Slipping clutch

<sigh><sigh><sigh>

I thought my clutch slipped a few days ago when I was doing about
15mph in 1st gear when I went over a speed bump at work on my way home
and decided that I probably just touched the gear selector with my
foot by mistake and thought nothing more of it.

On the way home from work the next day I thought I experienced some
odd behaviour from my gearbox when changing from 3rd to 4th at about
50mph - it seemed to go into neutral, I thought nothing more of it.

In the last 4,000 miles it hasn't demonstrated any behaviour like that
before, so I decided to monitor the situation.

It had its 15,000 mile service only a week or so ago, in which time
I've done about 400 miles (mostly around town.

Today, while out hooning around I was going on a straight road, good
service at about 60mph in 4th gear and had been in 4th for about a
minute at a steady speed, going up a slight hill - the engine
unexpectedly roared and the front suspension unloaded. I immediatly
loosened up on the throttle and changed up a gear and headed the rest
of the way home without further incident.

I think this is what is described as the clutch slipping and from what
I've read here a change in engine oil sometimes does this. My oil was
changed during the service and the garage asked if I wanted "standard"
oil or fully synth. I said standard as I thought this was the correct
answer. Was I mistaken?

 

<snip>

Oh my fucking God. I hope my old English teacher doesn't get wind of
this post. Fucking appauling grammar and spelling.

 

On Fri, 10 Jun 2005 13:24:31 +0100, BGN did witter on about:

The clutch on my ZX9R started to slip after I changed the oil.

 

Sounds like a false neutral.

To be honest, your description is so bad that I can't tell. Sounds
more like it jumped into neutral to me. Was there *any* forward drive
when the engine "unexpectedly roared" [1] ?

[1] you do realise that phraseology like this makes you sound like an
utter girl, don't you?

 

Forever hopeful is our Champ?

 

I did originally put "the revs increased dramatically" but the
thought, grammar and spelling bunny ran away from me and I hit delete.

Yes, there was forward drive after the revs increased and then dropped
down again.

Oh yes.

I think I may well do some crappy course in basic maintenance
this/next year so that I'll be able to blow up the tyres without
breaking anything.

 

Well, if there's still forward drive, but there appears to be a
variable relationship between revs and speed, then your clutch is
slipping.

 

I'll keep an eye on it over the coming weeks to see if it gets any
worse.

If it does then would a change in oil probably fix the problem?

 

Fucking boring, as well.

 

I look forward to meeting you one day, Mr. Blaney. I hope you come
armed with your handbag.

 

The thing about a slipping clutch is that is usually bloody obvious -
ime it's not the sort of thing that comes and goes. And it always
gets worse, sooner rather than later.

I doubt it, unless the particular type of fully synth oil you've used
is disagreeing with your clutch. There's been lots of argument over
the years about this, but I've never had personal experience of fully
synth causing clutch slip.

 

I hope you don't have any fucking tedious questions about every little
noise your motorbike makes.

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, Champ

Maybe the awesome power of the 500 caused the rear tyre to spin up?

I am reminded of a (probably planted) reader's letter in one of the bike
rags a while ago where a guy was asking why his 350LC's clutch only
slipped in wet weather...

--
Wicked Uncle Nigel - Manufacturer of the "Champion-105" range of rearsets
and Ducati Race Engineer.

WS* GHPOTHUF#24 APOSTLE#14 DLC#1 COFF#20 BOTAFOT#150 HYPO#0(KoTL) IbW#41
ZZR1100, Enfield 500 Curry House Racer "The Basmati Rice Burner",
Honda GL1000K2 (On its hols) Kawasaki ZN1300 Voyager "Oh, Oh, It's so big"

 

It started to do it only a few days after it had its service, perhaps
I'll pop it back to them this week.

It's not like I was revving the nuts off of it this time, and the
first time I noticed it I was only doing 15mph in 1st.

I'll keep an eye on it.

 

It makes brum brum noises and occasionally a thump. Do you think it
will pass an MOT?

 

No. Don't be foolish.

 

I wonder if they've mis-adjusted the clutch cable (assuming the ER5
has a cable clutch - does it?)

IME (again) a clucth that is prone to slipping is more likely to do it
in a high gear and at medium revs (but with high load - i.e. the
throttle fully open) than in a low gear/high revs situation.

 

It does have a cable clutch, and the biting point is now later than it
used to be.

 

So slacken it off a bit and see if that helps. You should be able to
pull the lever in perhaps half an inch before it starts to move the
cable itself. Adjustment at the handlebar end should be obvious to any
but the most dimwitted mechanical numpty...

so I'd take it back to the dealer if I were you.

--
_______
..'_/_|_\_'. Ace (brucedotrogers a.t rochedotcom)
\`\ | /`/ GSX-R1000K3
`\\ | //' BOTAFOT#3, SbS#2, UKRMMA#13, DFV#8, SKA#2
`\|/`
`

 

uh huh. There should be 2~3mm of slack in the cable. What this means
is that you should be able to move the lever such that 2~3mm of cable
is exposed at the end of the lever before *any* resistance is felt at
all. Is this the case?