Clutch slipping under load

[nedj10]

Hey everyone..
well my xb9r which is just now pushing 3800 miles started slipping under load in all 5 gears tonight while I was out riding..I consulted my manual and adjusted my the freeplay on my lever from what looked like .5mm of free play to about 2-3mm of free play doing this brought my clutch back to life but I noted while the adjustment cover was off the fluid SMELLS like a burnt clutch...so I am wondering..as I have no idea how it should smell, is this normal? I am thinking of changing out the fluid tomorrow just in case.

thanks
Ned Williams

[TPEHAK]

Yesterday I noticed my clutch slips badly at 4th and 5th gear when I accelerate on highway at 50-60 mph. RPM is raising and speed stays almost the same. 2009 Buell XB12Scg 22000 miles, friction plates has been changed maybe at 10000 miles, Mobil-1 V-twin 20W-50 in the transmission, everything has been adjusted and oil had been changed 2000 miles ago during last maintenance. Clutch cable has enough slack - maybe 2 mm when front wheel is straight.

Service manual says just readjust the clutch. I'm going to readjust it and will report back if it fixed the issue.

[user_deleted]

Yesterday I noticed my clutch slips badly at 4th and 5th gear when I accelerate on highway at 50-60 mph. RPM is raising and speed stays almost the same. 2009 Buell XB12Scg 22000 miles, friction plates has been changed maybe at 10000 miles, Mobil-1 V-twin 20W-50 in the transmission, everything has been adjusted and oil had been changed 2000 miles ago during last maintenance. Clutch cable has enough slack - maybe 2 mm when front wheel is straight.

Service manual says just readjust the clutch. I'm going to readjust it and will report back if it fixed the issue.

if your plethora of previous jibberish is believable you abuse this bike.
you replaced ONLY the friction plates....and not the metal drive plates? bad decision but doesn't surprise me.
no mention of this little gizmo being replaced. yours is shot.
no need to report back. we don't care.

13DiaphragmSpring.jpg

[Cooter]

7 year old post TP...

12k miles on a clutch? Get a new clutch. Frictions and steels. Install it. Write thread about it

If you have correct freeplay like you say... what would you adjust it too? The same correct freeplay?

The front wheel straight shouldn't make any difference unless the cable is routed incorrectly. Route the cable correctly so that the freeplay is the same no matter where the front wheel is pointed.

[TPEHAK]

I replaced full pack, flat plates and plates with pads. They sold as one set. I bought it on americansportbike.com.

The rest is the original parts including clutch spring.

You have to adjust clutch (the screw under primary inspection cover), not only clutch cable slack. There is probably some tension on this screw. But I adjusted this screw 2000 miles ago. Maybe friction pads slightly rubbed off during slow traffic commute, so now I have to adjust that screw again to have completely engaged pads.

Clutch cable has original routing. Cable has slightly different freeplay during whole steering wheel turning range, but it is still within 1.6-3.2mm range everywhere.

I already have readjusted the clutch and will report you back once I will have a chance to ride on highway.

[TPEHAK]

OK, the clutch still slips. Readjusting the clutch did not eliminate the issue. It is not too bad, I do not accelerate hard anyway, I probably will change friction plates next oil change.

[Cooter]

I probably will change friction plates next oil change.

It WILL get worse, and you WILL need steels. Just an FYI, you'll find out then.

[Cooter]

I probably will change friction plates next oil change.

'They" do, but if you're planning on just riding it out and replacing everything, go ahead. I don't think it's something that will leave you stranded unexpectedly, but I wouldn't treat my bike that way. YMMV.

Any ideas why it hasn't lasted very long?

[Cooter]

No kidding. Cable clutches don't get tighter.

You can't always feel it when it's slipping and that additional heat will kill the steels in short order, if it hasn't already. When you finally pull it apart, you will see blue heat stress dots on the steels and you can't 3-d print those (yet).

Why so cheap? Just get a good clutch set of frictions AND steels and put it in, it's less than an hour job for pete's sake.

[TPEHAK]

If it is already dead I see no reason to rush with changing the plates since it performs OK for me and it will not be more dead than it is currently. I just want to wait until next oil change to kill two birds with one stone. It is not bad enough for me yet.