Ironhead Hydro Clutch road-test and impressions...

[Ivan RoachCoach]

...Well, after battling illness and the usual rainy-season weather that helps keep South Florida the humid swamp it is, I was finally able to get out and burn up the road with Machinist Mike's HydraClutch 7184 ( http://www.tequilapress.com/hclutch/ ).

If you've ever had to change a clutch cable, replace the ball & ramp mechanism after it popped out of it's boss inside the primary cover, or do clutch adjustments of any kind --- you're going to LOVE Machinist Mike's fantastic creation.
The first two of the three maintenance tasks listed above require that you drain the primary/trans fluid and pull the primary cover (we all know what an oily, sloppy mess THAT is).
Then, if you don't get it just right, you have to repeat the whole process again.

With the HydraClutch 7184, after the initial install, fine-tuning is achieved by simply unscrewing the unit from the primary cover.
No fuss, no muss, no puddles of primary fluid everywhere.

How simple is the install?

You pull off your primary cover, yank out the ball & ramp mechanism, shit-can it (along with the clutch-adjusting hex plug), and replace all that crap with the HydraClutch.
The ONLY thing you retain is the clutch-adjusting screw/bolt, which you now thread into the HydraClutch and it acts as your pushrod to compress the clutch pack, using hydraulic pressure.
All you need is an 11/16" bore hydraulic clutch master cylinder and a length of brake line.

You can score the m/c on eBay for under $80 ( http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/CHROM...1%7C240%3A1318 ) and Axiom Cycle has the very best prices on top-quality Russell braided brake lines with the clear protective coating.
I used Russell and Goodrich banjo bolts and banjo fittings, off of eBay, because they are the best available.

Once the master cylinder is filled with DOT-5 brake fluid and bled, you're good to go.

The first thing you'll notice is just how smoothly and easily the clutch actuates.
It feels solid, not convoluted and shaky like the old cable system.
My '74 actually clicked into gear without any of the usual clunking you get from ironheads and finding neutral, while stopped, was a breeze.
It also held the bike in gear at stoplights without any "creeping".

My bike's never known what it's like to be babied --- I ride it REALLY hard, every day.
I pushed and pushed to get it really hot, but nothing changed.
It still continued to work flawlessly, with no binding, dragging, or slipping.
The HydraClutch took the lane-splitting, the burn-outs, and the sudden blasts up expressway on-ramps.
It just sits quietly behind that primary cover and keeps on working, like the Eveready Bunny wearing a Timex.

Machinist Mike has not only created a beautifully-crafted piece of functional art, he backs it up with the best tech support I've come across in years!
He was always there, only an e-mail away, to answer all of my stupid questions, offer suggestions, and encourage me to take the technological leap into the 21st century.

The newest Sportsters are going to be using hydraulic clutches --- get ahead of the curve and add some much-needed technology to your IH with one of these beauties.

[ryder rick]

I'm tryin' to finger out if you are related to Machinist Mike or Billy May!!!!

[ericfreeman]

I'm glad to hear the new part is all it was expected to be and I'm sure it will be a great help to those who need the hydraulic assistance. Always good to have options out there for something that seems to cause so many problems. However, in defense of the original HD setup, I've owned 3 Ironheads and currently have 2. Never, ever, have I had a problem with the ball/ramp mechanism or with the clutch cable/adjustment. Maybe I'm just lucky but that's my experience, and I've put plenty of miles on my bikes.

Machinist Mike's creation does sound pretty elegant and I'm glad he took the time to create it.

Eric

[Ivan RoachCoach]

...a kickass product --- plain and simple.

I don't bullshit and I don't play games.
When it comes to Sportsters and what works on them, I don't base my opinions on hearsay or what twenty other guys on the Internet are parroting.

If it's something I've used and it gets the job done, I'll gladly vouch for it and pass the knwledge on.

That's why I laid it all out for those that are interested, down to the details and the sources for what you'll need.

