High end clutch slip.....

[cywelchjr]

I will try to adjust more this evening or this weekend... The clutch lever is rather stiff...but i guess it wont hurt to replace springs and scuff up the steels....

Yeah, that might be caused by your avatar. Fortunately it doesn't show while typing a reply even this way, but I'll leave them in for others to see.

Oh, make sure that the clutch cable is moving easily and freely, as a dry cable will make the lever stiff AND can make the clutch slip.

[TomRodgers]

yeah..just picked up a cable oiler....havent used it yet....whats the best lube to use?

[cywelchjr]

yeah..just picked up a cable oiler....havent used it yet....whats the best lube to use?

Even motor oil will work. I got my oiler at the Yamastealer and it came with lube, you can get it without the oiler at most MC shops or dealers.

[ManagerMike]

When I first got stormbringer running last season, the clutch was improperly adjusted by the po and slipped at all ranges. After I got the adjustment staightened out it would then slip at high rpms and throttle angles, I lived with it for the rest of the abbreviated riding season. Over winter I opened it up and found the frictions each about .010" thinner than the new ones I had acquired ( times 8 plates, that's pretty huge) and the springs well over specified minimun lenghth. I hit the steels with a whet stone while soaking the new frictions in the sythetic 15w50 I was swithching to and put it all back together. I thought this thing had power last year....holy wheelies batman! and I don't have a popeye left forearm from HD springs.

My daughter's RT100 was just the opposite when I got it early this spring,
the clutch would stick like you said yours did every initial startup, then slip after I got it unstuck, relpaced the frictions and now it to is fine.

Just sharing my experiences, and pointing out that you have an opportunity to gain a clutch made of modern materials and can therefore take advantage of modern oil technologies.

[WMarshy]

....whats the best lube to use?

Sounds like a personal problem to me.

[saddle up]

I have had this problem for year(s)

Even when Betsey the first was brand new, the clutch would slip. What I do now, and in the past,, is do a roll on and adjust the clutch at the handle bar . going in or out..Life ain't easy when your fat and greasy.... 250 lbs...

[saddle up]

Oh, I forgot to mention,

Screwing with the handle bar adjustment on the fly, is after you adjust the clutch per instructions.

When I do a fifth gear roll on and it slips, I;ll screw in the handle bar adjuster in. You just have to remember to screw the handlebar adjustment back out when you need to shift up and down (like rush hour traffic) or your tranny like be quite clunky..

I also know that this is pooh-pawed by many on here, but I have never had any clutch work done on two different bike with over 50k on both...

Also when doing the on the fly adjustment, in or out means just a little, like half a turn...mo.02 worth

[TomRodgers]

EBC, Vesrah, or Barnett springs??? EBC's i see are cheap $$$ but to they hold up? Not a lot of $$ for the next few weeks and i am sure they need to be replaced....but i dont wanna throw good money on top of bad.....

[cywelchjr]

Screwing with the handle bar adjustment on the fly, is after you adjust the clutch per instructions.

When I do a fifth gear roll on and it slips, I;ll screw in the handle bar adjuster in. You just have to remember to screw the handlebar adjustment back out when you need to shift up and down (like rush hour traffic) or your tranny like be quite clunky..

I also know that this is pooh-pawed by many on here, but I have never had any clutch work done on two different bike with over 50k on both...

Also when doing the on the fly adjustment, in or out means just a little, like half a turn...mo.02 worth

If doing that makes it not slip, then it's not adjusted right. If you can't both get it to slip and to disengage completely, then it needs fixed. When mine is good and hot after a hard run, it can be a little hard to get into neutral, but I can always shut it off at that point anyways.

I repeat, if fiddling with the adjustment makes it stop slipping, it wasn't adjusted right in the first place. These thing will clunk, but with practice at matching speeds, you can get it to work pretty smooth, like if you can get to where you can shift smoothly without the clutch, shifts with it will be smooth.

I can shift pretty well without using the clutch, and most people can't tell I did it, but I almost always use the clutch anyways to reduce the wear on the dogs.

