What kind of life is everyone getting from their clutches? I went on a 800 mile road trip yesterday, and I'll admit I was flogging the bike for 400 miles of twisties, but a few times on straights in 4th/5th gear I felt the clutch slip. I wasn't necessarily accelerating. A few times this happened when I was cruising at 70 mph down the highway. So, a couple things. I did change the oil I was using about 1000 miles ago. I switched from the Mobil 1 Racing 4T to the Shell Rotella T 15w-40 (the Jaso-MA rated one) that I use in all my other bikes. I'm going to change back to the Mobil 1 (or Amsoil) in this and try to flush it through and change it yet again in a few weeks before my big trip. But that seems pretty early for that oil to break down given I've never had issues with it before, but also seems odd that the clutch should be slipping. Any thoughts? Examples of clutch wear in you 650s or (not going into an oil debate...) noticing slipping when changing oils?
I have close to 10k miles. I use the castrol 4t at the moment. Might switch to royal purple hp4. The only time I noticed the clutch slip is when I accidentally let the clutch out and nailed the gas too soon and slipped for a second. Never again though. Just what I have noticed. Also curious how long every one expects the clutch to last on this bike.
Pretty sure that my TR650 has been miss behaving just like yours msmith345, for around the last 1500km of a total approximate 8 500km. 10-40w silkolene comp 4T oil is being used and was last changed at around 6 000km. Taking my TR650 to the dealer on Friday because I'm suspecting exhaust gases are sneaking into the cooling system. I also want my engine rattle/pinging that happens from 4200-4600rpms at 100% throttle to be explained and dealt with, so I will also get the clutch looked at. I am really running out of patience for putting up with all of this bikes quirks. I do remember in Adventure Rider Australia TR650 thread that a clutch started slipping due to a burring edge on the clutch basket that was fixed up with a file. Cheers, Q
I've noticed the clutch will slip a little in higher gears when power shifting (keeping the throttle wide open). I have about 13k miles and use Rotella Synthetic oil. That's hammering a clutch pretty hard and I don't know if I should expect it not to slip a bit under those conditions. Thoughts?
I have just found out about the Rekluse auto clutch. Looks like we can get one too. http://www.happy-trail.com/BMW-F650GS-Single-Dakar-F650CS/REKLUSE-Z-Start-Pro-Clutches.aspx A bit pricey though. I think this sure could help on the technical stuff, and probably would eliminate any slipping. Link is dead
I've been looking at that Rekluse for a long time. Owners rave about them and I would definitely have one if I lived in an area where I could frequently take advantage of it. Unfortunately I must do most of my riding on pavement and the cost keeps me away.
Yeah, I don't think the Rekluse would be the ticket on a 650 single. A lot of people like them, a lot of people hate them. I'm in the later group. With the low speed fueling issues, I think the rekluse would just cause a lot of stalls and a lot of wear on the clutch plates. I could be wrong, but that's not where I would throw money at on this bike.
Mostly the Rekluse is for tight trail work. It also has a niche in helping those that have hand or foot injuries. IMHO I think the TR is too big a beast to really be of benefit on tight trails but then I'm not in my 20's anymore either.
I started riding on a Honda 90 Trail, auto clutch. That was the last time also. I wonder how I would take to it again. I like the idea of being able to walk the bike easy. My clutch has slipped a couple times, just minor slippage. When I was checking on compatible oil for the engine, I read pages and pages of info on synthetic oils. One thing about synthetics is that there has to be additives in it to help the clutch out. Something about the molecular structure of synth oil being even, which could cause something like a laminar effect. Haven't quite pieced it together. I do not know what oil has been run in my bike up to this point. I will be using the castrol blend of synth and mineral at oil change. I have not tried a Recluse, the clutch is butter on my bike, but working it and pushing the bike is difficult for me. @msmith when you changed out the brands, did you notice a difference? As far as the Rekluse, tell me more about it. I'm thinking it might help out the stall issue, being it will rev up before engaging the clutch. If it stalls, you will just be sitting, not anticipating a turn or letting the clutch out.
Well, I'm not sure how your stalls go, but mine are typically with minimal load on the engine, coming to a stop at a light, then it changes, so getting back on the throttle. Or just taking off from idle at a stop. In both cases the clutch isn't fully engaged, but the fact that what the rekluse does is it slips you clutch until the weights have enough centrifugal force to close the gaps in the plates. It's still slipping, but it's not giving you the control of grabbing a little more lever and giving it some more gas to get out of the situation. So, for that reason, I don't think it would be very useful. This is the first change in oil brand I've had since the first break in oil change. I don't recall any slips prior to that, but I couldn't say for certain that they didn't happen. In the last thousand miles it for sure has though. On a dirt bike, I'd figure the clutch could be wearing down, but that just doesn't seem likely on a primarily street bike, but then I was thinking maybe Husky left the BMW spec'ed clutch in there, and the extra power from the Husky tune makes it not so much up to the task. I could always add preload spacers to the clutch springs to stiffen it up a bit, but if it was a clutch not up to the task, then it'd probably be called out long before me.
