dremeling to see the idle screw

[tarver_ps@hotmail.com]

Have been riding KLR650's since `91. Own two now. Read in recent post of someone's 40,000km KLR with a slipping clutch. Unless those were terribly harsh km's here is something cheap to try. Change only the clutch springs. If you are carefull not to trash the cover gasket the total cost is about $7-$13 for springs plus the cost of an oil change. I have changed the clutches twice in my old KLR (`91 w/22,000 mi ->rough miles) and this last time (would've been #3) I mic'ed the plates to find there was really no major difference between the ones I removed and the ones in the package. I changed the springs, and reinstalled the old clutch plates. No more slip and I still have a spare set of plates in the garage. I wonder if I needed the last clutch change. If it doesn't fix your problem; you are only out 2.5 liters of oil and an extra 45 minutes of work on a Saturday afternoon. Heck why replace $40 worth of plates for no reason?? Keep the knobbies pointed down. Scott

[PauL M. Bober]

I had mine work the bearing loose in the push plate. I had to completely disassemble it to correct it. The only way I found it was removing the plate and working the shaft through it. PauL M. Bober

[Norm Keller]

It sounds to me that you have something binding in the clutch release mechanism rather than a disk or friction issue. IMO a friction surface issue such as STP or worn plates would see the clutch slipping consistently as this is what both logic (scary in my case VBG), and experience dictate. Since the clutch operates normally at times it is likely that the linkage (either internal (hope not) or external is binding such that there is some pressure applied to release the clutch at times. I have seen this kind of condition due to a worn clutch basket on some other machines where the basket slots had grooves worn which sometimes made a plate cock to one side and the reduced area in contact caused slipping until things realigned during a subsequent release. Most worn clutch baskets tended to cause rattling and dragging at higher RPM rather than slipping though but I offer it in case it may not have occurred to you. Have you removed the cable from the release lever on the engine and tried to induce a hang-up in the cable or lever? I'll admit that this sort of thing has lead me to a hang over a few time but we all have our hang-ups too (VBG). The release push rod can bind in its bore on many machines but that's internal. Fortunately the KLR is an easy beast to wrench, according to reports so it could be worse. Please keep us informed, Norm --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - File online by April 15th [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[guvenor_sier]

Hi, I just bought a 1988 KLR650 with a large 94000km (~59000mi) on it to replace my 250 that was stolen. When riding I have noticed that the clutch seems to be slipping a bit. By that I mean that if you roll on while riding at moderate speed, the revs rise fairly quickly a few hundred rpm and then settle back down and it accelerates. Kind of like if you were riding the clutch a bit. The clutch cable feel quite stiff and I lubed it last night and it seems to have loostened a bit (althoguh still much stiffer than the 250). The lever had freeplay of a little bit, but I gave it a bit more just to be sure but it doesn't seem to have changed. Does this sort of behavior sound like the clutch plates are going? I don't know the full history of the bike and any work that may have been done (althoguh I think the doohicky was done). Would it be worth changing the oil to see if that helps first, or maybe even the cable? If it is the plates I am willing to give changing them a shot myself if needed and appart from the plates is there anything needed? So far have only done a further 200km or so but it was very enjoyable. On a more general note, is there anything I should be keeping an eye on given that it has done a fair number of km? Cheers, Guy from Melbourne, Australia.

[Rodney Copeland]

Does sound like your clutch is layin down on you, if your freeplay is right. Not to start an oil thread, but I'd be tempted to throw 20-50 at it every few hundred miles to see if you can bring it back. If sythetic oil was the choice of the previous owner, we may have an interesting subject to contend with. Rod --- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, "guvenor_sier" wrote:

> > Hi, I just bought a 1988 KLR650 with a large 94000km (~59000mi) on

it

> to replace my 250 that was stolen. When riding I have noticed that

the

> clutch seems to be slipping a bit. By that I mean that if you roll

on

> while riding at moderate speed, the revs rise fairly quickly a few > hundred rpm and then settle back down and it accelerates. Kind of > like if you were riding the clutch a bit. > > The clutch cable feel quite stiff and I lubed it last night and it > seems to have loostened a bit (althoguh still much stiffer than the > 250). The lever had freeplay of a little bit, but I gave it a bit > more just to be sure but it doesn't seem to have changed. > > Does this sort of behavior sound like the clutch plates are going? I > don't know the full history of the bike and any work that may have > been done (althoguh I think the doohicky was done). Would it be

worth

> changing the oil to see if that helps first, or maybe even the

cable?

