AUSKY
Husqvarna
AA Class
I thought that it’d be wicked if I could put an auto clutch in my 2000 WR360 as the clutch pull was quite heavy & it would just top off such a great bike. I was warned against using the Recluse EXP as the torque of the 360 was too much for the EXP so after making enquires about the Relcuse Z Start Pro I was told that they would fit my bike, so I ordered one & went to install it. Unfortunately this was not the case, due to the 360 only having 7 clutch plates & the Recluse using 8 plates & the Recluses pressure plate not engaging the 360’s basket enough for my liking. As this model Recluse Z Start Pro (RMS-856) is good for other Huskies, the 360 project was shelved & it went into my 08 TE510 instead. Until now.
A friend had me install a 6 speed from another 360 into his 09 WR300 & while it was apart I tried the 300 basket in the 360 but soon realised the primary drive on the crank would need to be changed as well as the water pump gear & the power valve gear as well & that was getting in the too hard basket. The ring gear/clutch bearing of the 09 300 is one piece & the 360’s was 2 piece which wouldn’t allow it to be separated.
The primary drive of the 360 is 25/60 where the primary drive of the 250/300 is 27/69 & this is common for all of these models. This got me thinking that the only thing that we really needed was the 360 primary drive & a basket capable of holding 8 plates (250), that would fit into the 360 clutch housing & assemble them together. I happened to come across a 1999 WR250 clutch basket (Part No 8001 86863), which is a 2 piece ring gear/clutch bearing setup & in excellent condition & I thought it might be suitable, so I snapped it up hoping that the ring gears were able to be swapped out.
I first checked the Recluse in the 250 basket & all was good for the 8 plates & the height was good for the Clutch housing.
So I drilled out the rivets of both baskets
& was happy with what I saw
The ring gears were the same internal dimensions but just had different numbers of teeth.
I installed the 360 ring gear on the 250 basket, reinstalled the backing plate & riveted it all back together.
The shim that the clutch bearings sit on (No17 in exploded diagram) had to be replaced with a thinner shimming washer as the clutch basket spacer washer (No8) was touching the clutch basket & locking it up.
After replacing this shim (No17) the clutch was free of the spacer washer (No8). The rest of the Recluse went in as per the installation guidelines & the 360 throw out bearing was used together with the WR250 Recluse spacer.
The throw out had to have the screw turned in by about 4 mm for the extra clutch plate & steel & to allow the correct free play at the clutch lever on the bars.
When I went to install the clutch cover the casting for the sight glass was just touching the top of the Recluse top plate, so after grounding a bit out of it for clearance I realised it would be better to use a spacer plate.
I had some 2.5mm aluminium sheet lying around in the workshop, so I put a gasket on it, traced around it, cut it out & sandwiched it in between the cover & the housing with a gasket either side & it is barely noticeable.
I tried a few different spring/ball combinations before settling on what Recluse recommended for the WR250 2 Stroke – C200L5 & C150M3 with 24 steel balls & 3 Tungsten ones. This allows a hard engagement with medium revs, just the way I like it. For a bit smoother engagement I might remove the 3 Tungsten balls. Maybe
The clutch feel is super light, like my 125, when I have to use it & the 360 clutch basket rattle has gone. I couldn’t be happier with the big girl now. It has been a mission to get this project to where it is now but well worth it so I thought I'd share it with you all.
A friend had me install a 6 speed from another 360 into his 09 WR300 & while it was apart I tried the 300 basket in the 360 but soon realised the primary drive on the crank would need to be changed as well as the water pump gear & the power valve gear as well & that was getting in the too hard basket. The ring gear/clutch bearing of the 09 300 is one piece & the 360’s was 2 piece which wouldn’t allow it to be separated.
The primary drive of the 360 is 25/60 where the primary drive of the 250/300 is 27/69 & this is common for all of these models. This got me thinking that the only thing that we really needed was the 360 primary drive & a basket capable of holding 8 plates (250), that would fit into the 360 clutch housing & assemble them together. I happened to come across a 1999 WR250 clutch basket (Part No 8001 86863), which is a 2 piece ring gear/clutch bearing setup & in excellent condition & I thought it might be suitable, so I snapped it up hoping that the ring gears were able to be swapped out.
I first checked the Recluse in the 250 basket & all was good for the 8 plates & the height was good for the Clutch housing.
So I drilled out the rivets of both baskets
& was happy with what I saw
The ring gears were the same internal dimensions but just had different numbers of teeth.
I installed the 360 ring gear on the 250 basket, reinstalled the backing plate & riveted it all back together.
The shim that the clutch bearings sit on (No17 in exploded diagram) had to be replaced with a thinner shimming washer as the clutch basket spacer washer (No8) was touching the clutch basket & locking it up.
After replacing this shim (No17) the clutch was free of the spacer washer (No8). The rest of the Recluse went in as per the installation guidelines & the 360 throw out bearing was used together with the WR250 Recluse spacer.
The throw out had to have the screw turned in by about 4 mm for the extra clutch plate & steel & to allow the correct free play at the clutch lever on the bars.
When I went to install the clutch cover the casting for the sight glass was just touching the top of the Recluse top plate, so after grounding a bit out of it for clearance I realised it would be better to use a spacer plate.
I had some 2.5mm aluminium sheet lying around in the workshop, so I put a gasket on it, traced around it, cut it out & sandwiched it in between the cover & the housing with a gasket either side & it is barely noticeable.
I tried a few different spring/ball combinations before settling on what Recluse recommended for the WR250 2 Stroke – C200L5 & C150M3 with 24 steel balls & 3 Tungsten ones. This allows a hard engagement with medium revs, just the way I like it. For a bit smoother engagement I might remove the 3 Tungsten balls. Maybe
The clutch feel is super light, like my 125, when I have to use it & the 360 clutch basket rattle has gone. I couldn’t be happier with the big girl now. It has been a mission to get this project to where it is now but well worth it so I thought I'd share it with you all.
Great work and how does it feel riding that beast 360 with this clutch installed?
