The last couple of rides I have noticed the Rekluse "dragging" a bit at idle which has made finding neutral nearly impossible without killing the engine. Riding yesterday things got to a point where I was struggling to ride. I adjusted the adjustable slave cylinder as much as I can and there still isn't enough free-play-gain/install gap to sort the problem out. Reading on a couple of other forums it seems I am not the first one to struggle with this on my Beta, and others got a new part sent to them by Rekluse. So I contacted Chris at Sutto's (my local Rekluse dealer) about it. He reckoned I needed a thicker washer on the throw-out to ensure there is enough of a gap and adjust-ability.
This morning I took a crack at sorting it out. Chris had recommended adding a 1mm washer on top of the Rekluse throw-out washer, so I measured the OEM washer on the OEM throw-out and it was 1mm... so I figured I'd use it.
Unfortunately, when I came to installing the OEM washer on the Rekluse throw-out I discovered the OEM washer is quite a bit bigger than the Rekluse one. ^BGHD
Just to test whether I could get the install gap right I thought I would try it anyway. Whilst I had the clutch open I figured I would do a check of the plates to see that everything is OK. The workshop manual says the friction plates should be at least 2.8mm thick (mine are 3mm), and the friction disc tooth should be at least 13.3mm wide (mine are 13.7mm) so the friction plates seem fine. An inspection of the steel drive plates showed that they are still in good contion too. The Rekluse EXP ring is supposed to be checked every 40 hours and is meant to be a minimum of 10.57mm. Mine is closer to 50 hours now, so it was due for a check, and fortunately it still looks in good condition and is 11.2mm thick. With those checks done, the suggestion in the Rekluse manual that the lack of free-play-gain might be due to worn or glazed friction discs is clearly off the mark. So it must be the throw-out washer thickness.
I put everything back together and tested the free-play-gain with the OEM washer on top of the Rekluse washer and could not get any clutch lever movement when blipping the throttle. I ended up winding the adjustment screw on the slave cylinder until I could see the O-ring before I got any movement, so obviously adding the 1mm washer made the install-gap too big.
Measuring the thickness of the Rekluse throw-out washer I found that it is just shy of 0.75mm thick.
So I need a washer between 0.75mm and 1.75mm thick with an inside diameter of 12mm and outside diameter of 23.5mm or so. Naturally I didn't have anything like that sitting at home so off I went to the auto stores nearby with my verniers in hand. I managed to find some stainless steel 1/2" washers with almost perfect ID and OD measurements, and about 1.5mm thick.
Back home I put the new washer on and put everything back together. Whilst doing that I noticed I had damaged the clutch cover seal somewhere along the line, so I had to use a bit of silicone sealant to do a temporary repair until I can get a new one from Gary (the Beta Australia importer).
Thankfully, once everything was back together I managed to set the free-play-gain and still have a bit of adjustment left there. I have written to Chris at Sutto's to get his opinion on whether this "dodgy job" is acceptable or whether he would prefer to send me a new part.
Anyway, with 50 hours on the bike now, I was due to check out the condition of the clutch, so I'm glad I've done it now. I think I should do a proper full checkup on the bike soon, including valve clearance check. I hope to be getting my IMS tank this coming week, so when I fit that I'll probably do the job.