DIY reinforcement for FJRAE auto clutch actuator

[ajf]

Yamaha Canada declined to pay for the Service Bulletin, but the dealer sold me the kit (~$100) to do it myself.  The shift actuator passed the torque test, so I'm about to start installing the reinforcing brackets.  The kit has about half a dozen closely spaced drill bits, so I assume drilling out the hole is pretty critical.

If anyone here has done it, I'd be grateful for any tips or potential problems.

[ajf]

Enough people read my first post that there might be some interest in how the job went.

The box didn't contain any instructions, but the dealer let me write down the torque values for the various bolts.  A brief description in the FAQs section of the FJRforum helped me figure out where the brackets fit, but I think I could have worked it out just by looking at the brackets.  Drilling out the hole was not difficult - one bit probably would have been enough.  There's enough play in all of the other fittings that I don't see the need to get that hole perfect.  Anyone with basic mechanical skills and a modest set of tools should be able to do it if Yamaha refuses.  The hardest part was pulling apart the electrical connectors.  The only problem would arise if one didn't mark the position of the shift rod on the actuator.  The shaft rotates freely with finger pressure about 20 degrees, so getting the shift rod fitting on the right spine would take a lot of trial and error if the shaft were rotated accidentally while the actuator was off the bike.

As sold, the mount for the actuator is surprisingly flexible - light finger pressure moves it perceptibly.  With the new brackets installed the actuator can't move at all.  I'd say this is a necessary improvement for anyone planning to keep the bike a long time.  If you want to check that the mod has been done, it's easy.  Take off the seats, tank trim and left side cover.  The actuator is obvious - it's what the rear end of the shift rod attaches to.  Push on the actuator.  If it moves at all, the mod hasn't been done.  If you want to be absolutely sure, you can look behind the rear mounting bolt.  The mod adds a bracket which connects from that bolt (the order from outside inwards is:  head of bolt, hole through actuator, hole through tab that is welded to the support for the rear seat, threaded fitting on new bracket) to the top of the bracket that holds the preload adjustor for the rear shock.  If the mod hasn't been done, there's no bracket and the rear mounting bolt screws into threads in the tab that is welded to the support for the rear seat.  (It's these threads that are drilled out to let the bolt pass through the hole to screw into the new bracket.)