Clutch longevity

[procamper]

Hello all,

When I first picked my bike up two and a half riding seasons ago I installed a new set of parts unlimited clutch plates.

Now, after between 6 and 10k miles (not sure) I'm getting some slipping when driving hard in the upper rpms.

Stuff I tried:
1. new springs
2. adjust for extra free play at both hand lever and engine end

My questions:
Is it possibile to burn through a set of plates that quick?
How many miles have you guys got out of your plates?

I guess I wouldnt be that suprised if I had already worn them down that far-- I'm not exactly shy about useing every last poney the beast has left in her

[mitch]

One extra

I saw a thread on here where a fellow said he cured his clutch by adding one metal disk (on top of the first one) I didnt think there would be enough adjustment left so i asked him . He said it works great so find yourself a spare metal disk. HTH ....MITCH

[TopCatGr58]

Hey there Procamper,

Like you said, if you're heavy handed, and doing a lot of stop and go traffic, sure you could have burned thru a set of friction plates. But, what kind of oil are you using, if any synthetic, then switch to DINO. Secondly, you said you adjusted the clutch for freeplay at the handlebar and the engine?? You can't really adjust the freeplay at the engine but you can adjust the point of action of the lever at the engine..which I'm assuming you meant. That central screw inside the locknut has a fair amount of resistance due to the rubber o-ring and oil seal, so just asking if you are sure you backed it out far enough to have the central screw NOT making contact with the pressure plate, then back in till it just makes contact, then back out a 1/4 turn and then locked in place....used a screwdriver to hold the screw while you turned a wrench on the locknut???

Another Xsive posted about the problem of the main pressure plates #1 and 2 getting a lot of wear, and so that's why he suggested and used the extra steel plate, but I thought he stated that it was placed in the middle of the grouping of plates!? Of course, if you tear it down this far, then you can micrometer the plates for thickness, and if they are too thin, then you'll know you've actually worn them down and then you just have to replace them anyways, but if they are within spec, then you might want to try the extra steel!? HTH, good luck.
T.C.

[pgg]

Yeah the added steel plate compensates for the worn THRUST plate. Placed in the middle to keep things even.

[pgg]

Sorry - just looked in a manual - it is PRESSURE plate. I always thought it was THRUST plate.

[sixtysix]

My bike has 87K miles on it, I have riden it the last 40K, As far as I know it is the stock clutch....no slip at all. So I would say that they last forever , OK at least they are not prone to fail. Running Synthetic oil is the biggest cause of clutch slip, I run Semi-Synthetic castrol, with no problems.