The one I mentioned about the right (clutch) cover. It was fairly straight foreward. Drained the oil. Removed the "pulse generator" (distributor to the folks in the US) and unbolted verything. Poped the side of and did LOTS of gasket scraping. What a pain in the butt. I hate gasket scraping. Washed the crap out from scraping. Marveled at the hugeness of the clutch. Put the new gasket on. Re-installed the cover, and as I was torquing everything back to specs, broke one of the case cover bolts off  :x

it was one of the internal ones under the distributor plate and it's not leaking. At least not right now. So I'm not going to tear the whole side apart and struggle with that one bolt until I'm ready to do the bottom gasket (which is now leaking too).

I expected this putting full synthetic in an 11 year old bike but it's still a pain in the ass. Good luck with all of your projects.  

Where did you find the torque spec for the clutch cover bolts?

What is the spec?  I tightened mine to 10NM hope that's not too much.
Paul

In my Haynes manual it specifies the 8mm bolts should be tightened to 20-24 NM, but that's too much for the inner, nickle plated ones aparently.

I'd torque those to 10 NM or so and the outside ones to between 15-20 NM. from my experiance. Or just go buy new, higher grade, bolts and torque to the correct specs.

I'm not totaly sure as I write, but those case bolts are not 8mm.  They are more like 6 or 5mm.  Are you referring to the socket size that fits the bolt?  That's not how they size them usually in torque specs.  I have a link to a great website that has all the different bolts, sizes, and torque specs for the various grades.  I'll post it as soon as I can find it again.

I got to 10nm's and I thought that it felt way too tight.  I left it that way.  No leaks.  I did as you, scrape... scrape... scrape some more to get the old gasket off and replaced with new.

Paul

Ooops. That would explain it. 8mm head, 6mm shaft. Doh. So they should only be 10-12 NM and I was doing twice that. That's what I get for assuming. I didn't even see any 8mm case bolts then. Maybe they're the ones on the bottom.

Damn it Haynes give me illustrations!    :mrgreen:

I'll have to check on the size of those bolts.  I looked at the schematic but it doesn't give the size.  I'll keep checking for that and the torque/size chart.

Paul

Hi there.
Ive just bought a GS500 and it too has a big oil leak from the right clutch cover. I just got my manual and was intending to replace the gasket on the weekend. It didnt mention anything about "gasket scraping". Assuming this is a colloquial term, (i am guessing it means scraping off the existing gasket but this is my first experience of doing my own service so i want to be sure) what does it mean exactly?

Cheers,
Dave

Pretty simple.  Just take off the case (after draining oil) and clean the old gasket material from the two mating serfaces.  BE CARFULL, don't remove any aluminium from the cases - i.e. scratchs or gouges.  I used a razor blade (but I've been doing it for years).  I would suggest a brass wire wheel in a die grinding tool, but you may not have access to this.  Careful not to get crap inside the engine.  Otherwise, use what ever you have just don't hurt the surfaces.

IMPORTANT: don't over tighten the case bolts when reinstalling them.

Use a little locktite on the advancer bolt and don't overtighten it either.


Paul

QuoteI expected this putting full synthetic in an 11 year old bike

My bike is 10 years old with 6500 miles. Is it acceptable for me to use full synthetic? I was planning on using the same type of oil you use, the Rotella T full synthetic. It sounds like a good choice. Good luck with everything!

I'm hesitant to put the Amsoil Synthetic in my 89' after reading all the problems with oil leaks.  However, I have new clutch cover gastket, cylinder gasket, head gasket and oil rings on the head.  I think I'll be ok.

Paul

Is there anything I should apply to the new gasket when I put it on?

Here is something to be aware of.

When you remove the clutch side case. Look close and you will notice a slotted area by the crankshaft seal. Make sure NOTHING clogs this area! This is where the 2 bolts under the ignition plate go. On the gasket you will see some small holes in this area.
Oil goes through the gasket hole into the slot, back out another hole and into the counterbalancer bearing. When putting on a new gasket, ONLY put sealer around the outside of the case. Leave the slotted area clean. I also don't put sealer on the engine side.
This way the case can be pulled off without damaging the gasket.
If the slotted area gets plugged up it will starve the counterbalancer bearing of oil and ruin it.
I use a T handled wrench to tighten the bolts. I just snug them down first and then give them an extra twist. Never torqued them, broke them or had a leak.
The same thing goes for the flywheel side.
That ones more critical, because the oil slot is on the edge of the case. So great care must be taken not to plug it with sealer.

I didn't use any sealer of any kind and I don't have any leaks. Of course I also over-torqued the poor thing. But i still think I wouldn't have any problems even if I did torque it properly. Since you are only sealing one side I'm guessing the gasket is designed to be sufficiant by itself.

Quote from: Black SnowmanMarveled at the hugeness of the clutch.

I did this too when i changed clutch plates.  I had recently changed the clutch on my 175 dirt bike and geez......  the GS clutch looks like a monster.  Did you also note the helical cut on the gear?  I always read in the manuals to NEVER TURN THE MOTOR THE WRONG DIRECTION and didn't understand why.  This is why...  If you turn it the OTHER direction, the helical cut forces the assembly the OTHER way and it rubs.  If you turn the engine the OTHER way you will feel the rub.

I never had the math to be a mechanical engineer but I still get off on these little details.

Thanks for all the tips guys. It makes a big difference to get instructions that arent in the manual.

Cheers
Dave

This off topic, but, I went through the Ferrari museum in Modena a few years ago. They have a lot of Ferrari F1 engines on display. The clutch on the engines from '99 and 2000 are about 4" in diameter, and maybe 1 1/2" thick. The 3.0 liter engines from those years made about 800 to 850 hp. Pretty amazing that a little clutch like that will withstand even one racing start with that much hp, and big sticky tires.