[dobermandave]

Originally Posted by Ivan RoachCoach

...a kickass product --- plain and simple.

I don't bullshit and I don't play games.
When it comes to Sportsters and what works on them, I don't base my opinions on hearsay or what twenty other guys on the Internet are parroting.

If it's something I've used and it gets the job done, I'll gladly vouch for it and pass the knwledge on.

That's why I laid it all out for those that are interested, down to the details and the sources for what you'll need.

How did that Ebay unit fit on your handlebars & what did you do about your switches. Would like to see a picture of it. Thanks

[Ivan RoachCoach]

...I think switches on hand controls look like ass, and the wiring along the bars is a sure-fire recipe for electrical problems.
Even if you run the wires inside your bars, you're still putting a pretty good stretch of distance between your components and the battery.
I like to keep them as close as possible to the power source.

My Tech Cycle starter has a solenoid-mounted button and I run a Unity spotlamp (off a 1962 fire truck) with a toggle switch beneath the shell that activates my hi/low beams.

My headlight, tail/brake, and bullet running lights (mounted on the swingarm) are all wired into an ON/OFF toggle switch on the left side of my electrical box.
On the right side is my ignition key switch.

The electrical box (tube, really) is an 11" chunk of brass strip-joint pole that holds 95 % of the bike's wiring.
Two end caps hold the lights toggle and key switch.
Brass is an excellent material to incorporate as part of your electrics, plus I couldn't resist the pole when it was offered to me by the club's owner during a renovation some years back.

The electrical box hangs beneath my frame backbone, in front of my round oil tank, from a mount fabbed out of a front solo seat bracket.
I used the same thing to mount the oil tank.

Those mounts are great because they're cheap (about $7-10 bucks), REALLY tough, and come with slotted openings already cut into them.
All that's required is to weld me to the underside of the backbone, put some rubber isolators between them and your components, and you're good to go.
I haven't had one crack or break in fifteen years of mounting oil tanks with them.

[Ivan RoachCoach]

...The one I scored (so I assume all others they sell are the same) uses a 10mm banjo bolt & fitting, not the typical 12mm found on Harley 11/16 master cylinders.

So if you order the HydraClutch set up for banjo fittings instead of pipe-thread fittings (which I heartily recommend), you'll be using 10mm on both ends.

I had originally scored a really slick Joker Machine m/c from off of a rear-ended V-Rod, but I had to remove it after only a few rides.
Joker, for some ungodly reason, machines their vent into the body of the m/c so that it vents to the left side of the bike.
When you park and lock, with the bars cocked to the left, the Joker Machine m/c will merrily dribble all of your expensive DOT-5 fluid onto the ground.

In addition, they also use size 8-32 fasteners to hold the m/c handlebar clamp together!
Sure, it looks really trick to see four fasteners on there instead of the usual two...but did I mention they're 8-32?
Not exactly what you want to have beneath your allen T-handle when you're tightening down that m/c.
It only took me two re-tightening sessions to strip holy hell out of the m/c body.

I only paid $20 for it, brand-new, but Joker is asking top dollar for these pretty (but useless) baubles.
Avoid them like the flesh-eating virus.

[waza]

Sounds great, I installed a hydraulic clutch on my old '75 Duc 900SS and it was really smooth. The old Duc's have a really stiff pull on the clutch. I had mentioned this here a few months ago and it is really great that someone made this up for the old ironheads.

[Motorhead52]

So what about the slave system on the clutch got anything for the later 2002's

[Ivan RoachCoach]

...clutches.
If true, then it's time to start rooting around your local salvage yards and get to retro-fitting.

Or...why don't you contact Machinist Mike directly and see if he has any ideas about adaptations.
The guy's a fabrication wizard.

One of my fellow Bastards on the Quad Cam Bastards forum had his hydro clutch done in BRASS as a one-off by Mike.