> > If it is the plates I am willing to give changing them a shot myself > if needed and appart from the plates is there anything needed? > > So far have only done a further 200km or so but it was very

enjoyable.

> > On a more general note, is there anything I should be keeping an eye > on given that it has done a fair number of km? > > Cheers, > Guy from Melbourne, Australia. >

[m_matthews]

I'd be concerned that the clutch cable is stiff. If fixing that doesn't solve the problem the stiff cable may have caused a problem with the clutch from slippage. Mike --- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, "guvenor_sier" wrote:

> > Hi, I just bought a 1988 KLR650 with a large 94000km (~59000mi) on it > to replace my 250 that was stolen. When riding I have noticed that the > clutch seems to be slipping a bit. By that I mean that if you roll on > while riding at moderate speed, the revs rise fairly quickly a few > hundred rpm and then settle back down and it accelerates. Kind of > like if you were riding the clutch a bit. > > The clutch cable feel quite stiff and I lubed it last night and it > seems to have loostened a bit (althoguh still much stiffer than the > 250). The lever had freeplay of a little bit, but I gave it a bit > more just to be sure but it doesn't seem to have changed. > > Does this sort of behavior sound like the clutch plates are going? I > don't know the full history of the bike and any work that may have > been done (althoguh I think the doohicky was done). Would it be worth > changing the oil to see if that helps first, or maybe even the cable? > > If it is the plates I am willing to give changing them a shot myself > if needed and appart from the plates is there anything needed? > > So far have only done a further 200km or so but it was very enjoyable. > > On a more general note, is there anything I should be keeping an eye > on given that it has done a fair number of km? > > Cheers, > Guy from Melbourne, Australia. >

[Jeff Saline]

Guy, Sounds like the clutch may just be going out. But the stiff cable makes me wonder if it was causing the problem. When you have free play at the lever on the bars do you also have free play at the lever on the right side of the engine? I haven't changed clutch plates in a KLR yet but I think it's pretty straight forward. I think I'd clean my oil pick up screen when I was in there and also consider changing the water pump seals just cause I was there. You'll probably need a new side cover gasket and water pump gasket too. I guess some fresh oil and making sure the clutch is properly adjusted would be a good first step. If that doesn't cure it you could probably fix it in a few hours of easy work. If I was doing this I'd inspect the oil filter to see what it's catching. To do that I drain it for a few days usually and then cut the paper off the filter and open the pleats. I suppose an hour or two of draining would dry it enough to make it easy to inspect. It's amazing what the filters catch. I think clutch particles will show up as black or dark pieces. Good luck, Jeff Saline ABC # 4412 South Dakota Airmarshal Airheads Beemer Club www.airheads.org The Beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota 75 R90/6, 03 KLR650, 79 R100RT On Sun, 18 Dec 2005 11:38:58 -0000 "guvenor_sier" writes:

> Hi, I just bought a 1988 KLR650 with a large 94000km (~59000mi) on > it > to replace my 250 that was stolen. When riding I have noticed that > the > clutch seems to be slipping a bit. By that I mean that if you roll > on > while riding at moderate speed, the revs rise fairly quickly a few > hundred rpm and then settle back down and it accelerates. Kind of > like if you were riding the clutch a bit. > > The clutch cable feel quite stiff and I lubed it last night and it > seems to have loostened a bit (althoguh still much stiffer than the > 250). The lever had freeplay of a little bit, but I gave it a bit > more just to be sure but it doesn't seem to have changed. > > Does this sort of behavior sound like the clutch plates are going? > I > don't know the full history of the bike and any work that may have > been done (althoguh I think the doohicky was done). Would it be > worth > changing the oil to see if that helps first, or maybe even the > cable? > > If it is the plates I am willing to give changing them a shot > myself > if needed and appart from the plates is there anything needed? > > So far have only done a further 200km or so but it was very > enjoyable. > > On a more general note, is there anything I should be keeping an > eye > on given that it has done a fair number of km? > > Cheers, > Guy from Melbourne, Australia. > > > > > > 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 > Member Map at: http://www.frappr.com/dsnklr650 > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > > > > >

