Wilsons Sandbox

Posted: **Tue Jan 25, 2005 8:37 pm**

Hi all i have a A18 with about 6000 miles and lately i have to put the bike in gear and rock it back and forth a couple times to get the clucth plates to disengae, if i pull in the clucth and try to start it, it will lurch forward while its tring to start, or if i have it in netrual and but it in gear it will bang realy hard and cut out, (unless i am in wet grass and the bike starts and the rear wheel starts digging a hole) Any help would be greatfull. Bike shifts fine other wise Chris A18

Posted: **Tue Jan 25, 2005 9:15 pm**

All wet clutch bike's clutch plates stick, especially in cold weather. Some are worse than others. That rollin back and forth shtuff ain't necessary. Just get the bikes temp off the bottom of the scale and before you take off, pull the clutch all the way in and rev from idle to 2grand 5 times or so. You'll be surprised to find you'll be thinkin about the next problem, course, you'll have to try hard to find another with the KLR! Rod --- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, "delawareklr650" wrote:

> > Hi all i have a A18 with about 6000 miles and lately i have to put > the bike in gear and rock it back and forth a couple times to get

the

> clucth plates to disengae, if i pull in the clucth and try to start > it, it will lurch forward while its tring to start, or if i have it > in netrual and but it in gear it will bang realy hard and cut out, > (unless i am in wet grass and the bike starts and the rear wheel > starts digging a hole) > Any help would be greatfull. Bike shifts fine other wise > > > > > Chris A18

Posted: **Tue Jan 25, 2005 9:26 pm**

Hi all i have a A18 with about 6000 miles and lately i have to put the bike in gear and rock it back and forth a couple times to get the clucth plates to disengae, if i pull in the clucth and try to start it, it will lurch forward while its tring to start Two thoughts: 1) Recheck the clearance on the lever to make sure it is at minimum slack when the lever is release. My A18 was like that unless I ran the lever adjustment very tight so that there is almost no slack in the lever. 2) Try a different oil (hate to mention oil) as mine is better with Mobile One. HIH Norm

Posted: **Tue Jan 25, 2005 11:51 pm**

Chris, I also have an A18 that does this pretty severely. I used to think that this was going to get better with some mileage. The fact your bike still does it at 6,000 miles isn't making me feel any better. Some guys will tell you that this is how wet clutches work for that very first shift of the day... but I disagree. I've had quite a few bikes over the years, all with wet clutches (Mostly Hondas, 1 Yamaha) and this Kawasaki is the only bike that has ever done this. Pretty embarrasing quality/design issue IMO, as everyone discusses it on the list. My driveway still has black marks in it from my buddy's '89 with 25,000 miles when he visited. And his bike's sticky clutch is significantly better than my A18. Has my Honda 600cc single left marks in my driveway over the last 20 years? Um, no. I've seen this issue covered before here on the list, some guys will start their bikes, pull in the clutch, then rev it once and it works for them. Didn't work for me. My only solution was what you are doing - key off, in gear, clutch in, rock bike a number of times - tire skidding on ground even, clutch acting like it's out... finally breaking loose after 5 or 6 tries. I've even adjusted my clutch cable to be sure that I'm getting max disengagement - you should do this too. So far my best solution? Since my driveway is on a slope, I start the bike, pull in the clutch, start coasting down the driveway and tap it into gear when I'm up to around 5 mph. Bike still lurches and gains speed. I never release the clutch and it just goes down the street as if I have the clutch released. As I near the stop sign at the end of my street, I start applying the brakes (clutch lever STILL IN!) and the engine starts losing speed of course. If you apply the brakes quickly, the clutch sticks enough to actually kill the engine! Amazing. My recent technique is to drag the brakes with the clutch in, and after about 10 feet it all breaks loose and we're good to go for the rest of the ride. So I'm down to two methods - your method on flat ground before the start, or on hills, to put it into gear once up to 4-5 mph coasting, then drag the brakes slightly with the clutch in until it breaks loose. Hope this helps, Bill Watson Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2005 02:36:44 -0000 From: "delawareklr650" Subject: Clutch plates sticking Hi all i have a A18 with about 6000 miles and lately i have to put the bike in gear and rock it back and forth a couple times to get the clucth plates to disengae, if i pull in the clucth and try to start it, it will lurch forward while its tring to start, or if i have it in netrual and but it in gear it will bang realy hard and cut out, (unless i am in wet grass and the bike starts and the rear wheel starts digging a hole) Any help would be greatfull. Bike shifts fine other wise Chris A18 --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Search presents - Jib Jab's 'Second Term' [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Posted: **Wed Jan 26, 2005 12:13 am**

