I have fixed the clutch a while ago, but never got around to posting about it. A kind soul on www.xlforum.net (great resource!) has sold me their original clutch pack for $25 shipped! That's 8 friction plates, 6 steel plates, an undamaged spring plate (#!#$%%#@!!) and the spring diaphragm from a 1200 (stronger spring than an 883). According to the person who sent it to me, the clutch had less than 18K miles on it when it was pulled from a 1200XL for an upgrade to an aftermarket clutch. So, I had a choice of using the undamaged spring plate or eliminating it with a St-Fr-St combo. I chose the latter. No way am I putting back something so horribly designed and/or manufactured. This thing is guaranteed to fail in an ugly way. So, I used two steel plates and one friction plate from the donor clutch to eliminate the spring plate. I also used two good friction plates from the donor clutch to replace the two that got damaged by my failed spring plate. I did not use the 1200 clutch spring, though it was tempting. While the primary cover was off I repaired the threads in the clutch cable receptacle that I stripped a while ago. It was simple to do using a Helicoil kit. I used a drill bit of an appropriate diameter (it tells you on the Helicoil instructions what size to use) to drill out the damaged threads and then used a tap included with the Helicoil kit to create a new thread into which I screwed in the actual helicoil, which is a steel coil that is specifically made to fit the new thread and create the thread that was originally damaged. This time the thread is steel and not aluminum, so hopefully it will not get stripped so easily. The thread repair worked great and the clutch cable mated with the primary cover very securely and tightly. After I put the primary cover back on and adjusted the clutch, I filled the primary case with the last can of Sport Trans fluid that I bought on close-out a few years ago for $1/can at my dealer (!!). Fired her up and went for a quick test ride. It was drizzling rain, but the bike felt like it hasn't felt in a long time. I think I've been riding with this condition for a while because I forgot how positive the gearbox feel on the Sportster. Everything just clicked in place, neutral was easy to find, especially from 1st. Everything was just great. I rode about 6 mile loop and parked it back in the garage. It rained for the next few days, but when I finally went for a real ride I found myself grinning like I used to when riding my Sportster. I am back on the road! The feel of the clutch without the spring plate and with an extra friction disk is definitely different than stock. It engages much faster. I am still re-learning my clutching and occasionally will squeal the rear tire on 1st gear launch. It's way too easy to do. I guess the spring plate consumes some of the torque upon engagement of the clutch. Without it the clutch pretty much connects you to the rear wheel FAST! All the more reason to make that stupid spring plate more robust! Oh, well, it's fixed and it won't break that way again!
