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Lifestyle Cycles Installation Video: Rekluse Apex Clutch Installation

Lifestyle Cycles Installation Video: Rekluse Apex Clutch Installation

All right, guys, stay tuned. We're going to install an Apex clutch system on a 2018 Harley-Davidson Touring.

[Music] [Applause] [Music]

So, all right, guys, before we get started here today, we're going to go ahead and go through this Apex manual that is super detailed and straightforward and easy to follow, to be honest. First off, here we've got all the tools we're going to need. We're going to need a hex key set, standard (not metric), a T27, a T70 torque spit, a torque wrench capable of up to 170 ft-lbs, a 10 mm socket, a ½ inch socket, a 1 3/16 socket, SAE open-end wrenches, a hydraulic shop press, and a snap ring plier set. That should get you everything you need to get this done.

The first step is to go ahead and take off your floorboard, and then go ahead and remove your shifter arms here so you have better access to get your primary cover off. Well, you know, just for the record, I wasn’t hired to be a media personality.

So, all right, guys, you're going to go ahead and make sure you drain your primary fluid as well. Once your oil is all drained out of this, you're going to go ahead and hit all your bolts here along the outside of your primary cover and pull your primary cover off. Be careful with the gasket.

Now, get your 10 mm and start going, blasting stuff apart in here. So, as you guys can see here, as I was talking about in some of our other videos, the OEM basket and clutch system here only has three springs, whereas the Apex system has a total of six springs. That gives you more adjustability in the stiffness of what you guys need or what you're working with.

All right, guys, you're going to use your T70 here and go ahead and get some stuff loosened up. Then, you're going to use your 1 3/16 back here on this back one on your clutch basket. And don't forget, this one here is reverse threads. So, now that you've got your T70 undone up here at the front and taken your 1 3/16 off here at the back, I'm going to go ahead and pull out the chain tensioner down here at the bottom, and that's a ½ inch.

Then, what I like to do is, when I take these out, I go ahead and adjust them and get them all the way down. I get it all the way down there, and then I put a zip tie around it. Makes it a lot easier when you reassemble. [Music]

All right, guys, I'm going to go ahead and step away to the press and press out this old hub and do a couple of other things so we can get this going and get it in. As you can see, you've got to have a press at home or some specialized tools. If you don’t have this stuff, you can go to a local machine shop or another motorcycle shop, something in your area, and they can generally press this hub out of here for you.

So, as you guys can see here, you can see where it’s starting to notch this hub. The new designed hubs here, that have the pin in them, that are still on steel, aren’t going to notch like this.

All right, guys, so if you're going with the basket system and putting a new basket in yours as well, you're going to have to drill out your rivets in order to get your existing ring gear off the back of your OEM basket. If you buy the kit with the basket, it does come with the drill bit. If you have a drill press, it’ll make this a lot easier. I just want to make a note here, though, that when you're drilling the rivets out, you're not going to completely drill the entire rivet out. You're only going to drill down just enough so that the head will be able to break loose easily with a chisel.

So, all right, guys, after you drill out those heads of those rivets and then knock them out with a chisel... boom, like magic, they come apart.

So, now we're going to take the clutch basket, we're going to attach it to your ring gear with specialized hardware completely designed to work with it. All you're going to do is drop these into the basket, and as you can see, the basket is notched for these to fit into it. Then, we’re going to go ahead and flip it around here so we can get our screws on the back. You want to put a little bit of red Loctite on [Music] there. Then, just go ahead and tighten them up by hand.

Then, you're going to want to get out your torque wrench with a 10 mm socket on it, and we're going to tighten them down to 80-90 inch-pounds.

So, all right, guys, as you can see here, I’ve gone ahead and put my discs in a bag here and put some oil in it. You go ahead and pre-oil these all out. We're going to let them sit for a while before we get it all assembled. As you can see, I got the main bearing pressed back in, and I have the provided C-clip that comes with it. You want to make sure you use the C-clip that comes with the basket because the groove is cut down differently than the OEM C-clip. So, if you put the OEM clip in there, it will come undone.

So, now we're going to go back to the press, and we're going to go ahead and press in our... [Applause] hub.

All right, guys, once you get your hub pressed back in there, you're going to go ahead and use the OEM C-clip, and you're going to go ahead and slide it back on here just like it was an OEM piece.

You're going to go ahead and reinstall it just as you took it off.

All right, guys, we're going to get your torque wrench out, and we're going to go ahead and torque your stuff down. You want to make sure you put that red Loctite on there. So, on this rear one, you're going to torque it down to 80 ft-lbs. All right, you're going to go ahead and torque this one to 100 ft-lbs, and then back it off half a turn. Then, you're going to retorque it to 70 ft-lbs.

All right, we're going to go ahead and put the chain tensioner back in here. Then, make sure you guys torque those down to factory specifications.

So, we're going to go ahead and slide in here the savers. Super easy, they just slide right in there—open end towards the outside, tabs towards the center.

All right, guys, we're going to go ahead and get started with inserting our clutch pack here. And with the Recluse clutches, you're always going to start with a steel disc and you're always going to end with a steel disc. You're just going to alternate between a friction disc and a steel plate, and just kind of chug along with it until you get them all in there.

So, as you're assembling this clutch pack and getting it in here, if you notice any colored dots or any of the notches in it, that is all just part of the manufacturing process. There's no rhyme or reason or anything you guys need to line up or that means anything when you're installing your clutch pack.

All right, guys, we're going to go ahead and reinstall the pressure plate with the selected springs of your choice for your application. I'm going to go ahead and go with the three silver and the three red for my application. And these spring retainers that come with this set here are specifically designed to work with the Recluse springs, so don't try and use any other springs or anything like that in here. You're going to want to use their stuff with their stuff.

All right, you want to make sure you torque these guys to 9 ft-lbs.

All right, guys, got it all installed, everything’s torqued back to OEM specifications. We're going to go ahead and reinstall the primary cover, put some fluid in it, and then take it for a ride.

Go ahead and take your derby cover off so you can put oil back in it. Now that we've got this all done and opened up, we're going to go ahead and add one quart of your oil of choice to your primary.

So, we're going to throw our derby cover back on here, put our footpeg and shifter lever back on, and go for a ride.

All right, guys, you're going to go ahead and put your footrest back on, and then go ahead and put your shift lever back on, and then we can take this for a ride.

[Music]

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