What do you think running auto trans fluid for a short period, to scrub the clutch would do? Could tranny fluid do engine harm in 10 minutes of working the clutch, in gear standing still? If there was a laminating or glazing, would the detergent clean it up?
AUTO trans fluid is rated completely differently to engine oil. The Viscosity ratings are not the same . I can't remember the equivalence as I havent checked it out for ages, but TX fluid has no antioxidants in it, so will degrade very quickly. I have used it in 2 stroke gearboxes very successfully with no clutch issues ( if anything the clutch was better), but in a shared piston/gearbox/clutch space I would be too unsure to do it. The clutch is the same a the BMW 650 motor so have a look in their forums as they have been around a while. I have no issues with mine at all. Just don't use car engine oil with friction modifiers or you may have to change the clutch plates to ever get it to work again properly as clutch friction plates are porous and it will always be in there. Think getting brakefluid on your pads/discs. Same problem.
Bringing back an old thread. Just took my terra off road for the first time this morning (have about 400 street miles on it total) and the clutch completely stopped working. My bike runs hot as hell all the time, and it was running hotter than hell 2 miles into a nice trail ride. The fan was on, the temp lines were about 2-3 lines from full. At first it was impossible to find neutral, but it didn't seem like too big of a deal so I kept going. Then it immediately became impossible to shift. Stuck in first and even with clutch lever pulled in it was still engaged in gear and kept stalling. Over and over. So I started pushing. After I got tired of pushing, it must of cooled off enough because I tried it again and was able to barely limp it out of the woods in first. Let it cool off some more and everything went back to normal. I wasn't riding the clutch or abusing it at all. Its just that my bike runs so hot, that I think the overheated engine oil ended up cooking the clutch. So whats the deal you guys. Will changing my oil to a different weight help?
1st. off I would check fluid levels then do a search here in TR650 for overheating, ZipTy waterless coolant and T-stat delete. Whole lota info there cause you have something wrong!
Are you saying the clutch will not disengage? If that is the case, it is probably the oil you are using, or a cable adjustment. (combined with heat) More adjust can be had by moving the lever on the case one tooth. I'm currently running a Rekluse in my TR650, so my whole outlook has changed.
It is definitely an upgrade. Still waiting and working with them. I have tried 3 different configurations so far, 2 work, but have bugs. I may put the BMW clutch baskets in and try that. That being the to only real option at this time. I have not confirmed which setup to use yet. The one on the left is from the X Challenge, on the right from an early F650 single.
Thanks isldtime and mag00. Yes, the clutch would not disengage at all. Fluid levels look good, but I'm definitely going to change out the oil before the next ride to be safe. Also messed with cable adjustment at the lever and at the clutch to no avail. Funny thing is, it had been running hot enough on my previous street rides that I already purchased the ZipTy thermostat delete and was planning on putting it in over the winter. Hopefully that plus waterless coolant plus burping will do the trick. I just had never heard of/anticipated a hot running engine causing clutch failure. Edit: Been following your rekluse progress. That's a great option to consider down the road.
I had a clutch slip awhile back so started reading about oils. If you are running straight synth or straight mineral, try the castrol 4t blended. That fixed my slippage. On your bike, it seems like when hot, the plates are getting a "suction" freeze. The big difference I noted was in the molecular structure of synth oil vs mineral. The claim is synth oil is a fine even structure where the mineral oil has a varied structure in the molecules. That is enough to create the slip, but not give up the traction. Maybe something is loose inside. When I pulled my recluse apart after the first configuration run, one of the metal discs was stuck to the pressure plate. It took me quit a bit to undo it, but it was not welded or glued or stuck with burnt oil, but the suction created with the thin layer of oil acted as such. Like sticking two pieces of glass together with a layer of water. Put some sand or small grit between the glass, and it will not stick. I suspect something similar is happening with your clutch pack. In one of the clutch topics I ask about running regular tranny fluid. That has a good detergent in it, and may cleanse the disks, or it may ruin them. Fortunately the clutch comes apart easy, and you could scrub or cleanse your discs to see if you can free up the porosity of the friction material. I have used brake cleaner for that. Then use a good quality jaso rated blended. I'm not sold on full synth for our bikes. You may go to BMW shop and find out what they use. AS far as the engine running warm, I'm adding a small fan where the canister was. The stock temp sensor triggers the fan on, well after the temp is hot and t-stat open. Once the fan comes on, the bike cools right down. I'll probably just wire aux fan to a switch and flip it on for the trail work or slow traffic.
