Clutch Out?

[realshelby]

On my way to work today I downshifted two gears to go around a slow car and noticed the engine rpm flared up. I could make it flare up with full throttle a few more times on the way to work. Bike is an '04 RT with 15,585 miles and I am not hard on the clutch. Even if I was this mileage is way too low for this to happen! Bike is not in warranty. Could this be fluid getting on the disc? Clutch fluid is in the middle of the glass, no drips on the floor when parked from anywhere. Clutch lever feel and engagement is same as ever. I guess it is coming apart no matter what but I hope it is something besides wear!

[4wheeldog]

It is possible to wear out the clutch in 15k if you treated it like a wet clutch. Otherwise, you may have a leaky rear main or trans input seal. The question is really moot, as the bike has to come apart in any of these cases. There is no adjustment for the hydraulic clutch actuation. Sorry.

[Happy Jack]

You might want to try removing the starter. That will give you some visibility into the clutch area.

[RFW]

It is possible to wear out the clutch in 15k if you treated it like a wet clutch. Otherwise, you may have a leaky rear main or trans input seal.

As a bit of a smartass comment, what you are saying is that is it possible to wear out the clutch in 15k if it is treated like it was a wet clutch, ...or if you have an oil leak and it IS a wet clutch!

[Armando]

Hum, Now you got me wondering what one treats the clutch as a wet type. Can you please elaborate?

 

Thanks

It is possible to wear out the clutch in 15k if you treated it like a wet clutch. Otherwise, you may have a leaky rear main or trans input seal. The question is really moot, as the bike has to come apart in any of these cases. There is no adjustment for the hydraulic clutch actuation. Sorry.

[RFW]

Hum, Now you got me wondering what one treats the clutch as a wet type. Can you please elaborate?

Slippage! Dry clutches in BMWs and Ducatis do not like to be slipped much, and especially do not like drag race starts at all! Best way to treat a BMW dry clutch is to release it quickly off the line and let the bike's bottom end torque work for you.

 

Similarly on downshifting, do not slowly engage the clutch to drag the motor up to the speed it need so be when you shift to the next lower gear. Blip the throttle to match RPM and let the clutch out fast.

[realshelby]

Well I am going to finish my air conditioner install this weekend before anything. 98 degrees and dew points in the upper 70's don't make for pleasant maintenance chores! Just bought an '06 KLX 250S for my son-may have to spend some time on it too. Damn thing has to come apart no matter what is the cause. Unless the owner that put the first 6K miles on it abused the clutch there is no excuse for it to be failing. At last Saturdays tech daze in Austin they were showing an input shaft and clutch disc that had failed. I thought at the time it looked like a very small disc to be handling 75 lb-ft of torque. As far as wet vs dry goes I don't see why one should be much different in this application. Simply put every "wet" clutch I am familiar with has aroung 5 or 6 friction discs. They simply have way more surface area than the single disc in the RT. Does anyone know of an aftermarket disc for the 1150's?