Bill, My A9 had a similar problem when I purchased it at 8500 miles. I took the clutch apart and the steel plates were slightly warped, but the fibers looked fine. I replaced the steels with new one's from Kawasaki, (at the time didn't know about Ron Ayers). A couple of the new one's were slightly warped and I had a friend at a local machine shop "deck" them for me. Even after that I would have to blip the throttle with the clutch in to free it up. That was when I was using non-synthetic oil, 10w40, and the temp was below freezing. I switched to Mobil 1 and haven't had a problem since, warm or cold, as long as I keep the lever free play at 1-2mm. Greg '95 A9 -----Original Message----- From: Bill Watson [mailto:gcurve2000@...] Sent: Tuesday, January 25, 2005 11:51 PM To: DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com Subject: [DSN_KLR650] Re: Clutch plates sticking Chris, I also have an A18 that does this pretty severely. I used to think that this was going to get better with some mileage. The fact your bike still does it at 6,000 miles isn't making me feel any better. Some guys will tell you that this is how wet clutches work for that very first shift of the day... but I disagree. I've had quite a few bikes over the years, all with wet clutches (Mostly Hondas, 1 Yamaha) and this Kawasaki is the only bike that has ever done this. Pretty embarrasing quality/design issue IMO, as everyone discusses it on the list. My driveway still has black marks in it from my buddy's '89 with 25,000 miles when he visited. And his bike's sticky clutch is significantly better than my A18. Has my Honda 600cc single left marks in my driveway over the last 20 years? Um, no. I've seen this issue covered before here on the list, some guys will start their bikes, pull in the clutch, then rev it once and it works for them. Didn't work for me. My only solution was what you are doing - key off, in gear, clutch in, rock bike a number of times - tire skidding on ground even, clutch acting like it's out... finally breaking loose after 5 or 6 tries. I've even adjusted my clutch cable to be sure that I'm getting max disengagement - you should do this too. So far my best solution? Since my driveway is on a slope, I start the bike, pull in the clutch, start coasting down the driveway and tap it into gear when I'm up to around 5 mph. Bike still lurches and gains speed. I never release the clutch and it just goes down the street as if I have the clutch released. As I near the stop sign at the end of my street, I start applying the brakes (clutch lever STILL IN!) and the engine starts losing speed of course. If you apply the brakes quickly, the clutch sticks enough to actually kill the engine! Amazing. My recent technique is to drag the brakes with the clutch in, and after about 10 feet it all breaks loose and we're good to go for the rest of the ride. So I'm down to two methods - your method on flat ground before the start, or on hills, to put it into gear once up to 4-5 mph coasting, then drag the brakes slightly with the clutch in until it breaks loose. Hope this helps, Bill Watson Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2005 02:36:44 -0000 From: "delawareklr650" Subject: Clutch plates sticking Hi all i have a A18 with about 6000 miles and lately i have to put the bike in gear and rock it back and forth a couple times to get the clucth plates to disengae, if i pull in the clucth and try to start it, it will lurch forward while its tring to start, or if i have it in netrual and but it in gear it will bang realy hard and cut out, (unless i am in wet grass and the bike starts and the rear wheel starts digging a hole) Any help would be greatfull. Bike shifts fine other wise Chris A18 --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Search presents - Jib Jab's 'Second Term' [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Archive Quicksearch at: http://www.angelfire.com/ut/moab/klr650_data_search.html List sponsored by Dual Sport News at: www.dualsportnews.com List FAQ courtesy of Chris Krok at: www.bigcee.com/klr650faq.html Yahoo! Groups Links

Posted: **Wed Jan 26, 2005 2:58 am**

Don't think this is exclusive to the KLR. I've had similar problems with my CBRs, and worst sticking was with with my KZ1000P, similar to what you describe with your KLR. Did an immediate oil change with moto oil when I got the bike from the Sheriff's auction (ex county service moto). Put up with the super sticky bullshit for a few weeks, then tried some 10W40 auto oil on the recs of another rider I trust for good tips. No sticking issues since then, ever, and the clutch works just fine, like itz spposed to. On the CBRs a change of oil brand usually found me one that worked (no or little plate sticking) until the next oil change. My 'new' A7 sticks a bit when itz cold and when it has sat for some long hours, but usually a quick 'rocking' will take care of it. I would definitely try another brand of oil, or go to the synthetics if you don;t mind that cost. For me and a number of others I ride with, its either Rotella or just plain auto oil for our bikes: and none of us have had any abnormal or problem clutch issues. Our bikes all accumulate anywhere from 18 to 25K miles a yr. My 9r, with 37K miles in 2 years and no clutch issues, runs with Rotella. The KZ1000P at 76K miles uses Chevron 10W40 (20W50 in summer) auto oil. And the 'new to me' KLR ran now to almost 60K miles under the PO, also using auto grade 10W40 for the past 10 years... Try a different oil, before you start tearin into the clutch. The powers that be all state auto oils are verboten for motos, but you won't hear that from me... The KZ1000P still has its original clutch after 76K miles, 25k of which were all on auto oil. The 9r really seems best with Rotella. Personally, before auto oil, the fancy moto oils were okay, all except Maxima oils(SP?), which I found to be pricy elephant piss. Try a different oil and see how she rolls... js

