clutch slip any ideas?

[gpostarmy]

I went on a trip the other day. We had been riding for about 18 hours off and on with fuel and coffee stops. Rode the bike across the Mackinaw Bridge for the first, and second time. Anyway at about hour 14 we got behind some dumb traffic that kept feeling the need to mash their brakes, then speed up again, nice line of seven cars. They mash their brakes, i pull in my clutch and coast. I drop a gear, then another anticipating the drop in speed, but they hit the gas again. I bump the gear up one again, now in fourth, I let out the clutch, the revs go up but no power to the wheel, like when i miss second and give neutral a try lol. I pull off to the side of the road and start down shifting till my N light came on. I didn't hear any grinding and I still had my leg so I figured it was not the chain. I was still rolling about 25mph so I shifted back into second and no issues. Rode another 200 plus mile with no problem and it has never happened before. Any ideas, or does somebody know what happened?

 

[Motogiro]

My first question is did the clutch linkage feel normal? If it did maybe check your front sprocket to make sure it's tight. I believe that's on a spline. I'm also wondering if you could have somehow gotten between gears?

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

+1 on the above, also to add a basic question/statement, are the teeth normal on the front sprocket?

Something that came up recently, are you running motorcycle specific oil? Car oils (energy conserving) have additives that can make your clutch slip. Between the long, hot ride, traffic conditions, its very possible the clutch slipped.

It stopped slipping after it cooled down some and back to normal riding conditions. I'm assuming if it got got very hot, the fan did kick on (it didn't get super hot without the fan to cool it down)

Depending on how many miles you have on your last oil change, IMHO, I'd be changing it out to 10w40 MC specific oil so there's no doubt. Much easier and cheaper than potentially frying the clutch plates.

Without starting an oil thread, a semi synthetic (MC specific) or full synthetic oil (MC specific) would give you more protection than dino oil..

Good luck

 

[iSteve]

To me it sounds like the shift got stuck between gears. This can sometimes happen when the gear speeds don't match and you do a lazy shift. Over the years I had this happen on several bikes.

Seeing you were costing with the clutch in then dropped a gear and shifted up again plus being at hour 14 makes for the perfect storm. I wouldn't worry about it unless it starts happening more often.

 

[FinalImpact]

How's the cable feel if the lever is pulled real slow like? Any chance the cable simply didn't allow the clutch to return to the engaged position?

Extended ride times have caused clutch plates to stick (locking the clutch engaged), so this is a new one to go from engaged to fully released after pulling it. Tease your memory and try to recall if the lever came back out to full return.

All of us have missed a gear or two while passing through the neutral gate and I can say I had one occurrence of 3->4 upshift and hit neutral spot on a lazy shift. It let me know it with a BIG BANG (no tire skidding) it wasn't pleasant, but it worked fine all day and has never done it since. That was like 12,000 miles ago!

 

[MG-242]

If it only happened once and then everything was fine, I would say yes, it was the classic "false neutral". Not all that uncommon on a lot of bikes if you're a little lazy on the shift. No big deal, but always go up a gear first when it happens. Going down can have very bad results! Experience speaking again here . Not me, but a friend.

 

[yamihoe]

+1 on the false neutral/between gears

the clutches should last a very long time unless abused horribly, improperly adjusted or improper oil like townsend mentioned.

I have 33k on the original clutch and have drag raced and hotlapped the bike many many many times....

 

[gpostarmy]

I am running amsoil MC specific that i bought from the dealership only 1k miles on the change after the trip. As was mentioned I think I was between gears. Had a go thought the bike today chain needed a little tightening, teeth on both sprockets looked normal, and she rode/ shifted regularly. Note to self however, if it does happen again shift up before down.

 

[MG-242]

"Back in the day" a friend hit a false neutral on a 600 Hurricane coming onto the front straight at Mid-Ohio. First lap of the first practice. He downshifted! He should have been in 3rd but went to first! Needless to say it launched him to the moon and much of our day was spent repairing the bike.
We were preparing to race the 4 hr EBC Challenge. Pretty cool since Schwantz, Lawson and Rainey were all racing that weekend as well and were out using the 4 hr to practice and scrub tires.