Rekluse EXP

Hey has anybody used the new EXP clutch on a 990? I have a z-start pro, but see that they have a new EXP for the LC8.

I know this does not answer your question. But I have one on order for my 450. I have been on the fence about this for years. Auto clutch - I aint riding no Honda mini 50 . But last summer I hooked up with 3 guys riding the San Juan's. We were at a big rock climb and I watched one of the guys take a bad line : hit two near stops and manage to walk up. At the top I asked how the heck he pulled it off Auto Clutch. All 3 guys had them. At that time I was looking into a Dyna ring. One of the guys had one and happened to know the manufacturer, this is what he told me ( I cant swear it was accurate-just what he said) " Dyna ring is no longer being made, Rekluse filed suit because they had the rights to it" thus it is the EXP. This is supposed to be the cats meow for less then the z-start ? Best part is, its tunable with simple adjusters. I am kinda excited to try it !

Who's selling them for the 950/990? The write up sounds very good..

I just spoke with Rekluse a few days ago and the new EXP for the 990 (not the Core EXP but a new design for the 950/990) is due out in January 2012. Retails for $629.00 and uses a special slave cylinder to adjust the plate gap. Part number RMS 6131. Rekluse told me that it works much better than the Z-Start Pro and that I needed to order one now to get one of the first produced. I guess that they already have a list started. Very tempting.

Yikes thats pricy still. I paid $379 for the exp for my 450. Clearly less parts needed then the 990 version. Rocky Mountain had them for my 450 at a great price,but BRP being the fantastic company they are, matched their price (I was purchasing other items from them at the same time )

I also just got the Z-Start Pro, not even installed yet, when I found they replaced it with the EXP, also very interested in to understand what would be better with the new version. Driving handling, or just installation?<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>
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I called Rekluse also, a week or so ago, I was very curious.
Still in final Beta he told me...., he also told me Jan 2012 for shipping.
Their new slave is adjustable in the field with an allen wrench from full auto to full clutch use, so you can bump start even !!

Not on a 990.... But it's awesome on a 950....

All the information we have on them can be found here:

http://www.blackdogadvbikes.com/bla...exp-auto-clutch-for-ktm-950-990/275-2095.html

Rekluse is supposed to send us one this month to test. They should be available in January or February. We will do a full write up on it once we receive it and install it. Sounds like it will be much better than the z-Start pro I have in my Super Enduro.

OK I'm confused.. what is the difference between the EXP and Core EXP clutches?

The Core has balls...


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The snatchy clutch when the engine is cold symptom (that continues to evade isolation or cure) has me motivated to do something like this just to avoid the embarrassment and aggravation when trying to ride from a stop before the magic moment when the clutch finally decides to operate smoothly again.

Motivation is rerwarded the moment the deep down roar comes rising to the surface as the gear too tall transmission pulls the rear wheel up to speed via the most liquideous clutch feed imaginable.

Rekluse does have some videos on their site of the EXP in the thumpers . Received mine for my 450 today. Next non ridable day I may get it installed and see how it performs. I never had one in any bike so it should be interesting. I am really thinking it may be the ticket for 990 owners who dont like the "snatchy" throttle ? I run a 15-42 and think with a EXP I would go back to the 16-42. I really like the tall gearing now, but when I do run it on the road I miss that extra tooth up front.

