It’s bound to happen, and sooner rather than later if you ride a Sporty. You’re going to have to replace the clutch. Harley’s stock setup uses a spring plate that is held together by brass rivets, and it’s notorious for coming apart. If you catch it early enough, you’re in good shape. If not? Well, then you end up like yours truly.
In this video, I’ll teach you how to replace a Sportster clutch. We’ll go over the steps required to remove the stock clutch pack, as well as how to remove a damaged clutch hub or how to remove a Sportster clutch basket. In my case, I opted to replace the entire basket because I found a used one for about the same price that I’d pay for the clutch hub by itself. It’s worth noting that if you’re only replacing the clutch hub, you’ll need to have access to a press or you’ll have to pay someone to press the old hub out then press the new one into place.
For this installation, I chose the Barnett Extra Plate Clutch Kit. I had originally planned to also use the Barnett Heavy Duty Diaphragm Spring, but found the lever pull to be too hard for my liking so I chose to reuse the factory spring instead. After the installation, the Sportster feels better than new. I couldn’t be happier with the results.
