I, Slayer Of Clutch Chatter...

[Raddion]

Finally, FINALLY got to the bottom of the horrific "grinding/binding" sensation at mid-speed / mid-throttle on mine and the wife's 6.5 Tecumseh modded Doodlebugs. Two years with those things shaking our teeth out! Well, we didn't even really ride them last summer because it always felt like we might have to carry them home in two pieces. The only way we could motor around on them was either crawling at low speed or floored to the board (not fun with 6.5hp engines!) Made the auto tensioners (very nice), changed the chains - nope. Changed the rear axle bearings - nope. Double and triple checked engine-sprocket alignment... nope.

Finally, ya know, a light bulb went on. When I put the bikes together, I had searched for the absolute best centrifugal clutches money could buy, and I ordered up two Hilliard "Extreme Duty" beauties after seeing all the happy happy feedback (not here, on Amazon I think) regarding them. Well, to make a long story slightly less long, I stared at those bikes long and hard one Sunday afternoon after many months of frustration, and I decided to roll the dice and replace the still-newish Hilliards and their fancy spring setups with a couple of good old fashioned Max-Torques. Swapped them out early last Saturday morning, and hellyeah, we had such a great day tooling around the 10,000 acres of deserted trails that surround our property. We even brought some nippers and a roast beef grinder!!!

PROBLEM SOLVED. MINIBIKES RULE.

 

[tippycanoenm]

Good to know............didn't ya just hate to go home..........nice picture!

 

[OND]

I like your DB's ...great pic !

 

[KustomKartKid]

Good deal....can't go wrong with a Max Torque. Must be nice to have all those trails.

Oh and it's a sub...not a grinder...:hammer:

 

[Itype2slo]

Good deal....can't go wrong with a Max Torque. Must be nice to have all those trails.

Oh and it's a sub...not a grinder...:hammer:

Then there is hero, hoagie or the trendy new Sammy ( whatever the hell that is)

 

[jdogg]

Glad you got it figured out!! :thumbsup:

Problem you described sounded like no fun at all!!

 

[ZR9B]

Nice photo....sure sounds like some nice trails...

 

[ole4]

Anyone else observe that issue with the hillard? I have always used max torque but read a lot of positives about the hillard and was considering getting one.

 

[fastreddevil1]

I have the hillard extreme duty, has a little chatter but nothing real bad

 

[Raddion]

Hey, all the replies are cool, hope everyone has a great summer riding!

I really think the Hilliard's are designed for rigors of kart track racing, and not so much for trail riding on Doodlebugs. They do make about four different tension spring sets that you can buy to tinker with engagement speeds, but I figured I'd be better off not screwing around and throwing good money after bad. The Hilliard chatter we had was equal to both minibikes and IMMENSE - calling it chatter is really an understatement, it was like riding with your chain six inches too long and slipping around the sprockets. I suspect the long chain length of the Doodlebugs didn't help matters, but there is not a hint of "chatter" with the new clutches. I'm good!!!

It's a GRINDER!

 

[wb4rt]

I have a Hilliard Extreme Duty clutch on my scratch-built minibike. I have tried to figure out the "chatter" or "grinding". It is a little worrying when it engages. So I'm glad to know that is "normal" for this clutch.

Maybe I need to switch it out too.

Thanks for the thread. If anyone has additional information about the springs, etc. I am interested.

 

[maverick1]

I have a Noram I removed from my race kart and put on my Subaru powered Rupp. Had the same chatter problem on the Rupp.

 

[dakota]

Keep the bushing oiled good.