re-hashing a dying thread here. I did finally install the exp into my 450. Why did it take so long, well actually I was tempted to return it. Two things I didnt like about it. #1. 40 years of riding with a conventional clutch and I done pretty good to this point, why cheat ? #2 was that I was very nervous about the ability to compression brake. Not sure what excuse to use here- going to go with the fact Im fairly light 150lbs. - but I have a harder time descending steep stuff then I do climbing. I relay heavy on the motor keeping me slow more then my rear brake.
Last night I thought I may as well install it and go ride one of what the locals from the area we are visiting consider one of gnarly rides. My theory is if gonna test it-TEST IT ! I know this is not saying how he EXP will be in our big bikes, but it will tell you about the performance of Rekluse's new product.
First off- install is very easy,on my 450 I lay it on its side to work on it-dont even need to drain oil when pulling the cover.
A negative is that when checking free play you have to pull the cover to adjust it, and it is critical that you get it right so your EXP goes to full lock. I got lucky, the # of turns on the throw out that Rekluse suggested, put mine on target. I am going to play with it a little and set it up for a harder engagement, they give you springs to install if you want to play.
Performance was better then I expected. It actually is not the "crutch" I thought it would be. My muscle memory still kicks in and I tend to feather the clutch times when I dont need to anymore. I am kind of a when it doubt- ride it balls out, so I try not to get really slow unless its single track or just really technical picking your way through stuff. There was a little of that today and I purposely kept my finger off the clutch- that is harder to do then it sounds, your trusting the mechanism to do what you normally have had to do. The EXP performed as it was supposed to and it did about what I would have done working the lever. I guess one of the better features of this is the ability to dog the bike in higher gear-its probably harder on the friction plates then it should be, but on long loose climbs it is nice to twist up and pull on some speed when you hit a good section on a climb. Engagement is very smooth-too smooth I feel, but that is adjustable
Now my fear of lacking compression braking is removed-pretty much- I really put this to the test because I wanted to know what I was in for when I get into scary stuff. I say pretty much removed my fears, not 100%. you really got to get the bike down to an idle to get it to unlock, if it has any engagement it is going to pick up engine RPM and engage harder. Still I found that when doing 2nd and 3rd gear descents on rocky ground, if I used my brakes and got the bike and motor speed down I could get it to completely unlock-the only way to get your compression braking back is to rev the motor, in that case you have to be prepared, if you picked up a lot of speed soon as the clutch engages you may be skidding. I found to just rev to the point you plan to increase your speed : roll on a little heavy then go back to braking.
So all in all I like it. Believe it or not,the best part for me the lack of having to find neutral when jumping off to lock and unlock gates, it was nice to leave it in gear, open a gate, roll a little throttle (doesn't matter what side of the bike you are on-its in gear) walk the bike through with some motor assist,go back lock gate, twist it up and ride away.
I guess the best way to put it for those here on OC- I would certainly consider it for my 990. The one thing I thought I would do that I wont, is go back to stock gearing. I run 15-45 (not the 15-42 I thought before- thats if memory serves me correct) and to I still want my "R"s up when descending to keep me slow,taller gearing will mean the motor will be allowed to go to idle more often and chance it unlocking. The other thing the big bike has is gobs of power, so the ability to dog it is actually pretty good, it pulls out of the dog house pretty good for a motor that likes being in the 3-4000 rpm range. So for me its a better tool on the thumper then it would be on the twin. Hope this is good information- takes me a freaking hour to type this much .

I've been running the z-start pro on my 990 for about 50,000 miles. I absolutely love it. Might even put one on my 450, but then all my buddies would call me a pansy. But they can do that all day long as they watch me climb up boulder fields meant for a trials bike.

I can see an exp in the 950 in the near future. Old clutch is getting very tired and the benefits of the exp and eng braking sell it for me. New frictions/steels and maybe an updated basket will see it another step forward. (Not too many steps to go....)

REPORT BY: craig (CJRACER)

LC8 Rekluse EXP update after ~ 7,000 miles.

I had the chance to TEST an early prototype version of this clutch starting Sept 2011. I had over 60,000 miles on my earlier Z-Start PRO Rekluse and really like how much more enjoyable it makes my touring/ Off-road Dual sport riding/ and Racing. I was very interested in comparing these 2 systems, but had to keep my mouth shut on many details during that time.

Many think that installing a Rekluse will turn your bike into an Automatic transmission. This is wrong. You still need to shift gears at the appropriate time, but this will slip/engage the clutch better and more consistant than a normal human can do all day long. Riding a 550lb bike offroad has it's own challenges. Having a Rekluse in my Adventure makes it feel like it's lost 100 lbs. I can consentrate on line choice and balance and keeps my arms from pumping up after a long day of trail riding. Off Road it makes for easeir starts on hills, in mud and sand, b/c you can easily control wheel spin.

ON road I enjoy it b/c it allows for a more relaxed ride around town and stop and go traffic on the freeway is a breeze. Put it in 1st or 2nd and just roll on and off the trottle. You have enough to keep an eye in rush hour traffic (Cell phone users and Texters), A Rekluse can help get rid of another added stress.

