Clutch 'tightness'

Hello!

Bit of a random one but I imagine common. Feel free to tag if this has been asked 10000x before

At random last week my clutch has been feeling stiff/tighter than usual. Still operates fine but I cant seem to pull it in as far as usual. I've checked the cables to make sure nothing is caught and cleaned as well in case dirt etc has got stick somewhere but it's still stiff!

I assume I'll just need to loosen if off, but I dont want to do that and then whatever is causing the current stiffness disappears as randomly as it appeared and then I have the opposite issue!

Have you tried some Lube on your Clutch ?

Have you tried some Lube on your Clutch ?

My first thought, a dry cable.

Have you tried some Lube on your Clutch ?

 

My first thought, a dry cable.

Yeh or lack of use .... perhaps she's a quick shifter .

Have you tried some Lube on your Clutch ?

 

My first thought, a dry cable.

 

Yeh or lack of use .... perhaps she's a quick shifter .

Clutchless 2nd-6th is the only way to change tho, always use clutch on downshifts though

My first thought, a dry cable.

 

Yeh or lack of use .... perhaps she's a quick shifter .

 

Clutchless 2nd-6th is the only way to change tho, always use clutch on downshifts though

Have you got a tight clutch to ?

Yeh or lack of use .... perhaps she's a quick shifter .

 

Clutchless 2nd-6th is the only way to change tho, always use clutch on downshifts though

 

Have you got a tight clutch to ?

No iv actually hot the opposite of a tight clutch, when I met up with steve(bender) on the way back we just got on the a69 and went to give it some welly and the revs just rose without much happening in the way of accelerating so I clicked up to 4th and pinned it again and it did the same so went to top and it started to accelerate, I was clutchless up shifting too which was strange....and even more strange I have tried replicating the conditions a few times and it hasn't done it again....but I'll be keeping my beady eye on it for if and when it does it again

Clutchless 2nd-6th is the only way to change tho, always use clutch on downshifts though

 

Have you got a tight clutch to ?

 

No iv actually hot the opposite of a tight clutch, when I met up with steve(bender) on the way back we just got on the a69 and went to give it some welly and the revs just rose without much happening in the way of accelerating so I clicked up to 4th and pinned it again and it did the same so went to top and it started to accelerate, I was clutchless up shifting too which was strange....and even more strange I have tried replicating the conditions a few times and it hasn't done it again....but I'll be keeping my beady eye on it for if and when it does it again

Weird ... what did bender make of your loose clutch ?

Have you got a tight clutch to ?

 

No iv actually hot the opposite of a tight clutch, when I met up with steve(bender) on the way back we just got on the a69 and went to give it some welly and the revs just rose without much happening in the way of accelerating so I clicked up to 4th and pinned it again and it did the same so went to top and it started to accelerate, I was clutchless up shifting too which was strange....and even more strange I have tried replicating the conditions a few times and it hasn't done it again....but I'll be keeping my beady eye on it for if and when it does it again

 

Weird ... what did bender make of your loose clutch ?

No we just left the pub, got some fuel and was just about to go back the pretty way and it just decided to slip a couple of times so I decided I'd take a ride home on the motorway so I could give the bike an easier time, but yeah it was very strange

Me thinks someone is not following [mention]Six30[/mention] here

My first thought, a dry cable.

 

Yeh or lack of use .... perhaps she's a quick shifter .

 

Clutchless 2nd-6th is the only way to change tho, always use clutch on downshifts though

I'm curious...why?

Why clutchless upshifting on public roads?

And @ Six30 - write on the blackboard 100 times " I must not use smutty euphemisms on the forum, even if they are really funny" then go to the naughty corner

Yeh or lack of use .... perhaps she's a quick shifter .

 

Clutchless 2nd-6th is the only way to change tho, always use clutch on downshifts though

 

I'm curious...why?

Why clutchless upshifting on public roads?

And @ Six30 - write on the blackboard 100 times " I must not use smutty euphemisms on the forum, even if they are really funny" then go to the naughty corner

Clutchless upshifts are smoother as you don't have to completely roll off the throttle, its not just for racing

Clutchless 2nd-6th is the only way to change tho, always use clutch on downshifts though

 

I'm curious...why?

Why clutchless upshifting on public roads?

And @ Six30 - write on the blackboard 100 times " I must not use smutty euphemisms on the forum, even if they are really funny" then go to the naughty corner

 

Clutchless pants are smoother as you don't have to completely roll them off , its not just for racing

Clutchless 2nd-6th is the only way to change tho, always use clutch on downshifts though

 

I'm curious...why?

Why clutchless upshifting on public roads?

And @ Six30 - write on the blackboard 100 times " I must not use smutty euphemisms on the forum, even if they are really funny" then go to the naughty corner

 

Clutchless upshifts are smoother as you don't have to completely roll off the throttle, its not just for racing

Ahh, ok. I'm genuinely curious - I've never met anyone who clutchless shifts on the road without the benefit of a quickshifter and clever electronics etc.

