Slipping clutch

[Buellaucracy]

Hey guys,

Im pretty sure my clutch is slipping. I was wondering if a simple adjustment would do the trick on this bike?
At high RPM's in high gears(4&5) at WOT revs are not proportionate to the speed. Like the motor is speeding up but im not accelerating as fast as I should. Also, 3rd gear has a weird slip and jolt but goes away after 3k RPM. And the shifting is quite noisy and rough. More so than any other Buell i've ridden.

Thoughts and suggestions are always greatly appreciated.

Jeremey

 

[Buellaucracy]

Oops..its an '06 XB12R with about 35K.

 

[jammer84_03]

Sounds like what happened to mine. I have not taken my bike apart yet, but I'm almost positive the trans is 100% shot.

I had the 3rd gear issues where if I had someone on the bike it would do a weird slip and then if I backed off andidn'tnt go full throttle it would work. It progressively got worse to where I had no 3rd gear at all. Towards the end the noises started getting louder, and neutral was impossible to find after the engine had warmed up.

Sounds like you need to drop the motor and split the cases to me and find out whats going on

 

[Buellaucracy]

Ohhhhh that suuucksss.

 

[levi]

I just replaced my clutch with an Alto Carbonite from EBR.

It's like having a new bike again.

99 dollars. Do it. Do it.




The third gear thing sucks but you might luck out and avoid splitting the cases if it's related to the clutch.

good luck guy.

 

[onelogue]

Definitely take the first step of taking off the primary and taking your clutch basket out. Check out my How-to/DIY on stator relacement to see pictures and descriptions of how to take it off.

 

[Buellaucracy]

Thanks man. Ive been working on cars for quite a while, and have never had the gears go out in a transmission. The problem was always related to the synchros or clutch assembly. But then again, Ive never owned a buell before this one. lol

 

[jammer84_03]

I didn't mean to make it sound worse case, thats my fault, but it does sound IDENTICAL to what happened to me. But definately start with the small remedies first before you start thrashing and tear unnecessary stuff apart. I haven't done the tear down other than the extremedies of the bike (plastics, air filter, wiring) but I know mine is terminal. Either a gear of teh clutch fork or something big. So im not holding out for any miracle and im just biting the bullet.

Personal experience is expect the worst and hope for the best. That way if its better than you had planned you can be happy about it and not be as bad off, and at that point your over-prepared.

 

[Buellaucracy]

Jammer I really appreciate your input. Any information is invaluable to me: especially if it comes from experience. Your information has broadened my view on the issue and for that I am thankful.

 

[Buellaucracy]

It doesnt seem as if the simple adjustment helped at all. The next step in my process of elimination is to replace the clutch assembly. From my understanding this requires the dissembling of the clutch basket and replacement of the friction discs and steel plates.
Does anyone know where I can find the procedure for this? Im having difficulty retrieving the service manual.

 

[jammer84_03]

I would just check them first before replacing. Clutch work isn't cheap, neither is replacing it. If you have that primary cover off, why not try to put the bike in third and roll the bike, see if something is turning when it shouldn't be and vice versa. Also, have you changed the oil and looks for metal fragments or cut open an oil filter to see if you have metal shards in it? I would do that first before anything else...

Manual is here

 

[mowgoli84]

I know its probably not this simple, but I know some people tighten the simple adjustment to much, to lessen the gap in the lever and that can cause slipping.

idk lol

 

[brumbear]

A clutch is not that hard at all. If the machines is engaging and moving and shifting I doubt it's the trans unable to shift stuck in a gear thats different but they are by and large robust and with higher milage it may need a clutch. I would just pull it apart open a towel and place each part in order as you remove them it's fairly easy actually.

 

[bigflash1]

Mine was slipping a little just like you described. Pull the shop manual down and adjust it per the instructions. Fixed my issue 100%. 1st step before digging into your clutch basket.