----- Original Message ----- From: "Bill Watson" Subject: [DSN_KLR650] Re: Clutch plates sticking > > Chris, I also have an A18 that does this pretty severely. I used to think that this was going to get better with some mileage. The fact your bike still does it at 6,000 miles isn't making me feel any better. > > Some guys will tell you that this is how wet clutches work for that very first shift of the day... but I disagree. I've had quite a few bikes over the years, all with wet clutches (Mostly Hondas, 1 Yamaha) and this Kawasaki is the only bike that has ever done this. Pretty embarrasing quality/design issue IMO, as everyone discusses it on the list. My driveway still has black marks in it from my buddy's '89 with 25,000 miles when he visited. And his bike's sticky clutch is significantly better than my A18. Has my Honda 600cc single left marks in my driveway over the last 20 years? Um, no. > > I've seen this issue covered before here on the list, some guys will start their bikes, pull in the clutch, then rev it once and it works for them. Didn't work for me. My only solution was what you are doing - key off, in gear, clutch in, rock bike a number of times - tire skidding on ground even, clutch acting like it's out... finally breaking loose after 5 or 6 tries. I've even adjusted my clutch cable to be sure that I'm getting max disengagement - you should do this too. ...snip... > Hope this helps, > Bill Watson > > > Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2005 02:36:44 -0000 > From: "delawareklr650" > Subject: Clutch plates sticking > Hi all i have a A18 with about 6000 miles and lately i have to put > the bike in gear and rock it back and forth a couple times to get the > clucth plates to disengae, if i pull in the clucth and try to start > it, it will lurch forward while its tring to start, or if i have it > in netrual and but it in gear it will bang realy hard and cut out, > (unless i am in wet grass and the bike starts and the rear wheel > starts digging a hole) > Any help would be greatfull. Bike shifts fine other wise > Chris A18

Posted: **Wed Jan 26, 2005 10:48 am**

Greg and JS, thanks for the input. I should clarify a few things: 1) I already have Mobil 1 in it (just put it it a few weeks ago, maybe I should give it another couple of weeks). 2) A number of people think that my clutch drags all the time... not true. It doesn't seem to drag at all or show signs of insufficient fiber-to-steel clearances, once it releases that first time for the day. Because of this, I'm thinking that warped plates must not exist. Hmmm. I will even get more agressive on the cable slack, I removed a lot but will go for a little more just to see. 3) Agreed with your longevity data - I still have a stock clutch in my 70K Honda 600 single and had stock in my 70K 750 Honda when I sold it. Bill Watson ------------------------------------------------------------------------- I would definitely try another brand of oil, or go to the synthetics if you don;t mind that cost. ... The KZ1000P still has its original clutch after 76K miles, Try a different oil and see how she rolls... js __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Posted: **Wed Jan 26, 2005 3:48 pm**

Hi, I have the same problem with my KLR and also with my NEW WR250F . What would happen with the bike (wr250f) in gear (not running ) and with the clutch pulled in the rear tire would drag. I took it apart and everything was like new ( I measured everything) put it back together same thing. Then I tried the same thing with the bike not running ( KLR) in gear and the clutch pulled in and the tire would drag. After doing more research, I'm not worried!!!!!!!!!! Gary Parece 98 concours 102K, ,01 KLR650 9K 04 WR250F ,04 H-D Road King

