Trimoto 125/175 clutch.

[trimoto.125]

Ok I'm starting to swap cranks from one trimoto 125 crank into a 175 engine. Was looking at the clutch for the 175 and saw that a few of the ball bearings in the clutch were missing. Is it a real problem if i'm missing a few ball bearings. They are missing in a pattern also. I'm assuming with having a few less ball bearings will increase the clutch engagement speed but decrease the grabbing strength. Does any one know?

[Vealmonkey]

I would make sure it has all the balls in it that it needs.

[old-yellow]

I can't imagine the clutch working correctly with out them, The Haynes repair manual shows that you need eight of them so I would try and find some replacements so that you know that the clutch is going to work correctly.

Alex

[trimoto.125]

Yeah I wasn't sure just wanted to know. I have a pretty good pile of trimoto engine parts so adding the extra bearings will be no problem. Thanks for the answers.

[trimoto.125]

update: Fully rebuilt now running decent. 1.Started it up put it in gear and the trike barely moved( having the 8 ball bearings in and missing the one friction plate).2. Added the correct amount of pressure plates(missing one) and put the 16 ball bearings in. The problem is now, there is so much weight in the clutch now that when I put it in gear it stalls out. This also happened when I adjusted the clutch even before the pretension by turning the screw. I don't know if they are the stock springs in the clutch or what, buit I'm gonna take the side case off tomorrow and try using only half the ball bearings.

[old-yellow]

This time I did not just jump to the manual for information I actually went down to the garage and pulled my spare parts motor apart and discovered that it is sixteen ball bearings that go into the clutch also if you want to post pictures of the springs that your using I will try and see if they look like the ones I just took out of my clutch. The repair manual says to adjust the clutch by adjusting the release mechanism by tightening the inner nut until the bolt can't be turned with your fingers but has no thrust play (in-and-out). Tighten the outer nut against the inner nut . If the bolt is too loose, the clutch will drag. If it is too tight, the clutch will slip. I hope this helps.

Alex

[trimoto.125]

I thought you adjusted the bolt until you felt the slight tension then back it off 1/4 turn? Do you know how many pressure plates and friction plates there are supposed to be.( don't count the very bottom plate and the top two plates that are held together with the springs and 4 snap rings. I removed 1 pressure plate and one friction plate today and 8 bearings and the clutch slips. I will try adding the other 8 bearings tomorrow to make 16.

[Vealmonkey]

The ball bearings do not affect clutch engagement speed. You need all the balls. Those are the ball bearings for the clutch assembly. It's just yamahas design. Also, you don't back off the screw 1/4 turn, that is hondas design and the yamaha design is different. What year is your 125 engine? If your 125 engine is 80 or 81, that clutch pack doesn't use as many clutch plates and friction plates as the 82 and later clutch pack. Don't ask me why, it just is that way. Also, I found out that yamaha used different thickness clutch plates. The total clutch pack has a tolerance for thickness that is made up by using the different thickness clutch plates, neato huh? If your clutch pack ends up too thick, it won't fit right into the clutch basket and you won't get the large steel clip in to hold it all together. Too thin, and either your clutches slip or your steel ring can pop out, once again, neaty petey! And then you have the 80-81 clutch pack that uses less clutch plates and clutch frictions-ARRRRGGGGHHHH! If you don't have a manual, you won't know this. That's why I always recommend a factory manual to anyone that has a trike, not an off brand manual, a factory manual. And be happy that it's not a Tiger or Rotax manual, what a piece of work they are. According to the manual, you should have 8 clutch frictions and 7 clutch plates, for the 82 and later clutch basket. The earlier 80 and 81 clutch basket has less. There are alot of dimensional measurement tolerances, too many for me to type them all out. And my manual is showing only 8 balls, but there are no mention of the number of the balls in the manual! Also there is an adjustment gap between the last clutch friction and the outer clutch plate that has the clutch springs in it. The manual says if you don't have the proper gap, that is when you have to mix and match the clutch plates. This is why you need a manual. Like I said, there are alot of measurements that you have to refer to a area to get them all. Also you would have to use a set of dial calipers to check the thicknesses of the clutch plates. You should also use a dial to check for the clutch spring "free length" and the length of the outer tiny springs of the clutch pack. Precise measuring is required here, much more so than other clutches I have had the oppurtunity to work on. That is why I have manuals, no way to remember all this info. You might have several problems with measurements being out of tolerance, parts just worn beyond their tolerance. If you have weak clutch springs, that will help your clutch slip too. It looks like you may have to pull the clutch all the way back apart and start over with alot more attention to detail. I might have to do this with my buddys yt125 also-Yay. Oh well, live and learn again. I thought we had it put back together right last time, but the third time is a charm, right? LOL

[trimoto.125]

I put a different clutch on it I think its an 83 or 84 trimoto 125 clutch on an 83 175 bottom end. The plates have been mixed and matched so now it will be trial and error. This is a real p.i.t.a now. I will update the status tomorrow.

[old-yellow]

Here's a link to get a manual for your trike.

http://www.amazon.com/Yamaha-ATVs-Owners-Workshop-Manual/dp/185010154X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1238726608&sr=1-1

[Vealmonkey]

It looks like the 80 and 81 yt 125 had 16 balls. And the 82 and later with the added clutch plate and friction plate had only 8 balls. I don't know if those 2 clutches can be interchanged. You maybe could change them if you changed their corresponding shifter shafts.
Also a question. The Great Gazoo is having a weird shifting issue, if it is even an issue. It seems his trike won't shift directly from 1st to 2nd gear. It seems to stop in "Neutral" and has to be shifted again to hit second gear. We are not sure if this is just the nature of the beast or if he is having a problem. We only have later model trikes to compare it to. I had some riding on the trike but only around a yard before I sold it to Brian and I don't really remember this being an issue. I have my old yt175 engine on the shelf that we might bolt into Gazoos trike to see how that works. And I only had that engine fired once. Oh well, more work. I may get one of mine running one day. LOL

[trimoto.125]

Update. I put 16 bearings in and added a friction plate inbetween the last top pressure plate and the two two plates that are snap ringed together. Works ok now. New problem, I think my engine is miss firing its starts up in 1 or 2 pulls but after moving the throtttle a bit it bogs down almost like its losing spark or something. It idols smooth . It is also making like a puffing sound out of the muffler like the sound of a blown gasket but the gaskets arn't blown. I had the bike on its side for a while a few times today and yesterday. Could it just be air bubbles in the line? The crank seals were in ok shape when I reassembled it last month. Carb hasn't been cleaned for about 1.5 months and has been sitting that long only being ran 5 times for 2 min periods. or can it just be running lean? Any ideas what wrong?

[trimoto.125]

Also for your buddies trike check the shift shaft splines mine kinda had the same issue.( went good in first slipped about 2 cm then went into 2'd. I tightened the bolt and adjusted the tie rods/ linkages and I lost alot of the sloppy shifting I had before.

[old-yellow]

Try cleaning the carb, using new gas and installing a new spark plug.