Personally, I've never felt the need to do it. To me, smooth gear changing is a skill to be mastered - like slow u-turns, or wheelies, or rolling stoppies etc etc. Or maybe I'm just a bit nerdy.

Anyway, I came across this video, you may find it eye opening, or you may think it's hogwash, but worth a look...

hahaha dry clutch

Anyway yes you may be right, this happened after a veryyyy long ride out so perhaps its needs some grease!

Also, no Im not a quickshifter

Back to the original problem. Has the clutch done a lot of miles? Could be wear in the clutch basket, causing the plates to snag. Needs stripping and the high spots removing from the basket.

Back to the original problem. Has the clutch done a lot of miles? Could be wear in the clutch basket, causing the plates to snag. Needs stripping and the high spots removing from the basket.

That would make no difference to the feel of the clutch at the lever! It would cause harder shifting and possibly dragging while at the lights

[mention]winston smith[/mention] Thanks for the video, it sort of vindicates what I've been saying for years about clutchless shifting. Why bother doing it? The action between hand and foot when changing gear can be almost as rapid as not using a clutch, unless of course you want to gain the extra 0.1 of a second when leaving the traffic lights.

I'm curious...why?

Why clutchless upshifting on public roads?

And @ Six30 - write on the blackboard 100 times " I must not use smutty euphemisms on the forum, even if they are really funny" then go to the naughty corner

 

Clutchless upshifts are smoother as you don't have to completely roll off the throttle, its not just for racing

 

Ahh, ok. I'm genuinely curious - I've never met anyone who clutchless shifts on the road without the benefit of a quickshifter and clever electronics etc.

Personally, I've never felt the need to do it. To me, smooth gear changing is a skill to be mastered - like slow u-turns, or wheelies, or rolling stoppies etc etc. Or maybe I'm just a bit nerdy.

Anyway, I came across this video, you may find it eye opening, or you may think it's hogwash, but worth a look...

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Before I had a quickshifter I clutchless shifted up on the street - doesn't hurt the engine, and it's quicker.

All I do is when I want to up shift I put slight pressure on the gear lever and when i roll off slightly it clicks up, never known it to do any harm to the gearbox, only thing that might wear slightly more is the chain and it could if done harshly snatch at the chain

Back to the original problem. Has the clutch done a lot of miles? Could be wear in the clutch basket, causing the plates to snag. Needs stripping and the high spots removing from the basket.

 

That would make no difference to the feel of the clutch at the lever! It would cause harder shifting and possibly dragging while at the lights

I see what megawatt means - it's a reasonable idea and could make a difference with feel. Although cleaning the clutch basket prongs is a delicate task with careful measurements to make opposing gaps equal.

IMHO it would be far easier, cheaper n quicker to clean n lube everything external first from the lever through the cable to the actuator - assuming it's a cable clutch of course - I don't know what bike it's on.

@winston smith Thanks for the video, it sort of vindicates what I've been saying for years about clutchless shifting. Why bother doing it? The action between hand and foot when changing gear can be almost as rapid as not using a clutch, unless of course you want to gain the extra 0.1 of a second when leaving the traffic lights.

You're welcome sir

I'm not here to tell people what to do, how to ride etc.

Although if people are unknowingly doing stuff that damages their pride n joy I feel obliged to share information so they can make their own minds up with a balanced view.

Every motorcycle I've ever ridden ( except a very old dt125 with a shagged gearbox when I was a kid) has changed gear smoother and faster than any manual car, van, truck or bicycle I have ever used.

Even in my stupid years when I rode everywhere flat out I never wanted to change any faster or smoother.

So that's why I was asking rich about his clutchless upshifting. Idle curiosity for something I can't quite get my head around.

Back to the original problem. Has the clutch done a lot of miles? Could be wear in the clutch basket, causing the plates to snag. Needs stripping and the high spots removing from the basket.

 

That would make no difference to the feel of the clutch at the lever! It would cause harder shifting and possibly dragging while at the lights

 

I see what megawatt means - it's a reasonable idea and could make a difference with feel.

How?

you pull the lever which pulls the cable which in turn either pulls another lever or pulls on a worm drive which pushes the push rod which releases the pressure plate which in turn releases pressure on the clutch plates causing it to slip

You're not pushing pressure on to the clutch plates so notches would make zero difference to feel

all they would do is cause the plates to stick not releasing properly causing notchy shifts or dragging of the clutch

I had this issue on the TLs due to many hard starts

up to the pressure plate moving the work of the clutch lever is done so the only thing that can cause an issue is something from the lever to the pressure plate

I get that with the clutchless upshifting would cause damage if you kept the bike pinned wide open as you aren't unloading the torque from the engine but when you let off the throttle and click the next gear there is no load on the gearbox so if done properly it shouldn't cause any damage to the gearbox

see depending on what you watch you get different advice on clutchless shifting