How to adjust your factory secondary clutch

cwh · Nov 12, 2008

For those of you that have never adjusted your factory secondary clutch, this is for you. For those of you that are way more knowledgable than I on the subject, let me know and I'll edit this post for future viewers.

As Tony noted in the thread "things to look for", the 503 and 600 hawks may have no spring tension on the secondary. To check this remove the primary belt and roll one half of the secondary in one direction and the other half in the opposite direction. It should have a good snap when you let it go. Neither of mine had any spring tension. One of the other board members suggested that I set my secondary to the "B 6" setting. It seems to shift well.

To adjust your secondary build yourself a little tool.

Clamp the head of the bolt into a vice and slide your secondary over the bolt. Install a washer and a nut and center the two legs of the tool on the helix. Tighten the nut so the tension is off of the c-clip.

Remove the c-clip and back the nut off. Disassemble the secondary noting how the parts came apart. Remember to verify where the secondary spring is set as both ends of the spring have a hole to set in.

Now is a good time to check for wear and clean up the shaft. Both of my secondarys had a little corrosion on the shaft. I used some fine emery cloth to clean them up. If you look down into the secondary you can see the three holes in the engine side of secondary. These are labeled A, B and C. On the helix there are 6 holes and are labeled 1 through 6.

To reassemble the clutch first set the spring into the holes that you feel will work best for you. Once again I have mine set to "B" on the engine side and 6 on the helix side. When you re-install the helix you need to twist the helix. Turn the helix clockwise to get spring tension on it. I installed my helix and re-installed the nut loosly on the tool so as to have it ready to tighten when I had the spring tension on the helix. Once you have your spring tension tighten the nut down and reinstall the c-clip. Install the secondary clutch back on the secondary shaft and twist the clutch halfs in opposite directions to see how much tension you have and also to see that it is not bound up.

Thats about it. Let me know if I skipped a step or something.

Chris

onewoodsrider · Nov 12, 2008

Nice post

Chris,

Very nice post,thanks for taking the time. I will be checking mine as soon as i get a chance and make that clutch tool.

Thanks again for your time
Todd

TLKDPROD · Nov 12, 2008

Nice thread cwh,

Got a question for you : what is the stock Helix in a 503 ? And what's the Helix in your Team Secondary ?

TheDefBoy · Nov 12, 2008

Want some more Carmax

:lips:Use the medicated menthal

:lips:
Just kidding it was a fine post and i am sure we will be using thiis tool shortly

roo · Nov 12, 2008

thanks

good info! just about there with my machine. how do u feel about the difference
between the stock and the team secondary? being as i have 550f, would u run different settings on secondary?

cwh · Nov 14, 2008

Roo,

The team secondary up and down shifts much smoother than the factory unit. I swapped to it because my factory secondary would bind up under power and caused me to smoke a belt or two. As for the helix, I need to pull the secondary to see what is in it.

Chris

snowhawk jockey · Nov 14, 2008

Nice post, with improvised tools and everything!! For your b-6 setting, how much did you wind up the spring for reassembly?

TLKDPROD said:
Nice thread cwh,

Got a question for you : what is the stock Helix in a 503 ? And what's the Helix in your Team Secondary ?

Wasn't the stock 503 helix a 44/34? I'll dig out my secondary and look. I am using a flat 36 on my Roller secondary and at 6000ft it is too steep for final shift out and bogs the top end after the secondary catches up with the motor. I'll be grabbing a flat 34 this year to see if it is better...

cwh · Nov 14, 2008

I turned the helix just enough so that there always spring tension between the two halfs of the secondary.

onewoodsrider · Nov 15, 2008

stuck helix

Has anyone had a problem removing the stock helix ? went to check out settings and preload on one clutch and had no issues. When we try to remove the other helix from another machine ( same secondary style clutch ) the unit was siezed in place. Has anyone else had this issue ? Also made the clutch tool ater alot of frustration with drill bits

and when we went to use it on my 503 we discovered that we could just grab it on the shop floor and push down on the helix and remove the clip and spring lol. By the way my 03 had a 50-44 helix with a tan spring and although it did snap back when twisted is was not much although the spring didn't look like anyone had preloaded it when they put it back together. We ended up going to the 6-c position and the preloading the spring and now it seems to have plenty, im hoping its not to much! If anyone here has any idea's on the removal of the helix please educate me as i really dont want to damage anything.