----- Original Message ----- From: "GMcKinney" To: "'Bill Watson'" ; DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com> Sent: Wednesday, January 26, 2005 1:09 AM Subject: RE: [DSN_KLR650] Re: Clutch plates sticking > > Bill, > > My A9 had a similar problem when I purchased it at 8500 miles. I took the > clutch apart and the steel plates were slightly warped, but the fibers > looked fine. I replaced the steels with new one's from Kawasaki, (at the > time didn't know about Ron Ayers). A couple of the new one's were > slightly > warped and I had a friend at a local machine shop "deck" them for me. > Even > after that I would have to blip the throttle with the clutch in to free it > up. That was when I was using non-synthetic oil, 10w40, and the temp was > below freezing. I switched to Mobil 1 and haven't had a problem since, > warm > or cold, as long as I keep the lever free play at 1-2mm. > > Greg > '95 A9 > > -----Original Message----- > From: Bill Watson [mailto:gcurve2000@...] > Sent: Tuesday, January 25, 2005 11:51 PM > To: DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com > Subject: [DSN_KLR650] Re: Clutch plates sticking > > > > Chris, I also have an A18 that does this pretty severely. I used to think > that this was going to get better with some mileage. The fact your bike > still does it at 6,000 miles isn't making me feel any better. > > Some guys will tell you that this is how wet clutches work for that very > first shift of the day... but I disagree. I've had quite a few bikes over > the years, all with wet clutches (Mostly Hondas, 1 Yamaha) and this > Kawasaki > is the only bike that has ever done this. Pretty embarrasing > quality/design > issue IMO, as everyone discusses it on the list. My driveway still has > black marks in it from my buddy's '89 with 25,000 miles when he visited. > And his bike's sticky clutch is significantly better than my A18. Has my > Honda 600cc single left marks in my driveway over the last 20 years? Um, > no. > > I've seen this issue covered before here on the list, some guys will start > their bikes, pull in the clutch, then rev it once and it works for them. > Didn't work for me. My only solution was what you are doing - key off, in > gear, clutch in, rock bike a number of times - tire skidding on ground > even, > clutch acting like it's out... finally breaking loose after 5 or 6 tries. > I've even adjusted my clutch cable to be sure that I'm getting max > disengagement - you should do this too. > > So far my best solution? Since my driveway is on a slope, I start the > bike, > pull in the clutch, start coasting down the driveway and tap it into gear > when I'm up to around 5 mph. Bike still lurches and gains speed. I never > release the clutch and it just goes down the street as if I have the > clutch > released. As I near the stop sign at the end of my street, I start > applying > the brakes (clutch lever STILL IN!) and the engine starts losing speed of > course. If you apply the brakes quickly, the clutch sticks enough to > actually kill the engine! Amazing. My recent technique is to drag the > brakes with the clutch in, and after about 10 feet it all breaks loose and > we're good to go for the rest of the ride. > > So I'm down to two methods - your method on flat ground before the start, > or > on hills, to put it into gear once up to 4-5 mph coasting, then drag the > brakes slightly with the clutch in until it breaks loose. > > Hope this helps, > Bill Watson > > > Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2005 02:36:44 -0000 > From: "delawareklr650" > Subject: Clutch plates sticking > > > Hi all i have a A18 with about 6000 miles and lately i have to put > the bike in gear and rock it back and forth a couple times to get the > clucth plates to disengae, if i pull in the clucth and try to start > it, it will lurch forward while its tring to start, or if i have it > in netrual and but it in gear it will bang realy hard and cut out, > (unless i am in wet grass and the bike starts and the rear wheel > starts digging a hole) > Any help would be greatfull. Bike shifts fine other wise > > Chris A18 > > > --------------------------------- > Do you Yahoo!? > Yahoo! Search presents - Jib Jab's 'Second Term' > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > Archive Quicksearch at: > http://www.angelfire.com/ut/moab/klr650_data_search.html > List sponsored by Dual Sport News at: www.dualsportnews.com > List FAQ courtesy of Chris Krok at: www.bigcee.com/klr650faq.html > > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > > > > > > > > > Archive Quicksearch at: > http://www.angelfire.com/ut/moab/klr650_data_search.html > List sponsored by Dual Sport News at: www.dualsportnews.com > List FAQ courtesy of Chris Krok at: www.bigcee.com/klr650faq.html > > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > > > > > >

Posted: **Wed Jan 26, 2005 5:58 pm**

--- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, Bill Watson wrote:

> So I'm down to two methods - your method on flat ground before the

start, or on hills, to put it into gear once up to 4-5 mph coasting, then drag the brakes slightly with the clutch in until it breaks loose.

> > Hope this helps, > Bill Watson >

Bill have you tried a new clutch cable ? Cause that sure don't seem normal to me. My A15 started cold, squeeze clutch lever, blip throttle a few times, not rev it up, just a couple or three blips and 1st gear might be iffy, if it were not for the "boot drop" method I use to transition from "N" to 1st gear. Sometimes I get a little chain/tire surge, but nothing dramatic. Forgot what model you have but if it under warr. you might take to your dealer and have them look at it, or better yet ask them to adjust it, which would involve somebody actually test riding the bike to make sure the clutch disengages when lever is applied. 2 wheels is dangerous enough, but one you cannot stop is even worse. Hope you wear armour. Dooden (Snow Bound) A15 Green Ape (Me Too)

Posted: **Wed Jan 26, 2005 8:26 pm**

Weighing the evidence it is clear that this is a problem confined chain drive motorcycles since the problem occurs to KLR's but never happened to my Yamaha Vision or Gold Wing. Maybe this makes up for the fact that the Vision and Gold Wing couldn't wheelie being shaft drives. Norm

Wilsons Sandbox

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clutch plates sticking

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clutch plates sticking

clutch plates sticking