Clutch safety season

[Fords4life]

Just like to bring this to mind since we are all getting ready to ride, and some of us lucky souls already have. Like to share my experience with a team clutch explosion, yes explosion not a fracture like cat calls it, happened super bowl sunday morning 2020 out by myself on a speed run rolling into her at80mph last i saw was106 caboom!! instant pain in my left foot and black plastic flying everywear, thought that was a hell of a belt explosion, coasted to a stop to find only my clutch spider in tack yet, shock bent into a u shape, upper control arm bent and ripped out of balkhead, secondary broke in half, and reason for my foot pain my foot stoped a large chunck after it cut thru footwell, then limp a mile and a half for help. So what im saying is please people inspect your clutchs before every ride, i know this is a cat clutch, but clutchs are clutchs, and anything spinning 9000rpms will cause severe damadge if things go wrong. Not much in life rattles me....but this did..so much so i built a .125" diamond plate clutch/ belt gaurd for my riot 9000 and my rtx se. So get yourselves a mirror and flashlight and inspect those clutchs before every ride, enclosed pics of my replacement clutch that made it 400 miles before it started cracking along with my gaurd.

 

[REDLINE 1]

Smart to switch to a billet clutch with these tunes we are running. Luckily I caught mine in the cracking stage. Yes, need to keep a close eye on the stock team clutch! Running a Pro 4 now.

 

[yamamarc]

Yes anyone running a cat 998 needs to be aware of this. I have seen many many cracked ones and a few blown up.. this is very dangerous and ac is not acknowledging there is a issue instead just redesigned a primary for 2022
This is not isolated to our 998 turbo cat even 800 and 600 crack and blow up.

There is a guy here locally that has been taking the primaries apart to give the movable sheave bushing more clearance and supposedly it's been working

 

[Motorhead]

My first 4stroke triple and yes they are hard on primary clutches. The noise that these clutches put out is letting you know that you better keep an eye on them, before every ride if possible!
Have been doing that since new, in fact I called Yamaha to complain about this safety problem on my first season with my Winder. I was told that they knew nothing about the noisy unsafe clutches. My response was why did you guys put a cheaper phaser type clutch on these powerful Winders. By that statement, I meant why copy the cheaper phaser clutches that are without set screws for the roller pins! Back then and now,I know that is where a lot of the noise is coming from. Just check your bolt heads on the pins I speak of and you will see how that bolt head has dented it’s way further in to the aluminum clutch where it hits! Making it even louder as it allows more travel to that pin as hits again and again. I do understand that there are other areas of this clutch that are also making noise and that the 3 cylinders are not as smooth as the old apex motors, but c’mon man!

Speaking from my experience, I will say that once the rollers go, the weight bushings and pins will also wear very fast whereas they are no longer riding square on those rollers, and it will cause the weight to try and twist, thus taking out the bushing and pins really quick. I luckily caught mine in time before it would have pulled the weights out of the clutch, and could not believe the wrecked weights. You could see how they were no longer square to the roller by the markings on the weights. So yes keep an eye on these primaries, and if they start to crack, junk this style Yamaha clutch and do what many have posted, put the older style (Apex etc) clutch in it, or the more expensive alternatives!

 

[Upstater57]

I run a Tapp with a Pro 4 and a blast shield. Big HP needs lots of good parts to support it. If you can't trust the stock clutch with stock HP, you need to upgrade it when you turn up the boost wick.

 

[Fords4life]

My first 4stroke triple and yes they are hard on primary clutches. The noise that these clutches put out is letting you know that you better keep an eye on them, before every ride if possible!
Have been doing that since new, in fact I called Yamaha to complain about this safety problem on my first season with my Winder. I was told that they knew nothing about the noisy unsafe clutches. My response was why did you guys put a cheaper phaser type clutch on these powerful Winders. By that statement, I meant why copy the cheaper phaser clutches that are without set screws for the roller pins! Back then and now,I know that is where a lot of the noise is coming from. Just check your bolt heads on the pins I speak of and you will see how that bolt head has dented it’s way further in to the aluminum clutch where it hits! Making it even louder as it allows more travel to that pin as hits again and again. I do understand that there are other areas of this clutch that are also making noise and that the 3 cylinders are not as smooth as the old apex motors, but c’mon man!

Speaking from my experience, I will say that once the rollers go, the weight bushings and pins will also wear very fast whereas they are no longer riding square on those rollers, and it will cause the weight to try and twist, thus taking out the bushing and pins really quick. I luckily caught mine in time before it would have pulled the weights out of the clutch, and could not believe the wrecked weights. You could see how they were no longer square to the roller by the markings on the weights. So yes keep an eye on these primaries, and if they start to crack, junk this style Yamaha clutch and do what many have posted, put the older style (Apex etc) clutch in it, or the more expensive alternatives!

This is what im looking for out of you experienced yamaha pros on this site, was hoping you guys could ad to my cat clutch post, could you make a short simple list of items to check for new commers or veterans to look over before they ride, thank you all!!

 

[Turboflash]

Yes anyone running a cat 998 needs to be aware of this. I have seen many many cracked ones and a few blown up.. this is very dangerous and ac is not acknowledging there is a issue instead just redesigned a primary for 2022
This is not isolated to our 998 turbo cat even 800 and 600 crack and blow up.

