AF Road cassette clutch rating

[Scoot655]

What is the maximum bhp the AF cassette clutch should be able to handle?
many thanks.

[Knowledge]

There are currently two versions of this clutch. One built by Surflex in Italy and an Indian version. The Italian one is better, but costs more money.

When I visited AFR in July, Ben showed me a revised version that is due for release soon, as the Indian one needed too much fettling to make it work. The latest version had a number of small improvements and should not require any fettling.

A grown up like Darren Scott will be along shortly to remind us all of the bhp figures that these clutches can handle.

How much power are you anticipating putting through the clutch, as there may b other clutches we could suggest you can buy that you have not yet considered.

[bsso78]

The current road version can cope with up to 26hp. Depending of course on how you ride and if you weigh 48 stone.

[Warkton Tornado No.1]

Long overdue in relation to aftermarket, uprated clutches are finite torque capabilities.

If any manufacturers care to get in touch & send their products FOC I will engineer a test facility using a base level oil & a viable alternative & publish the results

[dickie]

Long overdue in relation to aftermarket, uprated clutches are finite torque capabilities.

If any manufacturers care to get in touch & send their products FOC I will engineer a test facility using a base level oil & a viable alternative & publish the results

Absolutely right. Aside from number of teeth, I can only think of 2 other parameters worth considering in a clutch: maximum torque rating; operating force required to disengage. However, all we get is levels of betterness and quality and smoothness and other such intangibles.

[dickie]

Actually that's not really fair. Number of plates is a decent indicator of how much more torque it can take than standard.

[dscscotty]

Depending on gearing-sprockets, power, torque delivery, I've seen AF Road(Indian version) cope with 29-30bhp on a high mileage, hard ridden LCGB BSM motor, although it was modified slightly to cope, the only real issue being the tangs on the plates wearing,
But as BSS0 78 say's our race engines under extreme race conditions struggle to cope with the higher rpm.
Our (Team DSC) Group 6 RB250 @40bhp, still runs the original alloy test billet prototype cassette and is in as good condition as the day it was put in, it did suffer a little a little slippage at croft this yr, but cleaned it up and all good again,

[Andy B.L.C.]

The fettling slight modifications being...? (filing all the ears/lugs?) Got 1 waiting fitting in a motor...rTa!

[Scoot655]

The current road version can cope with up to 26hp. Depending of course on how you ride and if you weigh 48 stone.

I had my TS1 dynoed at 27.5bhp and I'm not a small man! It only slips when you give it some and the plates are less than 12 months old. I have a Casa upgraded front sprocket spring to fit so hopefully that should help!?
What other clutches would people recommend??

[Warkton Tornado No.1]

The fundamental capability of a clutch to cope (& measurable) is to establish the torque @ which it slips. Any comparisons, like for like, could be performed with a base line oil to ensure fairness.

A test rig would not even require a top end to conduct the comparison & I doubt that any manufacturers do not make them with 46 teeth sprockets to make things easier.

Variables such as brake horse power, rider weight, type of oil etc would not come into such a basic test.

That's all that I am advocating.

I agree that other factors such as VFM, favourite manufacturer/dealer, wear, longevity, rider style & type of oil may influence choice, but for the purposes of a strict comparison I think such a test would help choices to be made.

[jonashford]

Ive used both the indian version and the surflex version. The one i used in my rb 260 bsm winning motor was a surflex crown wheel with indian plates, no problem with it

I use the full indian version in my targa no issues,

The complete surflex version I put back in the bsm engine when i sold it. I use the indian plates and surflex crown wheel in my current rb260 misano cased engine.

IMO for the money its the best clutch out there

[Andy B.L.C.]

yeah but what fettling required...?!

[corrado]

yeah but what fettling required...?!

After countless hours filing tabs etc I found that the main issue was the bush being too tight for the spider, "fettling" that to get it to spin was more time consuming and gave me sore fingers. I came to the conclusion that half an hour spent freeing it up by hand would get done by itself in the first few miles on the road. Many complain of initial tightness that diminishes in use. As far as AF are concerned it's the amount of unknown "fettling" they had to do just to put them in the box, hence them dumping the 6 plate supplier.

[martyn dwane]

yeah but what fettling required...?!

As far as AF are concerned it's the amount of unknown "fettling" they had to do just to put them in the box, hence them dumping the 6 plate supplier.

Does this mean no more spares in the future when existing parts stock run out