In theory replacing the clutch slave, pushrod, and pressure plate is an easy job, but putting in a new needle bearing is a tad bit more difficult. Good luck finding a bearing puller that is small enough to fit inside the bearing—I ended up grinding down the claws of my bearing puller to make it fit. Unfortunately, the bearing internals came out, but the casing did not. I tried a blind hole bearing puller with no luck either. In a moment of desperation, I used a 7/16 tungsten carbide burr to shave away the sleeve. Luckily, the burr knocked the sleeve loose, and I was home free.
The new bearing slipped right in, and with the new pushrod, slave, and pressure plate I bled the clutch. For some reason I ordered a pre-2000 pushrod, which is shorter than the newer ones.Oberon was nice enough to supply spacer so that I could use the new slave with the pre-2000 pushrod. But, even with the spacer the slave was reaching the end of its travel before disengaging the clutch. I used a section of the old pushrod as a second spacer—and it worked!
After a quick test ride, everything seemed to be holding up nicely. My only complaint was that the friction zone of the clutch was at the very beginning of the lever travel. I must have made the second spacer too long. Instead of shortening the spacer, I shimmed the slave off the case cover using 2 thin washers on each bolt.
First impressions of the Oberon slave are excellent, but I will have to wait until spring to fully test it.