[foreda]

Vesrah

EBC, Vesrah, or Barnett springs??? EBC's i see are cheap $$$ but to they hold up? Not a lot of $$ for the next few weeks and i am sure they need to be replaced....but i dont wanna throw good money on top of bad.....

I put in the Vesrah in my 78 last year and works well. Of course I do not run the old beasts hard anymore but for the money I think they are ok.
Please tell me you do not know the owner of those jiggly things on your avatar!!

[saddle up]

Sorry, I disagree

But I knew this was going to be said.

For the rest of you, after adjusting your clutch for the 10th try,,, welll

[cywelchjr]

But I knew this was going to be said.

For the rest of you, after adjusting your clutch for the 10th try,,, welll

Are you talking about if it's slipping and adjusting makes it stop but then it clunks too much meaning it's not adjusted right? Sorry, but that's not opinion it's fact, and while facts can be ignored, they can't really be disagreed with as opinions can. If adjusting the cable makes it stop slipping, then it was being held partially disengaged by the handle, which is by definition not properly adjusted. You can choose of course to incorrectly adjust your clutch (BTW, I have not had to touch my clutch in over 9 months and it doesn't slip and disengages properly) multi plate clutches are going to drag some, particularly wet ones, it's part of the way they work. If you have the throwout bearing engaged all the time (which by your description you do) it's under pressure all the time and wearing, your also holding your springs a little more compressed (which is likely not good (this BTW is opinion and as such can be disagreed with) for them), and since last I checked the throwout bearing is NLA, I would want mine to last as long as possible.

My experience with MC clutches (at least the cable operated ones) is that if they don't fully engage and disengage, it's almost always because the clutch cable is hanging in the housing, which can usually be fixed by lubing the cable, but sometimes if their bad enough requires replacing the cable to fix. If the clutch cable is work like it should, you should be able to both fully disengage the clutch and have it fully engaged when you release it. You WILL run into issues with high temps though, because the metal cable does expand which leaves it not fully pulling the arm all the way up when it gets hot (and since the clutch cable lays across the top of the engine this will happen when things get hot). You could adjust the cable to compensate, but the it will almost assuredly be too tight when it cools off, so IMHO (opinion here again) it's not worth the trouble, since you only really NEED the clutch to start and stop, the rest of the time is a convenience and may make the gears last a little longer (and this again is debatable) but then it may not, and this may depend on how good you are at shifting.

Frankly, I've been riding this 79, which is not as long as fredintoon, but is longer than many, and while I've only owned 3 bikes (1 honda and 2 yamaha's) this matches both my experience AND that which has been shared with me by others.

Oh, back to opinion again, if your adjusting the clutch for the 10th time, your either doing it wrong, or something needs fixed. Either one is likely, and you can ignore this as you feel fit.

[bikerphil]

EBC, Vesrah, or Barnett springs??? EBC's i see are cheap $$$ but to they hold up?

I've always used the EBC's with no slipping problems, YMMV.

[saddle up]

Not adjusted right?

Well, I've owned about 10 scooter of all makes and sizes... I never owned a car until I was 26. AND I have never rebuilt a clutch EVER.. Of all the bikes I have owned the XS is the worst for clutch slippages. (when you are really getting it own,, i.e. half time no clutch) Period. And I don't baby sit my scooter's.. I.E., I don't ride like Grandma. It's Balls out, with wheelies and burn outs. It's funny though according to you I can't adjust a clutch. Me thinks you are wrong in your assessment.. I don't have a bagger or a windshield,, if I want that, I'll ride the car. Plus I ride year around.. So it must be the cable huh?

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Saddle,

The clutch springs get SPRUNG surprisingly quickly. I had worked on mine just a few years ago, put in new frictions along with new springs. A few years and less than 10K miles later(yeah, I know....I don't daily ride it) it started slipping!? I took it apart, measured the frictions, they were essentially still at full spec, but the springs had already compressed down below spec length! So...that's when I did the new HD springs, AND also added the extra steel. It grabs great in all gears under all loads, AND I can fully disengage it with the clutch level pull, never have to adjust the cable/handlebar adjuster. Just some more thoughts....your springs may be getting weak!
T.C.