FJR Clutch Lasts How Long?

[TahoeBound]

Obviously depends how its been abused or not. But my '04 has 35,000 miles, all oil changes on time & dealer serviced at 26K. It has been ridden, but not abused. The tranny up-shifts a little rougher the past few thousand miles so I went to semi-synthetic on the last oil change ~1000 miles. Didn't seem to do much. I've mostly observed roughness going into 3 & 4, but sometimes it shifts fine. Today right after I got off the bike (about an hour, normal, back-country ride) I smelled a very strong "just poured asphalt" smell. Seemed to be coming from the lower left side. I've had no clutch engagement problems. The fluid level looks fine & nothing spilled on the floor. 10 minutes later - no unusual smell. Tomorrow I'll pull the fairing & check further.

Any thoughts?

 

[RsvlFeej]

Mine's at 38.5K and I'm thinking of ordering a new clutch to be put in at the 40K oil change. No slipping, chatter, or smell, but I'm starting to run out of clutch lever (at '5' on the adjustment already).

 

[FJRMGM]

what is it you guys are doing to wear these clutches out before 40k?

 

[odot]

It's the semi-synthetic oil....if you go full out synthetic the problem will go away....what kind of oil you using?

 

[Geezer]

I would be very surprised if you wore out a clutch, regardless of mileage, unless it was abused.

If your clutch were worn out you'd have some slipping. You'd hear the RPM climb fast when you get on the throttle hard, while the bike would not accelerate as fast as usual. It normally shows up right after you shift from first to second. You may also experience slippage if you are carrying extra weight, like a pillion or lots of baggage.

 

[TahoeBound]

I have not experienced slipping problems. I'm using Repsol 10W/40 semi-synthetic. I wanted to go full synthetic but with the stupid "stealer" prices - $15 filter & $45 full-syn I couldn't do it!!

 

[vectervp1]

There are several FJR's out there with over 90,000 miles on them with the original clutch in them.

 

[Bounce]

i was going to say. i've got nothing on mine at 40,000 miles and there's not a hint of clutch problem.

when was the last time you flushed the clutch fluid?

 

[SkooterG]

Your *typical* wet clutch will last indefinitely. If you have one that goes bad before, oh lets say 200,000 miles, then it was either being abused, or you just got one that was defective.

 

[Toolman]

I have over 101,000 on my '03 with original clutch. Never any problems and I have never used Synthetic.

 

[beeroux]

No problems here.

GZ

 

[RsvlFeej]

Sounds like my experience is atypical. A little further elaboration. Immediately (and I mean as I drove away from the dealership) after the 20K oil change, the distance I needed to release the clutch lever to where the clutch disengaged was a full quarter inch further away from the handle bars than it was when I brought it in for the oil change. I bitched immediately, they said, "Ride it, it's good", but I went back and had them pull the cover at 21K to see WTF happened. They said normal wear, plates all well within spec., keep riding. I've noticed similar, though never as dramatic, changes in where the clutch disengages after 2 or 3 other oil changes. After the last oil change at 36K, the disengagement postition was 1/16" to 1/8" further out than when I brought the bike in. Tires don't look like the dealer is doing burnouts in the back lot, but something related to bringing it in for oil changes is causing the problem.

 

[otrfjr]

Did you or they flush the clutch fluid at the 20k or 36k service?

Sounds like my experience is atypical. A little further elaboration. Immediately (and I mean as I drove away from the dealership) after the 20K oil change, the distance I needed to release the clutch lever to where the clutch disengaged was a full quarter inch further away from the handle bars than it was when I brought it in for the oil change. I bitched immediately, they said, "Ride it, it's good", but I went back and had them pull the cover at 21K to see WTF happened. They said normal wear, plates all well within spec., keep riding. I've noticed similar, though never as dramatic, changes in where the clutch disengages after 2 or 3 other oil changes. After the last oil change at 36K, the disengagement postition was 1/16" to 1/8" further out than when I brought the bike in. Tires don't look like the dealer is doing burnouts in the back lot, but something related to bringing it in for oil changes is causing the problem.

 

[RsvlFeej]

Did you or they flush the clutch fluid at the 20k or 36k service?

