Clutch Burned Out

I went out to ride the Black Bear Dual Sport ride in Lake City FL this weekend. I only got 13 miles into the ride, most of which was in flooded jeep trails when I got hung up trying to get around a deep water hole. Turns out I was getting no drive. When I pushed the bike out I found I was totally broken down. I assume it is a burned out clutch. I took it to the dealer as it is still under warranty, if it is not the clutch it should be covered. Clutch is a wearable part and excluded from warranty as you know. Anyway, I only have 1900 miles on the bike and never thought I would face this so early in it's life.

Pushed it back to the graded road though 1 mile of mud and water. Not much fun.

I am supposed to hit Deal's Gap and Tail of the Dragon this weekend. Hoping to be back on the road by then.

either you really abuse your clutch or something else is not right. I have 8500 miles on my bike and the clutch feels as good as the day I bought it. Let us know what the dealer finds.

That part of Florida is a swamp. You can't go there if it's been raining. It rained for a week before that ride.

You're lucky you didn't get bit by a snake pushing that bike out.

Sounds like a fried clutch.
Your engine oil is probably now black and stinks to high heaven. :)

Yes clutch wear is never warranty as you cannot blame the parts for the failure
Think of it in terms of cause and effect, the only thing that can wear a clutch is slippage
So the wear is an effect and not a cause
If there was a warrantable defect that caused the clutch to be damaged then that is a different story
Typically what happens is: clutch get's hot, lever goes soft and gains freeplay
customer adjusts free play, clutch cools down and there is no free play, clutch slips and wears out

Not the answer every time but often it is

Nearly 20k on my bike, will bit that tomorrow probably, and the clutch feels.great. I've also learned to not ride into jeep holes, thankfully from others experience, for what you've expeerienced. Not much you can do when the course.goes throuh it of course...

Sounds kind of like what happend on BigDog ans DingWeeds ride - BigDogs & Digweeds clutch post (It's near the end of the post)

The chain & sprotckets got jammed with mud and it fried the clutch rather quickly. You could have had some sticks or crud do the same thing to you.

That's why one of the better mods to do if you go into soupy, sloppy, mucky crap is to toss the case saver/sprocket cover that is stock, and either make one, or buy an aftermarket one. One that lets this crap come out, and not get forced to solid up behind the cover.

SheWolf wrote:

That's why one of the better mods to do if you go into soupy, sloppy, mucky crap is to toss the case saver/sprocket cover that is stock, and either make one, or buy an aftermarket one. One that lets this crap come out, and not get forced to solid up behind the cover.

Sandman Parts!

I am pretty sure that I fried the clutch in a similar fashion to the BigDog post. I was trying to get the bike out getting hung up on some cyprus roots and did find that when I thought I was spinning the rear while it was in fact stationary. Not sure if it was the cause or effect, somewhere in the middle I think. Funny, as I was riding easy terrain on buddy's farm last weekend and had the feeling the bike was not really giving me full power, I think in fact the slippage had started at that point. I am certainly glad I did not encounter snakes on the push out Gatorfan, I have to say while I was pushing the bike alone as my riding buddy went for the truck my feeling was decidedly "Unarmed". Still waiting on the definitive diagnosis from the dealer, but expect to buy a clutch as almost a certainty.

Yep, dealer called with the crappy news. Clutch is fried and basket gouged.

Nicely scorched....




Next time I think I am loosing rear wheel traction I will watch much more closely. Costly mistake...

Honestly, that clutch boss looks fine to me.
You did cook the clutch plates, though. ;)

That basket looks OK to me. Hell, my VFR with 40,000 hard miles looked worse and my clutch worked perfectly. But those clutch plates are toast.