Hello there forum,

Looking for some help here. Bike is a 2004 Swift Tormentor. Has a 113 S&S with a baker 6 spd, 3600 miles which i imagine were hard.

Got a ticking like a sewing machine coming from clutch area of primary with clutch engaged. Disengaged with level pressed, sound changes and reminds me of the dry clutch in a Ducati. (This is also a dry clutch pack).

I have yet to pull the cover, its my next move as I just finished carb and ignition system rebuilds. That being said, anyone now what make primary this is or how I could determine it? Would like to see if I can find a production bike or part manufacturer manual that will give me some torque information since Swift has no such manual that I can find. It was off the shelf from somewhere and I would like to imagine is similar to something HD used in early 00's. I have not been able to find any markings on it thus far.

I have attached a picture of the primary, and a video for noises.

It does increase with RPMs, happens in and out of gear. Thinking it may be the clutch basket bearing or the shaft bearing. Either way, I bought this bike to learn and will figure it out one way or another.

Cheers

 

If you hear the noise while the clutch lever is released, the clutch hub bearing is not the problem.

Try this:

With bike stopped, engine running, pull in clutch lever and drop into 1st gear.

Does the noise stop?

 

Also does the sound change at all when you simply pull the clutch in.

It kinda sounds like an old BDL clutch.

 

Okay, So in the video attached in first post that is clutch engaged (lever out) making the tick in neutral. from 11sec -17sec that is the clutch disengaged (lever pulled). I believe that 11-17 sec portion is 100% okay, matches a lot of dry clutch sounds I have heard in researching online.

Shift into gear makes no difference, but that's because the clutch is disengaged. When riding at any speed that tick is present and RPM dependent assuming clutch engagement.

Will likely get into the drive tonight/tomorrow and see what I can see. I am also considering pulling ahead an upgrade to a open primary belt drive now that I'm getting into this. Still on fence though. ​
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Pull the clutch cover and post a pic.

 

Does the sound go away when engine running, clutch lever pulled back, in first gear?

 

Yes, Its the same sound as in the mid portion of video, 11-17sec time stamp. Its the same dry clutch sound in or out of gear. Cant tell if tick exists because the clutch sound could be masking it.

 

I'd take the outer cover off and run it on a lift. I imagine you will get a much better idea where it might be coming from. Might even be that when the clutch was put in it wasn't properly aligned with the compensator so that the chain is rubbing on the chain tensioner

 

So the answer is yes, to my question in post 6...

Inner primary bearing.

 

So I cracked the case last night finally.

Come to find out, primo belt drive. I believe its a Brute III. Score!

I didn't get much further then that, as it was late and i was tired but the noise is 100% in the clutch pack. There is 0 play in the basket that I can feel.

So my plan tonight is to take out the clutch pack and check the basket and clutch for wear on the splines that the disks interact with. From research, it appears its fairly common within 1000k miles for the baskets to develop wear on the splines that allow the plates/disks to have play and make chatter with clutch engagement. Apparently that is the nature of the beast, and having an enclosed primary creates an echo chamber for the sound to reverberate in.

While there, I am going to remove the belt and check both primary bearing for play/noise/feel.