Sounds like my experience is atypical. A little further elaboration. Immediately (and I mean as I drove away from the dealership) after the 20K oil change, the distance I needed to release the clutch lever to where the clutch disengaged was a full quarter inch further away from the handle bars than it was when I brought it in for the oil change. I bitched immediately, they said, "Ride it, it's good", but I went back and had them pull the cover at 21K to see WTF happened. They said normal wear, plates all well within spec., keep riding. I've noticed similar, though never as dramatic, changes in where the clutch disengages after 2 or 3 other oil changes. After the last oil change at 36K, the disengagement postition was 1/16" to 1/8" further out than when I brought the bike in. Tires don't look like the dealer is doing burnouts in the back lot, but something related to bringing it in for oil changes is causing the problem.

Flushed at the 24K service. No improvement.

 

[Wingman]

Sounds like my experience is atypical. A little further elaboration. Immediately (and I mean as I drove away from the dealership) after the 20K oil change, the distance I needed to release the clutch lever to where the clutch disengaged was a full quarter inch further away from the handle bars than it was when I brought it in for the oil change. I bitched immediately, they said, "Ride it, it's good", but I went back and had them pull the cover at 21K to see WTF happened. They said normal wear, plates all well within spec., keep riding. I've noticed similar, though never as dramatic, changes in where the clutch disengages after 2 or 3 other oil changes. After the last oil change at 36K, the disengagement postition was 1/16" to 1/8" further out than when I brought the bike in. Tires don't look like the dealer is doing burnouts in the back lot, but something related to bringing it in for oil changes is causing the problem.

Mine moved out from the bar after the first oil change, but it was gradual over a couple of hundred miles. I was happy because I felt the engagment point was too close to the bar for comfort. I just attributed it to break in and normal wear. We'll see if it gets worse as the miles pile on, but I don't expect any problems.

The clutch engagement point will change over time as parts wear. I remember someone here said they used a small shim to adjust the clutch engagement point when replacing an 07 clutch slave cylinder with one from an 05. If all you are concerned with is the clutch engagement point you would need to adjust the length of the clutch push rod. I'm not sure that such an adjustment exists. That would mean making a shim or removing material from the rod if you aren't willing to live with the current engagement point. Honestly, my head hurts just trying to figure out which would be needed in your case.

I can't for the life of me figure out why changing the oil would have such a noticable effect on the engagement point. It would be great to know what is actually going on here.

David

 

[OrangevaleFJR]

When I first bought my FJR I asked the maintenance guy how long the cluth will last. He said, "Foerver".

You know, they use the FJ1200 and FJR1300 drivetrains in the 3/4 size race cars because they are bullet proof. If they can haul a 1500 pound race car around in race conditions and be termed bullet proof, it'll haul your FJR and you around just fine

 

[madmike2]

When I first bought my FJR I asked the maintenance guy how long the cluth will last. He said, "Forever".
You know, they use the FJ1200 and FJR1300 drivetrains in the 3/4 size race cars because they are bullet proof. If they can haul a 1500 pound race car around in race conditions and be termed bullet proof, it should haul your FJR and you around just fine

I, erm, fixed it for you. One never knows how another treats his clutch or whteher that same other might get the small percentage of "problems".

 

[RsvlFeej]

When I first bought my FJR I asked the maintenance guy how long the cluth will last. He said, "Forever".
You know, they use the FJ1200 and FJR1300 drivetrains in the 3/4 size race cars because they are bullet proof. If they can haul a 1500 pound race car around in race conditions and be termed bullet proof, it should haul your FJR and you around just fine

I, erm, fixed it for you. One never knows how another treats his clutch or whteher that same other might get the small percentage of "problems".

Hm, had my clutch replaced on my '86 Toyota when it went in for a new 2nd gear at 97K - throwout bearing was getting noisy, so I went whole-hog. Otherwise had manual transmissions on all but one vehicle in the last 30 years (dirt/street bikes, pickups, cars) with nary a clutch problem (of course, now I have to cross my fingers so I don't curse myself, hee hee). Don't think I'm abusing things, but who knows?

When FJR did the major change in lever engagement position at 20K, the Yami service manager at the place that looked things over said the clutches in sport bikes averaged about 20K miles, in cruisers about 60K miles, and in sport-touring bikes about 40K miles. Maybe he put the juju on me.., but I can't get around the oil change/lever change relationship.

 

[S76]

It's not the clutch.

It's normal for the clutch engagement point to move out away from the handle bar a little as time goes by.

If your clutch was burning you can't smell it cuz it's inside the motor, not exposed like a car.

There's nothing wrong with the hydraulic actuation portion because if there was, engagement point would be getting closer to the bar not further away.

The bike is just breaking in. Motor ON!