Clutch

[white1j0]

Anyone know when Harley went from a dry clutch to a wet on the Sporsters, I kinda thought it was in 1970, I started my '73 up on Sunday, the clutch was slipping really bad so I pulled off the primary and four of the studs were sheared off, it looks to me as though it has a dry clutch, I'm not sure and I don't have a service manual yet, It's been 40 some odd years since I had one of these apart, Thanks Whitey

[jim d]

Whitey
I think that 1971 was the first year for the wet clutch from the factory, also when the cable went into the primary cover and not into the sprocket cover as the 1970 and back models.
Thanks Jim D

[white1j0]

I have oil leaking into the primary, it looks like it's coming from behind the clutch basket, anyone know if there is a seal back there, Thanks Whitey

[VPH-D]

Your 73 XL has a wet clutch. There is no seal in the clutch drum, like the early XL clutch had. Convert your clutch to the -74 style set up, with the stud spacers and such. It was a big improvement over the 71-73 type.
VPH-D

[white1j0]

001.jpgThis one has a dry clutch, the springs seem extra long they'er 1 7/8" long, it does have an oil seal which I replaced, but there seems to be oil coming from the back of the basket, Two questions, first, before I pull the whole primary chain and clutch assembly out, where might the oil be coming from, second where should the springs be set at, Thanks Whitey.

[Rub]

Your clutch is not set up as a dry clutch. Being open to the primary makes it wet! Did someone attempt to seal of the transmission from the primary? if they did and the tranny is not vented it will push oil out the mainshaft into the primary. And if they did how did they think the primary chain would be lubed? Even if there is merely oil mist in the clutch it is considered a wet clutch Dry clutches are completely enclosed and not open to the primary!
Robbie

[kg993]

Whitey, someone has converted your 73 to an early clutch. The sprocket cover on yours will have the adjuster screw and a worm gear inside for the throw out mechanism. It should have wet or dry plates installed. The primary must run wet for the chain and unless someone did seal off the trap door (which is very difficult trust me) the transmission shares the primary oil. Replace the studs, check, bearings, plates, throwout assembly, ect. When assembled right that is the best set-up you can ask for. If you want to run a dry clutch there is a seal inside the basket and a domed cover can be purchased to seal the outer end. That is what the factory intended when it is called a dry clutch. For street use I recomend running wet.

Kerry

[white1j0]

I read on another forum that the springs are supposed to be set at 3/16" from the inside of the retainer plate to the top of the spring cups, and also that the springs are 1 5/8" high, the springs on mine are 1 7/8" high, would this setting still be the same, it seems to me that they would be compressed to much, and thanks for all the imfo. I'm still waiting for my service manual from ebay. Whitey

[kg993]

Those look like Barnett heavy duty springs with more pressure than OEM. I adjust them according to how much torque and H.P. the motor makes and relate to how hard you want the clutch to engage keeping in mind not to make the hand lever too hard to pull. In other words trial and error. Start soft and if there is slippage under power go in and tighten till you get the easiest pull without any slipping. Remember to set the pressure plate to run true when the clutch is engaged, some studs may need more pressure than others to get this true.
Barnett may have a desired setting but they will probably tell you the same thing for fine tuning.

Kerry

[Bill Pedalino]

I have just assembled my 1964 CH motor and it's still on the bench. MANY years of my experience with dry clutch Sportsters went into this rebuild and all the tricks I've learned over the years were implemented. However, one thing I know for certain - eventually, sooner or later, this clutch will get wet. Even if I do all the things necessary (like setting the bike on a center stand), this clutch will eventually leak. I just HAD to try (one last time) to get it all perfect, as I really love the feel of a properly working dry clutch. If and when this leakage occurs, I'll probably convert the early setup to a wet-clutch, most likely using Barnett plates.

Years ago, a few customers would ask us to convert their dry clutch Sportsters to a wet clutch using the Barnett wet-or-dry clutch plates. Remember now, I'm talking many years ago (pre '71 factory wet clutch), so I'm sure things have changed since then. But back then I recall mixed results. I remember that these setups often dragged a bit and the resulting 'difficult neutral' was a problem. Harley's wet clutch of 1971 and later worked a lot better. I suspect that, because we did not use the lighter primary oils back then, the dragging problem had more to do with oil adhesion and the resulting inter-plate suction than with the Barnett clutch plates (Barnett always sold the highest quality parts - even back then).

Has anyone had recent success with these dry-to-wet conversions? If so, what type of primary oil do you use? I'm told that the light weight oils, like automatic transmission oil work quite well but results in more gear noise, as I would expect. Does the clutch have a tendency to drag or slip and how difficult is finding neutral at a complete stop? Also, aside from the derby removal and plate change, are there any other part-changes that must be done for a proper conversion.

Thanks.