Clutch Slip?

[Cam]

Hi all!

So I've had my '12 Glee for a couple of months now and am loving it. It's my first big bike, so I'm still learning the ropes and what to expect in different scenarios.

A couple of times I've noticed something a bit weird. When on the motorway and about to overtake, I've dropped to 4th and put the throttle on pretty heavy. It seems it takes a second or two for the clutch to engage — the revs just sort of stay the same — then it begins to pull away.

Is this normal, or is there a clutch issue? The bike has done 10k miles (3k by me in the last two months) and has a full service history.

I'd value your thoughts! :-)

[grumps]

10k miles is nothing these days for a clutch - unless it has done a whole lot of commuting in heavy traffic.

I haven't changed a clutch in a long while but the old way of checking was to engage first, haul on the front and rear anchors and try to take off.

Others will chip in soon I have no doubt. Good luck

[MartinW]

As Grumps says, seems unlikely a new clutch is dead.

The revs would have to go up (or vary as a minimum) if it was slipping.

[Hugo Magnus]

I concur, if the clutch slipped the rev would go up.

It sounds like a fuelling issue.

[Joe Rocket]

Try rolling on in top gear, the gearing will cope easily at motorway speed so no need to drop down two gears.

It shouldn't be clutch after only 10k miles.

4th gear at around 60-70mph is fairly high in the rev range (I think) and won't give you an instant jolt in power although max torque is up there somewhere.

[Cam]

I guess I should have mentioned that I was doing about 50mph each time, as I remember it, so it would have been lower in the rev range.

I wondered if perhaps my clutch cable is a little tight and its continually pulling in the clutch and its only showing up a problem when under more stress than 'normal'?

It being my first bike, I don't really know how to check that, or if the above would be a symptom of that problem.

[Hugo Magnus]

If your clutch cable was too tight then "giving it a fistful" in 4th at 50 mph would be more likely to make the engine rev,  with little or no response at the back wheel. Do you have a trusted friend who could test it and give you a second opinion?

[Hugo Magnus]

As I don't usually pay a lot of attention to which gear I'm in; I've been out this morning and mimicked your accelerating hard, in 4th from 50mph. It didn't pick up as smartly as I would have imagined, so I recommend you just drop into 3rd 

[Pedro41]

Just wondering if you or the previous owner has had the clutch lever free play dialed out?

You should have 1cm of free travel before the clutch lever starts to activate the clutch arm.

If you put a steel/wooden ruler under the ball-end of the lever (held horizontal)

then pull the lever blade, you shouldn't feel much resistance for the first 1cm.

If there is pressure at the lever from the start of the travel, it needs the (barrel) adjuster backing off.

Having too little 'free play' in the cable can wear the clutch plates.

Good luck - it may be a simple fix if no lasting damage done.

[greywolf]

To wear the plates due to the clutch adjustment, there needs to be zero free play plus tension on the cable. Any free play at all would mean the cable is not the cause of clutch slippage.

[Hondaman]

Looking at the original post, is this actually a clutch issue?
Overtaking something in the motorway (I'm assuming 70-80mph) shouldn't require a drop to 4 th gear! What kind of revs are you at when doing this?
My geared up 650 pulls well enough in 6th for decent ovetakes at all motorway speeds
However, when playing out on the back roads, using the revs & gears more, there is sometimes a slight momentary  'holding back' when pressing on & opening the throttle, presumably a result of lean running/emissions setup.

Where in the country are you, I think this needs better description if it's clutch slip, the revs would rise but speed wouldn't.

[Cam]

Looking at the original post, is this actually a clutch issue?
Overtaking something in the motorway (I'm assuming 70-80mph) shouldn't require a drop to 4 th gear! What kind of revs are you at when doing this?

Sorry, I mentioned in a subsequent post that I was doing about 50mph at the time.

Thanks for the replies throughout, everyone — you've put my mind at ease. Looks like it's most likely fuel mapping I guess.

[jabmotorsport]

If the rev are staying the same.. is the throttle grip slipping on the throttle tube, sounds silly but I've seen and done it before