Whats the deal with a shift assist (Secondary Clutch)

[Rprecision]

Small flat torington type bearing which is placed under the secondary clutch spring. Reduces spring bind, got that part understand the premise to the idea.

The $64 question is what does this do to a otherwise stock sled. Does one need to recalabrate the clutch after install ?

I guess the bottom line is, is it worth doing ?

Thanks

 

[furthur]

Have you tried clutching an M-sled without one, especially that M7? "Back in the day", when all we had was the cat white spring, a 36 deg. helix and the white adjuster ring...getting these things to backshift was a problem until you added lots of preload. Better springs, the 10.4" secondary, and the torque of the 800 helped, I think, but my M7 still runs one for consistancy and help backshifting.

Some guys say it also upshifts faster and loads the motor harder, so you may need to pull weight...I didn't experience that with my setup.

Bottom line, for a 10" clutch in a 6 or 700, it's the first thing I'd do, along with an orange secondary spring. For the 800's...I'd use one if it needed it.

ymmv,
John

 

[Needspeed]

It won't change your clutch tuning, if you remove one of the plastic washers, they are about the same thiickness.

 

[Stack]

Installed in on an M7 last year along with a 10.4 secondary upgrade, I thought the whole package worked very well and pulled like an animal on the low end in the tight and twisties on the way to the pow.

The bearing is cheap, like $20.00 (Should be cheaper if you source on your own from a place like Motion Industries)

Bottom line, it works, and helps significantly with spring binding.

JOhn

 

[slomo]

i had to drop a couple of grams to get my rpm back after the install went from 68's to 66's thats with the 10.4 and orange spring

 

[Rprecision]

I am running 68's now everything stock. I felt it pulled good but on the high climbs (12-13K) it only hit 7800 ish loaded on spring snow pack. Dealer said not to go any lighter the 68 as belt life starts to dwindle off...........

mmmmmmm............

I am not sure what to do, My only goal is to improve the backshift and pull about another 200-300 rpm

 

[furthur]

I am running 68's now everything stock. I felt it pulled good but on the high climbs (12-13K) it only hit 7800 ish loaded on spring snow pack. Dealer said not to go any lighter the 68 as belt life starts to dwindle off...........

mmmmmmm............

I am not sure what to do, My only goal is to improve the backshift and pull about another 200-300 rpm

I agree on the weights, as you will loose trackspeed too. I've liked either more preload on the secondary, or less helix finish angle best, on changes I've done. Less weight is bad...at least for my M7.

 

[backcountryislife]

It's odd that folks are saying that they needed to cut weight, I had to add 1.5 gms when I did mine.

Very happy, my sled was not backshifting enough at the top of a climb & I was losing a touch of momentum. After adding the bearing it holds or gains rpm on the way up a climb. Mine went from 76 gms to 76.5 (shaved cat LT weights) @ 11k+ it now holds 7200-7300 at 13k, wouldn't do that before.

DEFINATELY worth the money imo, but this was on a mildly tuned 1000, so that may be a significant difference because of the level of torque produced by the 1000?
I liked it.

 

[Wood]

I am running 68's now everything stock. I felt it pulled good but on the high climbs (12-13K) it only hit 7800 ish loaded on spring snow pack. Dealer said not to go any lighter the 68 as belt life starts to dwindle off...........

mmmmmmm............

I am not sure what to do, My only goal is to improve the backshift and pull about another 200-300 rpm

You will not gain rpm with a SA making no other changes unless you are coil binding the spring....and you may lose rpm as the SA, in essence, allows the back clutch to shift faster/easier as it is in effect, reducing the secondary spring force by allowing the spring to 'slip' and not bind. This is why some may have felt the need to drop weight to maintain rpm. What are your clutches telling you? Are they hot...any belt slip...alignment? If it's simply a matter of rpm you could go to a primary spring with more finish tension and if you want more backshift, you could run a shallower finish angle on you helix or a stiffer back spring (higher finish).

As I'm sure you know, conditions will also play a big role in your clutching.....a 200 rpm spread from warm/sticky to cold/hard conditions is certainly not uncommon. This is where adjustable weights and adjustable back springs are nice.

 

[Rprecision]

Thanks for all the input, I still have some time to look at things. It ran so well last year I just dont want to go backwards.