There is a guy here locally that has been taking the primaries apart to give the movable sheave bushing more clearance and supposedly it's been working

I know this is TY not TC, LOL but since this got brought up I can provide some info.
There is still an ongoing case against Cat on the Team primary cracking/explosion problem. Yes, even stock 600s and 800s and 998s experience this failure. I was the original complainant against Cat when I filed a case with the CPSC (Consumer Product Safety Commission) about 2 years ago. I get updates from the CPSC on the progress of the case. The CPSC has the power to force Cat to do "something." Cat is already saying they have moved on from the Team to the ADAPT clutch while never admitting formally to the problem. Cat has never admitted there is a problem. They are claiming they have resolved any potential issue by replacing the Team with the ADAPT. According to inside sources, Cat repeatedly told their dealers to NEVER admit or talk about cracking issues with anyone, lest a law suit be filed. They told their dealers to be hush hush and to claim they know nothing about such problem. We all know that's a complete lie. So, it remains to be seen what, if anything will ultimately happen.
In conclusion, every Cat sled owner should inspect their clutch often (even after every ride) to make sure cracks are not developing. It's always on the movable side not the stationery side (I've never seen these cracks on stationery side). Owners need to either remove the clutch or use a mirror and good flashlight to look at the movable side down low near the center roller bearing. Dropping the side panel and bending over to look at the clutch will not work because without a mirror they're looking at the stationery side not the movable side!
I'm not a metallurgical engineer but I know that clutch aluminum is thin down by the center roller bearing and has a sharp corner. The cracks seem to start earlier on sleds that stop and start allot. Also, the edge right next to the center bearing has a very sharp corner - no radius. Heat contributes and builds up down where the belt engages allot eventually causing a hairline crack starting at the sharp corner which gets bigger and bigger until BOOM! I have dozens of pics showing cracks and carnage from explosions. So does TPI, Hurricane, and TD to name a few.
Seeking to try to minimize the thin cross-section near the center roller bearing (AND the razor sharp edge), I have been experimenting by disassembling the clutch and putting the movable half into my lathe and machining that sharp edge to a generous radius, finishing by polishing to almost a mirror very smooth radius. I've done 3 clutches so far beginning last year. So far, none have cracked but that doesn't mean they won't. If anything has a chance of helping the situation, I think this does. Time will tell.

 

[Thunder Products]

"Cat repeatedly told their dealers to NEVER admit or talk about cracking issues with anyone, lest a law suit be filed. They told their dealers to be hush hush and to claim they know nothing about such problem."

Not just CAT but Yamaha also.

We were the first ones to have a Sidewinder clutch primary come apart and upon checking our other Sidewinder, we saw cracks exactly where the other clutch came apart. Since then I have saved every post, every thread, every pic and while working on these clutches everyday, have kept track of TEAM and the SW primary with cracks that come into our shop. Thunder Products Clutching has sold more new previous style clutches to owners that have had cracked or broken clutches....than you can imagine. I have a pile of sheaves and clutches in the corner to prove to anybody who wants to see them. I also have hundreds of pics too. The part that upsets me is that I tell everyone to bring this up to their dealer and their dealer says they know nothing of any problems. This is BS! I have called Yamaha direct, sent them many pictures and informed numerous dealers about clutches coming apart how they may seriously hurt someone. But, just as the last comment, this dealers have been told to keep "Hush Hush" and claim they know nothing. (I also have some very graphic pictures where sheave pieces have inserted themselves into body parts, but I will not post them here)

So, with this info, you will need to take action as our clutch manufacturers will not.

CHECK YOUR CLUTCHES BEFORE AND AFTER EACH RIDE!!!

 

[Upstater57]

I run a Tapp with a Pro 4 and a blast shield. Big HP needs lots of good parts to support it. If you can't trust the stock clutch with stock HP, you need to upgrade it when you turn up the boost wick.

What I said in December sadly still holds true.

 

[Turboflash]

Even though Cat introduced the ADAPT on 2022 sleds, the CPSC case on the Team clutch continues behind the scenes. CPSC sent me info (I filed the original complaint through them) that Cat's change to ADAPT does not relieve them of answering the complaint on the Team problem, including the injuries riders sustained when they exploded. COVID has slowed the pace on the investigation. Bottom line for me is all I really expect and want on my sled is a clutch that won't explode and cut my foot off or imbed in my leg, no matter how wore it out it might be. No excuse for it. Just plain p*## poor engineering and utter disregard for rider safety.

 

[stgdz]

Do you have that number for the CPSC and case file? I was going to send them my pics of cracked clutch.

I actually still have the clutch in the garage. I was going to toss it in the scrap pile but will they need it or do they have enough?

 

[Turboflash]

The case is well-documented with plenty of pics and actual blown up clutches so they won't need any more.
I'll PM you with case #.

 

[74Nitro]

I've serviced plenty of Winders over the years and have yet to see a clutch failure.
They do need rollers as the miles pile up.
I don't see the cracking at the bottom of the sheave, I think that the 8JP belt and the Timken belt is more gentle on the sheaves than the 8DN.

 

[SledFreak]

The case is well-documented with plenty of pics and actual blown up clutches so they won't need any more.
I'll PM you with case #.

Not to be rude... But what are you expecting to get from this... A massive recall and everyone gets a new clutch that cracked?

 

[Thunder Products]

No to be rude... But what are you expecting to get from this... A massive recall and everyone gets a new clutch that cracked?

A recall should be happening from TEAM and Yamaha, in my opinion. Stop the carnage before it gets worse.

Think about the 2017-2021 models still out there that have not had problems yet, but definitely will when more miles get put on.

It's just a matter of time.....

What if??? Say parts of these sheaves causes some serious, serious damage? (I know I can't say what I want to say) But what if? Wouldn't it be better to recall these and put on clutches that have been proven for years before?

Safety, safety, safety people!!