For those interested. I posted this a few months back. Though you may be able to use this method to preserve your Jackshaft bearing and improve performance...BBY
Think about your secondary clutch and how it aligns with your primary. Traditionally, Yamaha has installed there secondary to be "self aligning". While it makes sense, does it actually work? hmmmm.
The engine in the RX-1 is a solid mounted engine, meaning it cant move laterally towards the secondary drive shaft under acceleration loads. The idea of a "floating secondary" is that the driven clutch will move inwards or outwards on the drive shaft to compensate when the PTO side of the engine moves rearward under acceleration loads. That’s a mouthful. However, think about that a minute. If your engine doesn’t move, why on god’s earth do you need slop in your secondary? To allow for larger tolerances at assembly time? To make it less labor intensive for the dealer? My guess is both. Ski-Doo, Cat, and now Polaris all use "Locked" secondary and they have engines that do move because of the rubber in the motor mounts. With the installation of a good engine tensioner, you can run a locked secondary on any sled. Racers have been doing if for years, and now it’s trickling into the manufacturers. The Key is to make sure your alignment is absolutely perfect. Ill cover that in a bit. This has been bugging me for sometime, so I researched it further. I talked to many racers, dealers, and manufacturers and wrote a letter to Snow Tech and got a response from "Dear Ralph" in their first issue of 03/04. He agreed with this theory and mentioned there’s a reason certain manufacturers and now running "Locked Secondary".
For those of you completely lost, go lift the hood of your sled, put both hands on the secondary clutch and push in, now pull out. Notice it Moves? That’s "Float".
Yamaha uses a splined jackshaft and the inside of the secondary is also a splined. The fit is excellent, however in theory, it would be impossible for a clutch to "self align" under hard acceleration and hard brake loads. There is too much side pressure on the jackshaft to allow the secondary to move. So why do you need it? And why is Yamaha the only company to still "float" there secondary? hmmmmmm, Now on to the steps to properly align your clutches and to insure better belt life and better performance.
The Correct way:
1. Remove the Drive belt and Secondary
2. Add appx 2-40 thous thick shims to the Jackshaft. Reinstall Secondary making sure youve tightened the 14 MM bolt.
3. Using an offset tool check to make sure the offset is 15MM from the back of the secondary to the back of the primary. If not, remove secondary and add or subtract shims until the offset is perfect.
4. Reinstall secondary and belt and your done. This will lock your secondary into place and will not allow it to move on the shaft.
Alternate way:
1. Remove the Drive belt
2. Get a 18" piece of steel straight edge (or mechanics ruler), make sure its straight.
3. Open up the sheaves on the secondary and slide the straight edge all the way down to the bottom of the sheaves.
4. Let the secondary close so it pinches the straight edge making sure the other end is resting on the center primary bushing.
5. Take a look at where the straight edge comes to rest in the primary.
6. You want it perfectly centered on the shiny part (where the belt rubs)
7. To move the straight edge outwards, Take the secondary off and add shims until you get the straight edge to come to rest perfectly centered in the primary. Usually about .040 to .080 are how far they are off.
In conclusion, you can do whatever you wish with your clutches. But if you want longer lasting belts, cooler running clutches, and better performing sleds, you may want to try this.
Think about your secondary clutch and how it aligns with your primary. Traditionally, Yamaha has installed there secondary to be "self aligning". While it makes sense, does it actually work? hmmmm.
The engine in the RX-1 is a solid mounted engine, meaning it cant move laterally towards the secondary drive shaft under acceleration loads. The idea of a "floating secondary" is that the driven clutch will move inwards or outwards on the drive shaft to compensate when the PTO side of the engine moves rearward under acceleration loads. That’s a mouthful. However, think about that a minute. If your engine doesn’t move, why on god’s earth do you need slop in your secondary? To allow for larger tolerances at assembly time? To make it less labor intensive for the dealer? My guess is both. Ski-Doo, Cat, and now Polaris all use "Locked" secondary and they have engines that do move because of the rubber in the motor mounts. With the installation of a good engine tensioner, you can run a locked secondary on any sled. Racers have been doing if for years, and now it’s trickling into the manufacturers. The Key is to make sure your alignment is absolutely perfect. Ill cover that in a bit. This has been bugging me for sometime, so I researched it further. I talked to many racers, dealers, and manufacturers and wrote a letter to Snow Tech and got a response from "Dear Ralph" in their first issue of 03/04. He agreed with this theory and mentioned there’s a reason certain manufacturers and now running "Locked Secondary".
For those of you completely lost, go lift the hood of your sled, put both hands on the secondary clutch and push in, now pull out. Notice it Moves? That’s "Float".
Yamaha uses a splined jackshaft and the inside of the secondary is also a splined. The fit is excellent, however in theory, it would be impossible for a clutch to "self align" under hard acceleration and hard brake loads. There is too much side pressure on the jackshaft to allow the secondary to move. So why do you need it? And why is Yamaha the only company to still "float" there secondary? hmmmmmm, Now on to the steps to properly align your clutches and to insure better belt life and better performance.
The Correct way:
1. Remove the Drive belt and Secondary
2. Add appx 2-40 thous thick shims to the Jackshaft. Reinstall Secondary making sure youve tightened the 14 MM bolt.
3. Using an offset tool check to make sure the offset is 15MM from the back of the secondary to the back of the primary. If not, remove secondary and add or subtract shims until the offset is perfect.
4. Reinstall secondary and belt and your done. This will lock your secondary into place and will not allow it to move on the shaft.
Alternate way:
1. Remove the Drive belt
2. Get a 18" piece of steel straight edge (or mechanics ruler), make sure its straight.
3. Open up the sheaves on the secondary and slide the straight edge all the way down to the bottom of the sheaves.
4. Let the secondary close so it pinches the straight edge making sure the other end is resting on the center primary bushing.
5. Take a look at where the straight edge comes to rest in the primary.
6. You want it perfectly centered on the shiny part (where the belt rubs)
7. To move the straight edge outwards, Take the secondary off and add shims until you get the straight edge to come to rest perfectly centered in the primary. Usually about .040 to .080 are how far they are off.
In conclusion, you can do whatever you wish with your clutches. But if you want longer lasting belts, cooler running clutches, and better performing sleds, you may want to try this.
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Matt, this is also in the Tech Section on Totallyamaha.com 
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Or you can do what I did...buy a center to center and off-set tool from Matt as well as a couple of shims....it makes life easier! :lol:
I also purchased a belt defection adjuster to make it easier to ensure proper belt deflection...
We are going to need to improve performance as much as possible if we even thinking about staying in the same area code with the new Mach Z!
I also purchased a belt defection adjuster to make it easier to ensure proper belt deflection...
We are going to need to improve performance as much as possible if we even thinking about staying in the same area code with the new Mach Z!
Guys that are having jackshaft bearing problems should really look into doing this. My dealer is now locking every secondary on every RX1 that leaves there dealership. They have had several bad bearings and since they have been locking them down, zero problems. Just thought Id pass that along...BBY