[jokerloco9@aol.com]

Sounds like clutch slipping. You can try fresh oil, but don;t use the synthetic. Try regular oil. There has been a constant argument as to weather synthetic oil is more likely to cause clutch slipping. If your clutch is marginal, then regular oil may make a difference if there is synthetic in it now. Besides, you can't go wrong by changing the oil anyhow. Jeff A20 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[rodbon95]

59,000 miles on any bike can mean worn parts. You did the right thing to lube the clutch cable and if it loosened up a bit, that's good. The stiff clutch is normal for the KLR650. I changed to DR350 controls using the KLR cable and it was much better but unless you can find used parts, it can be expensive. Keep lubing the cable. Another thing I encountered on my 40,000 1996 was that Moly based oils made the clutch slip just like yours. I stopped using Moly oil and the slip went away. I still have the new clutch sitting on the shelf. Excessively worn plates could be the cause also with any oil. Good luck and let us know how it turns out - Merry Chritmas Rod

[E.L. Green]

jokerloco9@... wrote:

>Sounds like clutch slipping. > >You can try fresh oil, but don;t use the synthetic. Try regular oil. There >has been a constant argument as to weather synthetic oil is more likely to >cause clutch slipping. >

There's no argument amongst those who actually know a little bit about oil. Oil is oil (with the exception of a couple of exotics like Red Line). Whether synthetic or dinosaur juice, it's just oil, no more slippery than any other oil. If you look at a typical molecule of, say, Shell Rotella T, and compare it to a typical molecule of Shell Rotella T Synthetic, they're pretty much identical, with identical slipperiness, identical ability to keep metal parts from grinding against each other, etc. What matters is a) the quality of the base stock insofar as aromatics, waxes, and consistency of molecule sizes are concerned, b) the viscosity at various temperatures, and c) the additive package (some of which additives CAN be more slippery), none of which has anything to do with "synthetic" or "regular" other than that oils sold as "synthetic" have a much better quality base stock with fewer waxes and aromatics to sludge up your engine. The problem is that modern "fuel-efficient" oils -- whether dino juice or synthetic -- do contain additives to make the oil more slippery, which in turn can make your clutch slip. But that has nothing to do with the synthetic or "regular", and everything to do with the additive package.

> If your clutch is marginal, then regular oil may make >a difference if there is synthetic in it now. > >

Utter nonsense, unless he put Red Line in it. In fact, most oils sold as "synthetic" are just highly processed dinosaur juice, processed to get rid of waxes and aromatics and give them a more consistent set of molecules for more consistent lubricative properties. About the only "true" synthetics sold on the market today are Red Line and Amsoil. Amsoil looks like plain old oil under the microscope -- just plain old oil with molecules that are quite consistent in their size and characteristics. Red Line, on the other hand, looks more like vegetable oil (which is what it is derived from), and probably isn't a good idea for a water cooled bike not designed for that kind of oil (some air cooled bikes, like classic Nortons, really need its high temperature qualities though). The other "synthetics" are just oil. Even Mobil 1 appears to have been reformulated so that it's mostly highly-processed dinosaur juice nowdays, though they still put a bit of PAO-based "true" synthetic into each container just to say they're "better" than the rest.

>Besides, you can't go wrong by changing the oil anyhow. > >

That much, anyhow, is true. At the very least, if the previous oil was a "fuel-efficient" oil or if the previous owner was a moron who put snake oil "slickness-enhancer" chemicals into his oil, putting in a good oil like Shell Rotella T (which doesn't contain additives which can make a wet clutch slip) might help wash some of those slick additives off the clutch and maybe make it stick better. -E