I feel that this NEW EXP system has much better and more consistant on/off throttle conntrol. Engine braking is still there down the engagement point setup by the installer. Many options are possible by changing out differant stiffnesses of spings and ramp weights.

I started with a setup that felt more like a MX bike. It would shift out hard and at a higher RPM (~1800RPM) Then changed to a softer setting that felt much more natural. This would start a smooth engage around 1,500 PRM and be fully locked in around 2,300 RPM. We did this testing on a Dyno and could see this in the torque curve.


In order to install the NEW EXP on my bike I was required to reinstall all the stock clutch parts (Center hub- booster system) This was only b/c I had the Z- Start Pro system installed

This NEW will allow for faster and easier installs for EXP Rekluse purchases.

Another Great plus of this system is that it comes w/ a NEW clutch slave that allows you to lock out the system to potentially bump start the bike.

This is built in to the NEW SLAVE unit.


I started by removing my Oberon Slave unit and installing the REKLUSE Slave. There is an EXTERNAL adjustment system on the LC8 EXP. You can fine tune the Clutch Gain and lock it out for bump starting w/ only a 13mm wrench and 4 mm allen. This is differant than the Z- start Pro. The PRO system required you to take the end roller system off the assembly and replace a steel shim w/ a thicker one. This system is much faster and easier and can be done trail side.

While you're in that area check your OIL JET for anything plugging it.

(I drilled mine out to .5mm to increase oil flow to the system. This helps keep things cooler, potentially keep the just from clogging sooner and should prolong the life of the booster ramps.

One down fall is the bike might need a little blip of the throttle to get it in to nuetral when running. Shifts normal any other time. I normally coast to stop engine off and click to nuetral once stopped, that's my system)

Tighten this down and bleed out the system.

Next up was removing the clutch cover and pressure plate. Pretty straight forward. This can all be done with tools in your kit.

I removed the first fiber and steel plate. Set those aside w/ the pressure plate. The first fiber against the ALUM pressure plate is a special KTM fiber.

Them remove the next 3 fibers and 2 steels.

The EXP Core is held together by 6 small clips. In between them are the weights and spings. The entire Assembled core replaces 3 fibers and 2 steels.





The pressure plate only fits in one way. Look for the arrow on the face and match that up w/ the arrow on the center hub.

Bolt everything back together like a normal clutch. Clean out the threads of the booster studs and install some blue loc-tite to make sure this won't loosen up.



One great thing w/ this new system is there are NO BALLS to deal w/ and it can easily be installed w/ the bike on it's sidestand w/ almost NO oil loss.

My EST would be to figure about 3 hrs for your average wrench to install this. If you've already worked on any of these systems it should be about 2hrs.

Bolted the clutch cover back on.


Started it up and adjusted the clutch save for the proper Lever Gain.

The z-start PRO system had the required GAP built into the system Internally by replacing steel shims.

The LC8 EXP system has the GAP set Externally by the SLAVE and the adjustable piston and jam nut.

Break the system in w/ some slow starts and stops per Rekluse instructions.

If you want to change setups on the CORE, I start by removing tension on the SLAVE adjuster. Them remove the CORE like you would replace a fiber. Much faster than the Z-start Pro.


I did all this the weekend before I left for the KTM National Rally in Lake Tahoe, NV 2011. A few test laps around my track and subdivision. I was comfortable and confident in the system.

I packed up the bike and headed west. Let the TESTING BEGIN:
And as in normal CJ testing..... this won't be your average ride around the block.

When heading WEST from Wisconsin the first challenge is getting accross the plains. This would LONG sustained speeds for hours on end and often 200+ miles between stops.
After a day and half and over 1,000 miles across the plains it was great to be off the freeway and camping. Next day would be more dirt testing.


The system worked great. No issues, on/ off throttle was smooth and consistant. Engine breaking was normal and was tested on every off ramp.

Next day was down through WY into northern CO and into UT. About 600 miles camping in the sand dunes West of SLC, UT.

Again, no issuues. Clutch gain and engagement felt the same all day long.

I arrived in Lake Tahoe, NV ready to hang out and hit some trails.

More to come......
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=753701

I love Rekluse clutches, (3) Soon the 990...Thanx for taking the time to share some usefull info!