Clutch? Fried

[mk744]

This weekend, I was playing on the beach and running on hard packed sand. I had turned off my TCS and having a great time running around playing in the sand. I was returning back to the main road when I got stuck in some deep soft sand and (I was trying to get unstuck as I was riding the clutch) I lost all power to my bike about 5 miles down the road as I was traveling about 20 MPH and the motor just began to rev high with out any go. I got towed back to cam and checked all fluids and such. I think I fried it. How much coin am I looking at to have the clutch replaced or fixed.

I am on a 2016 ST with 21,000 miles.


Thanks for any advice.

 

[Dogdaze]

Just the plates? Probably $80-100, the steels if they are warped and blue then another $100, do it yourself in 30-45mins really easy to replace a clutch pack. You should replace the oil at the same time though.

 

[Don in Lodi]

Just curious, what kind of oil are you running?

 

[~TABASCO~]

Also consider adding a Barnett pressure plate to the clutch. It will ‘lock it up’ much better.

 

[Dogdaze]

Just curious, what kind of oil are you running?

My thoughts too.

 

[mk744]

Thanks for the replies. I am running Yamaha 20W-50.

I can't think of anything else it could be. The way it was slipping and just began to rev high without any grab The engine sounded good, fluids were good. Is this a because I screwed
up or accumulation of the clutch showing wear that I did not recognize?

Thank you again for the replies.

 

[Boris]

At 21k miles your clutch should be completely fine, I doubt very much that you've missed any signs of wear.

Just sounds like you've fried the plates. However, if it were mine I'd bleed the clutch thoroughly and see if that makes any difference, if not better then it's plates out to see how they look.

Gut feeling is, new plates will be needed.

 

[Don in Lodi]

Agree. A 575 pound dirt bike just doesn't do well for long on a feathered clutch. Beach play might not be the best thing. A bleeding will eliminate the fluid, though I don't believe we can fry the fluid like we can in the brakes. I installed a Barnett on a slipping 40k clutch pack on my Royal Star. Ran it for another 70k miles on the original parts. The Barnett is a plus, whether you replace the friction parts... or not.

 

[Sierra1]

Back in the day, I thought that the clutch in my SECA had worn out. Same thing, engine would rev higher, but speed would not increase. Especially on very bump roads. Went in and replaced the OE with a Barnett's. When I took out the OE plates, they looked as good as the Barnett's. Come to find out the plates WERE still good, but the springs had weekend with age. All that being said, I don't think that's mk744's problem.

 

[Checkswrecks]

Playing in the sand like that or mud can definitely cook a clutch. Make sure to change the oil and it would be a good idea to change it next time a bit early. Damaging the clutch meant that there will be lots of very small shreds released and the oil filter can only catch so much.

 

[steve68steve]

I just replaced a clutch. Besides having about 35K miles on it, it had also seen some slipping in sand and general abuse, until I finally killed it by introducing a stupid amount of assembly lube to the crankcase as part of a valve adjustment and top-end half-assed re-build.

Same symptom - whacking the throttle makes the RPM jump and the gear indicator get confused but doesn't add power to rear wheel. IIRC, the pressure disks closest to the centerline of the bike were a few thou under tolerance, several of the outer ones were still in spec.

The repair is pretty easy, the plates and disks are available in a kit for a little over $100. It's a wet clutch (bathed in engine oil), so your oil is ruined, too.

 

[RonH]

Yea, it sounds like the fiber plates have gone bad. Clutch locking up is purely mechanical, plates pressed together by spring pressure. If it slips, there is really only plates and springs involved. Bleeding ect can't possibly be the problem. You could cut your brake hose completely in two and the clutch would still not slip of course, as the fluid pressure is used to disengage the clutch, not engage it.

 

[mk744]

Agree. A 575 pound dirt bike just doesn't do well for long on a feathered clutch. Beach play might not be the best thing. A bleeding will eliminate the fluid, though I don't believe we can fry the fluid like we can in the brakes. I installed a Barnett on a slipping 40k clutch pack on my Royal Star. Ran it for another 70k miles on the original parts. The Barnett is a plus, whether you replace the friction parts... or not.

Thanks, I understand that. It was a short section of really soft sand on street 80/20 tires. I did a lot of things wrong in that section.

Lessons learned. TCS (OFF) at the beginning, !st Gear... doi! The rest of the sand was hard packed and that was no issue.


Everyone thank you for your help on this. I will be ordering the parts this week and getting after it with (Adult supervision Hahahaha) I absolutely love my Tenere after two years, I can't wait for the next 20k miles on it.