1985 VMAX inspect/replace clutch plate assembly

Steven May · May 21, 2019

Well heck. When you say the inner basket, are you referring to the boss clutch, or the primary? I wish I had waited to buy this stuff now until I understood more what was in it, and what was missing. Bikebandit has a return policy, so I guess I can go back to the venture pressure plate setup...which years were the gen1 with the coil springs? 83-85, right? I will order whatever I need from MorleysMuscle.com...can you tell from the pics what I am missing? I'm gonna go look for an exploded view of an "85 Venture.

one2dmax · May 24, 2019

Here's the basket comparisons

Steven May · May 25, 2019

one2dmax said:
The Venture coil conversion uses four parts to the push rod. One is a cup that pressed into the bearing. Then a short push rod, ball, and long pushrod.
The Vmax uses three. The short pushrod has a flange built into that fits into the bearing, then the ball, and then the long pushrod (note that on either pushrod the rounded end goes into the engine first (and eventually is pushed by the slave), the flat end goes against the ball.
You can swap either push rod system to either pressure plate.
The Venture coil conversion is most similar to the Barnett that a lot of people like to convert to on the Vmax and you can even get Barnett springs to get a heavier holding power.
I'd cancel the order for the standard pressure plate (which uses a different inner basket too by the way) and keep your coil spring conversion.
Perhaps ordering through someone like me would keep you from spending money you didn't have to.

I took my parts back to the dealer I'd received, and am going to turn around the parts from bike bandit, and I'll take your advice. I've kept the extra friction plate, and got 6 new bolts for the clutch springs...they are are a bit longer than the 3 that were included (1" from the bottom of the head vs .75" on the ones that were with the bike.) I'd ordered them for the VMAX setup, will they work for the Venture setup? I'd be interested in working with Morley's for any parts I still need, and I would appreciate your advice as I try to get this bike back to it's glory days condition. I am slightly concerned about the "steelies"...they are slightly pitted, and I don't want to do any repairs half-assed. Ordering parts online was easy ( I thought) as long as I knew what I was ordering, (i.e 1985 VMAX parts) but since it's been modified, I am confused. The friction plates I received seem identical to the old ones. But are the steelies the same? The dealership is 45 miles away, so it's about 100 miles to go get parts. I'd rather order them from you guys.

Steven May · May 25, 2019

Here's some pics of parts, appreciate your input.

the new bolts are the longer ones, and should I get new clutch plates?

one2dmax · May 27, 2019

The short push rod is from the vmax and will fit fine in your current pressure plate. The frictions can be bead blasted to remove glazing and any putting will be just fine. You need 8 fullsize frictions (Yamaha/Venture are the same). The pressure plate bolts on the left are correct for the Vmax but not the Venture. The ones on the right are not correct and I suspect were used because they were handy lol. You do need large washers (commonly called Fender washers) if you are going to use the Vmax bolts (and I suspect you had washers with those other bolts anyway). Should be no problem with doing that.

Steven May · May 27, 2019

Thanks for the info, I now have 8 full size friction plates, and am getting a bit excited about buttoning it back up. Need some oil and filters, water tank is on the way...just hoping compression is good, and carbs aren't gunked up. I'll soon see if I got a good deal or not!! Thanks for all the advice, and I'll keep you posted with my progress.

Steven May · Jun 2, 2019

Hey guys, just wanted to let you know I got the bike running...OMG it is fast. Two finger clutching or it'll yank your hand off the grip! But it is soooo loud! Those Kerker headers look really cool, I'm not sure what they do performance-wise, but I am considering putting the original pipes back on it. Are there carburetor adjustments to be made if I do that? Anyway, now that it is running I plan to take it to a mechanic to give it a once-over, do any tuning it needs, fix the horn, put a new back tire on it (and maybe a front one since I dont know how long it sat up?), and enjoy having a bike again. Thanks much for all your advice, the clutch works great! I am wondering however, should I have put threadlocker on the nuts holding the clutch springs?