.
You may have noticed that these combination clutch discs use a smaller area of ceramic or sintered iron face material. This is intentional since this concentrates a higher load (in terms of pounds per square inch) on the material to increase its operating temperature to ensure optimal performance. When combined with an organic clutch facing on the opposite side of the disc, the clutch can supply greater holding capacity without negatively affecting engagement or creating undue wear.
Within the clutch disc itself, there are multiple design functions at work. Nearly all street clutches employ what is called a sprung hub. The typical approach is six (and sometimes eight) coil springs placed between the input shaft of the clutch disc and the clutch facing. When the disc is loaded during engagement, these springs compress slightly and reduce or eliminate clutch chatter or shudder. An additional technique employs what is called a Marcel spring. This is a thin, wavy spring placed between the clutch face material and the clutch disc itself. This spring also improves engagement performance, making this process smoother and less intrusive.
One aspect that most generic clutch stories fail to address is how heat generated by the clutch affects holding power. Heat is a significant factor that directly affects overall clutch performance. Organic materials are used to enhance low temperature clutch engagement but are limited by a somewhat conservative temperature limit. This is why dual-friction–style clutches with an organic facing on one side and a ceramic material on the other have become so popular. Under high load, the clutch temperature increases, which bumps up the ceramic or sintered iron coefficient of friction, which improves the clutch assembly’s overall torque capacity. That’s why you will see the higher rated clutch assemblies using these more aggressive materials.
The trick is to choose the correct clutch assembly for your particular application without going overboard by “over clutching” the application. This is where a heavier duty clutch is misapplied when it’s not necessary. This can lead to engagement problems, clutch chatter, and a less-than-positive experience compounded by spending more money on a component that was misapplied, like trying to use a race clutch on the street.
Of course, choosing a clutch with less torque capacity than required can be equally as frustrating, often leading to slippage and clutch failure. This is why it’s important to discuss the application with your clutch company and to be completely honest with the vehicle specs and how it will be used. A clutch intended mainly for road course use with only occasional street time is a very different application from a clutch where it is mainly a boulevard cruiser with only occasional trips to the track.
Flywheel weight is another important consideration. Several poorly conceived media stories have appeared over the years touting the acceleration benefit of lightweight aluminum flywheels. What these stories rarely address is the loss of inertia momentum created by a lightweight flywheel. This is instantly recognized in normal driving when typical off-idle engine speed engagement results in an engine that easily stalls. With a lightweight flywheel, a much higher engine rpm is needed to build sufficient inertia to easily accelerate from a dead stop. This is why OE flywheels are usually heavier. This additional mass stores energy in the flywheel, allowing the engine to allow clutch engagement at just above idle speed.
As an example, a typical small-block Chevy 11-inch flywheel usually weighs 30 pounds with a complete clutch and pressure plate assembly scaling in roughly 45 to 50 pounds. By reducing the weight of the steel flywheel to 25 pounds, this can improve acceleration while still retaining sufficient mass to allow for normal street operation. Of course, this can also be achieved with a lighter pressure plate.
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