Misbehaving clutch

sgoaty · Post by **sgoaty** » Tue Aug 05, 2014 9:59 pm

I did nearly 700 trouble free miles over the weekend but tonight when out for a run I had a weird thing happen at junction twice.

Whilst letting out the slowly and raising the revs at a junction and the bike made a squeak and the clutch bit. I had to pull the lever in again fully to avoid crashing in to the car in front. At first i thought maybe my hand had slipped but the same thing happened again at the next junction. Im using Castrol Power 1 10w 40 semi synthetic oil and its around 1500 miles old.
Anyone got any ideas as to what might have caused it?
Thanks
Scott

Wicky · Post by **Wicky** » Tue Aug 05, 2014 10:08 pm

Check that mice aren't eating cheese in your clutch…

After that check clutch reservoir fluid levels if low top up, but also look for possible leak around slave unit. clean out any grit , refurb seals and clean piston and cylinder.

sgoaty wrote:...the bike made a squeak and the clutch bit.

AMCQ46 · Post by **AMCQ46** » Tue Aug 05, 2014 10:26 pm

That problem is a known storm issue, and one that we havnt yet got a good solution to. It is worse when the bike is hot, but you have to learn to let the clutch out at lower revs and then use the torque to pull away.

My bike was pretty bad but I fitted a clutch from my spare engine and although it is still there it only happens at much higher revs now

Virt · Post by **Virt** » Tue Aug 05, 2014 10:28 pm

http://vtr1000.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php ... 36#p343936

??

AMCQ46 · Post by **AMCQ46** » Tue Aug 05, 2014 10:30 pm

Oh yeah, I had forgotten Rogers cure.... I will rephrase my answer.... There is no easy cure

sgoaty · Post by **sgoaty** » Wed Aug 06, 2014 6:12 am

Its a bit strange that this is the 1st time ive had it in around 2500 miles of riding.
Thanks
Scott

lloydie · Post by **lloydie** » Wed Aug 06, 2014 11:53 am

Yep they do get worse with age ! Like us I suppose

My last engine you couldn't pull away with any more revs than 3k or it'll bite ya . This engine takes some abuse before it'll grab .
Just learn to ride around it or dig deep in your pockets and have some spring plates made .

AMCQ46 · Post by **AMCQ46** » Wed Aug 06, 2014 12:17 pm

lloydie wrote:
My last engine you couldn't pull away with any more revs than 3k or it'll bite ya . This engine takes some abuse before it'll grab .
.

that is similar to the way mine was, but I just swapped the clutch and now it is up about 6000rpm before you have a risk

Jamoi · Post by **Jamoi** » Wed Aug 06, 2014 1:56 pm

The clutch grab issue really pee's me off! Enough to consider a slipper clutch or ask Roger to make some diaphram plates

StuartWags · Post by **StuartWags** » Wed Aug 06, 2014 3:59 pm

Is this when the clutch goes grabby / snatchy accompanied buy noises?

Had it happen on a couple VTRs when blipping the revs higher than usual and feeding the clutch out. Also happens on the Pan, same clutch plates i believe. Seems temperature related on the pan. i.e. happens more in the winter

AMCQ46 · Post by **AMCQ46** » Wed Aug 06, 2014 5:15 pm

StuartWags wrote:Is this when the clutch goes grabby / snatchy accompanied buy noises?

yes that's the one, revs and temperature related

sgoaty · Post by **sgoaty** » Fri Aug 08, 2014 8:53 pm

Oh well at least it wasn't me i suppose

Thanks for the input guys.

StuartWags · Post by **StuartWags** » Thu Sep 18, 2014 4:52 pm

Just solved the same problem on my Pan. It has the same corks (apart from 2) and plain plates.

I swapped the corks and metal plates for a good used set from a storm engine. The Pan plates looked fine in terms of wear but they had notable signs of being hot. Under closer inspection the metal plates seem to have distorted very slightly and had high spots where friction / heat was focused.

Pan clutch is now smoother, no grabbing or noise. The gear change is also slicker. Obviously, the distorted plates were also dragging slightly.

Mike TW9 · Post by **Mike TW9** » Sun Oct 05, 2014 5:11 pm

I've experienced this a couple of times recently. Once when nipping in front of a van which caused the bike to lurch embarrassingly and earlier today when I was thrashing it a bit more. Clunky gear changes are becoming rarer I think though

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