[jeffro]

I have a 2002 VZ800 Suzuki Marauder. I bought it this summer with about 9500 miles on it. The clutch seemed to slip a bit when I got it. After taking it into a shop to have a comprehensive look-over and tune-up, which among other things corrected "the most out-of-sync carbs we have ever seen", I got it back with noticeably more power and fuel efficiency, yet even more pronounced clutch slippage. I'm not sure exactly what brand of oil they put in during the tune-up but these guys are very experienced and highly-respected mechanics so it's a safe assumption that they used synthetic motorcycle oil as they should have. So let's assume that the oil isn't the cause of the slippage.

The VZ800 is known for clutch slippage due to weak springs; i've gathered that from these forums. So I'm going to upgrade to the Vesrah springs. I'm wondering if I should go ahead and order new clutch plates and replace those as long as i've got the assembly apart. Any opinions? Is this hard to do? I plan on doing all this myself. Also, looking at Ron Ayer's website there are many different parts to the clutch assembly. Which are the parts I would need to replace? Can someone help me out with part #s?

Finally, the clutch doesn't disengage smoothly. As you let the lever out the clutch frequently 'grabs' instead of smoothly returning contact to the engine. This is particularly annoying. The service manual (page 3-44) says that smooth engagement/disengagement of the clutch depends mostly on the Clutch Bearing. Has anyone replaced the clutch bearing or experienced issues with it? The service manual isn't very specific about where it's located. I'm considering replacing it too for safe measure and the hope that it will help with the problem.

Thanks for the advice (and any advice that occurs to you regarding clutch servicing and these issues).