Thanks
Todd

snowhawk jockey · Nov 15, 2008

The bushing on the sheave is toast(or totally filthy or your helix is corroded) if your helix is stuck. Light tapping helped in my situation, mine was covered in electralysis powder...

edit to add: a 50-44 helix? Sounds interesting.

snow hawk gal · Nov 17, 2008

Options.

http://www.snowest.com/forum/showthread.php?t=105418

cwh · Nov 30, 2008

I finally got around to tearing into my short track tonight. For those of you that have asked what spring i'm running in my P-85, I have a blue w/white spring. The ramps are stamped 10-56. As for the team secondary I have a 66-48-46 helix. It is a dual helix and the other is 66-40-46. To install the team secondary I had to turn down the spacer that aligns the drive and driven to 1.1 inches. I also had to machine the factory key from .3" to .25" in order for the driven to slip on the jackshaft.

cwh

Oh by the way, it snowed 2 feet here at work this week.

bartsworld · Dec 9, 2008

This posting is great and tells one how to go about doing it. But, what I don't understand is how the adjustment changes the final out come. My machine was at 8000 rpm at 1/4 throttle. So, i added some weight to the primary clutch and clicked it down to the number 1 setting. It is better now but not yet where I can just pin the throttle down and not worry about over reving my machine. So, I think I need to make a secondary clutch adjustment just don't know which settings to put it on. I have a team secondary clutch. Any info as to which settings will do what to the machine would be great.

TLKDPROD · Dec 9, 2008

Post your clutch setup !

bartsworld said:
This posting is great and tells one how to go about doing it. But, what I don't understand is how the adjustment changes the final out come. My machine was at 8000 rpm at 1/4 throttle. So, i added some weight to the primary clutch and clicked it down to the number 1 setting. It is better now but not yet where I can just pin the throttle down and not worry about over reving my machine. So, I think I need to make a secondary clutch adjustment just don't know which settings to put it on. I have a team secondary clutch. Any info as to which settings will do what to the machine would be great.

What's your setup bartsworld, I may be able to guide you on that. Primary spring, ramp, pin weight ? Secondary helix & spring ? What motor do you have and what track length ? What elevation are you riding at ?

Secondary is the torque sensitive part of the clutch system, it won't affect over reving ! If you've got a too steep angle helix and a spring too soft (just like me last year on my 8 !) that will affect backshifting: when you'll load the track by hitting a softer/deeper spot, the secondary will transfer too much of the load to the primary and then, the motor will drop RPM and you'll end up not being able to climb the hill or get stuck !!!

From what you said, you will need to still add some weight and probably replace the primary spring : and go with softer start force spring.

Dymano Joe, on his website says the following :

200/xxx gives about 4000 engagement.

I want higher engagement, (4200) then I can go
230/320
230/350

If you need lower engagement (now I don't know if that's the problem here) but go with a softer start force spring.

TCSKIBIKE · Dec 14, 2008

Help, I built the tool but it wasnt needed because my helix is frozen in there. I have soked it in PB Blaster and heated it some still no budge.. I tapped the key with a punch and it moved a bit in its slot so its free. Whats it going to take to get that off. Time? My 600 was shift up to quickly (it seems)

Do these springs go bad?? Should I replace with the same spring or a stiffer one.. I ride trails and having a tall gear is nice.

Will a loose belt cause it to shift up? Maybe mine was a bit on the loose side.

J&L Snowhawk · Dec 14, 2008

removal

I just did my buddies yesterday. was stuck like everyone elses. I used penetrating oil big hammer punch and torch and buddies help. I held the clutch up in the air by the upper sheave the he used punch and hammer to tap down on the stub shaft. slowly but surely it came loose. The bushings don't look very good but we cleaned it all up and put back together with anti sieze lube on helix internal. set spring to A-5, just a note it has a 50-44 helix on a 06 600. should just upgrade to cat roller.

TCSKIBIKE · Dec 17, 2008

FINALLY! After 5 days of soaking in PB blaster and many failed attempts with a hammer it came loose!.. What a feeling of gratification! I hammered the spindle so much that the helix would not come off the end so I had to grind it down a little for ti to slide off..

I have a 41 helix and a black spring with white stripe.. Not what I expected.. The 06 manual I have says it comes stock with a 50 44 helix and beige spring.. Since my machine is an 04 with new pipe I believe I should go with that set up.

onewoodsrider · Dec 17, 2008

helix

It's strange, seems like the 503 and 600's came stock with the same spring and helix ? Why would they do that since the 600 has so much more power let alone rpm ?

TCSKIBIKE · Dec 17, 2008

onewoodsrider said:
It's strange, seems like the 503 and 600's came stock with the same spring and helix ? Why would they do that since the 600 has so much more power let alone rpm ?

Good point but the helix that was on my 04 600 is a straight 41 which would indicate the 04 with the Jaws pipe is more powerful than the 503. I put the quiet pipe on my 600 so its more like the 600 that comes stock with the 50-44 they probably just put a stiffer secondary spring in the 06 600 than the 503 I bet.

Correction the stock helix in my 04 600 is a straight 51... Black/Dark blue spring with white stripe.

I was told the "beige" spring could be black with a beige stripe.

cwh · Feb 23, 2009

How to adjust your factory secondary clutch

Well-known member

Active member

Banned

Well-known member

Well-known member

Similar threads