worn out max torque clutch drum for the ezm transmission

[whelan wheels]

Well i just recently did a long range bike tour. I was supposed to meet up with killer canuck at tobamory and cruise the rest of the way back to wallaceburg with him but i only made it as far as bay field from sudbury ,due to clutch issues. When i left sudbury my clutch already had 1488 miles on it to begin with. The total round trip milage on this ride totaled out to 571.775 miles in five days from sudbury to bayfield and back again. I was about 7 k.m. out side of bay field when i started hearing a metal rattling noise on my transmission. I stopped and took a look to see what it was and lo and behold i sheard of a section of the clutch drum inbetween the transmission plate and rear pully. So i took the whole rear pully assembly apart just to remove the section of the sheared drum out of it,and reassembled it back together on the side of the road.When i saw what the rest of the drum looked like i decided not to take the chance of heading the rest of the way, but to turn back home. Here's some pic's of what the clutch drum looks like after i put 571.775 miles on it in turn i put a total of 2059.852 miles on it since i got it in november of 2011.

 

[whelan wheels]

here's some more pic's of the worn clutch drum.

 

[whelan wheels]

heres some more pic's of what the inside of the worn drum looks like. You'll see how thin the edges are on the drum along with the section of the edge profile of the sheared of section of the drum's most inner edge that shows the original thickness.

 

[whelan wheels]

heres some pic's showing the wear on the clutch shoe assembly which isn't to bad overall considering the milage i put on it though.Although the wear is in a concave shape when seen on the edge wise, so i might be able get the bike back on the road as soon as i can get either a whole new clutch assembly or drum, but i'm still deciding on that one yet to see exactly what i'll be needing.

 

[scotto-]

That is awesome WW.......how in the heck did you get it to wear out like that? In all the years I've used centrifugal clutches, I've never had a bell burn through like that, even the cheapest of chinese bells at that. There was something seriously wrong with that Max Torque clutch. Wow!

 

[azbill]

I can't think of how the shoes wore like that !!!
mine have all wore on an arc across the surface like brake shoes
I don't know what would cause them to wear concave like that

 

[F_Rod81]

Wow...

Maybe it's all the extra weight that you carry WW, I have never seen that before.

 

[whelan wheels]

hard to say to be exact there bill and scotto and f rod. i'm suspecting possibly heat caused by slippige due to the really high head winds i've faced this season as well as major hills i've had to ride over during my last tour through manitoulin island? But still i'm not sure. I don't think the weight i carried on the bike was the cause though. But it could be all the factors combind. My average load i carried for my tours is less than 60 l.b. and plus the rider as well as gas carried. I only did straight foward riding covering long distances. But when i do ride through town i do remove the touring load and ride as I usually do and thats just cruising around town.

 

[MotorBicycleRacing]

Are you going to contact EZ Motorbike and MaxTorque and ask them to replace it under warranty as defective?
Please let us know what happens.

Did the bell rub on the Q Matic backing plate??
Your pics are so fuzzy.....

 

[whelan wheels]

Yeah i'm already corrasponding with quenton gunther by e-mail and will be sending it out to him to get the drum and shoes replaced.

 

[scotto-]

Are you going to contact EZ Motorbike and MaxTorque and ask them to replace it under warranty as defective?
Please let us know what happens.

Did the bell rub on the Q Matic backing plate??
Your pics are so fuzzy.....

Come too think of it, that is about where the backing plate would rub if it was, but the backing plate is made of aluminum and wouldn't wear through steel like that. Hmmm......

 

[GearNut]

I live at the top of a looong relatively steep hill. I hope that my clutch does not decide to play copycat after yours.

 

[whelan wheels]

I do have that suspicion to as well there mb racing and scotto . I strongly supect the inner backing plate may have rubbed and cut right through the clutch drum bell part, thus shearing right through it. Not sure why though?

 

[whelan wheels]

The inner part of the clutch that faces the transmission part and rear pully has three steel plates by the way, i know this because i just did a magnet test on it to confirm it.

 

[MotorBicycleRacing]

I do have that suspicion to as well there mb racing and scotto . I strongly supect the inner backing plate may have rubbed and cut right through the clutch drum bell part, thus shearing right through it. Not sure why though?

If your clutch bell was wobbling with a lot of play in the bushing
it would rub on the Q Matic backing plate.

Also there is not much clearance between the bell and the aluminum plate
so if your mounting bracket arms for the rear shaft are off center that would
make the bell rub too.

Did you remove or loosen the mounting bracket arms for the rear shaft?

Look at the hole in the aluminum backing plate, does it look worn?
Probably worn on one side and not round anymore.

 

[whelan wheels]

There's no wear on the aluminum transmission plate at all and no i didn't remove or loosen the support bracket arm at all around the rear shaft during the entire course of the transmissions usage untill bayfield to remove the sheared part of the clutch drum from inbetween the pully and clutch just after it sheared it's self.

 

[The_Aleman]

You might want to consider lowering your gear ratio. From what I've seen you say in the chatbox, your cruising speed is quite conservative - barely above the full lock-up point of the clutch. You basically have the tallest recommended gear despite the fact you cruise at 25MPH or less with a load.

 

[whelan wheels]

You could be right there ale. I might be in need of a 67 tooth rear drive sprocket to really assist me on the long range rides that I do I'd guess

 

[whelan wheels]

I'm just curious though if a 60 tooth sprocket for the interm do well enough untill i can get a rim and 67 tooth sprocket from pirate cycles?

 

[azbill]

I just got off the phone with Quenton about your issue (talked to him about Velodrome's bike too)

as I told you, it is fully covered under warranty

we deduced that your rear sprocket might be too small for the hills, weight and headwinds you were reporting (I can't remember what rear sprocket you are running)

Q thinks that it was slipping almost constantly due to slower riding speeds and the slipping caused friction resulting in premature bell wear (with my 72, I can run at <20, even pulling the full trailer with out hardly any slippage)
when the clutch is fully engaged, it has no friction at all, the shaft is the only thing spinning

if possible, could you pm me with your phone#, I would like to call and shoot the breeze as well as help any way I can

another thing I forgot to ask in chat with you was, how often do you put a few drops of oil on the oillite bushing ???

a 60 should be fine for reasonably flat terrain without a super heavy load

 

[whelan wheels]

I usually add a good spray down of oil just before i head out on a days worth of riding in town which usually is a short run, but when i'm touring i oil the bushing twice a day.I oil it just before i head out and once more after 5 or 6 hours of riding. The oil i use is kp 57 oil or kp 75 oil for lubricating the oil bushing,which is a high quaility oil that i use. I get it from home hardware out here in sudbury.