Clutch general info

[Nikuya]

Ok... I have been doing a bit of reading but I am still unsure if I fully grasp WHAT a clutch actually does or how it relates to the gearbox. My understanding is that the clutch assembly is bolted to the flywheel and then is connected to the gearbox, most popularly, by a chain. Does this sound right? I have actually searched, and cant find a picture of this in practice. Does anyone know where I should be looking, at least to get a better understanding? Please! this is doing my head in. Also, I have seen talk about using clutches with a different number of plates... how do you decide which is the right one?

[coachgeo]

Searching the net is truely your friend.

Searching the net for Motorcycle Clutch, How it works brings up some great articles and vids on the topic.

Below is one of the vids. There are plenty others. Odds are good one of them will explain the multiple plates.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WESl-nii-n4

[Nikuya]

Thanks coach. I did search the net for a good four hours but didn't find anything that came close to summing up what a clutch is better then that youtube vid. For some reason, I thought that the Gearbox handled all the clutch related affairs Although I haven't been able to find the reason dictating how many clutch plates to use. Seems to be related to torque so I'm assuming the more torque the more plates.

[OilyPhil]

I'm afraid there is no easy correlation between number of clutch plates/torque, inded some of the more torquey bikes eg big BMW and Guzzis have single plate car type clutches. Best advice I would give is to use a clutch off a bike with a similar power/torque outpt to what your intending to use, however if you are intending using one of the yanmar clone singles then virtually any bike clutch would have no problem. Remember also you can replace the springs on most clutches with stronger ones if the torque causes clutch slip (at the riskof making the action heavier)

Phil