Spork
Well-known member
Ok so this happens on occasion when doing low-speed clutch work.
The typical situation is that I need to slow down to about 10mph from like 20mph or so. So I pull in the clutch, shift to 1st, and then (while still rolling at about 10mph, or less) slowly release the clutch and throttle (try and keep it at about 2.5K or a little higher, say 3k rpm). What happens next is when the clutch begins to engage (near the end of the travel) I feel in the pegs (and less so in the handlebars) a regular pulsating sensation and hear a "clack-clack-clack", the bike doesn't too jerk violently or anything, but i could mistake it for lugging if it wasn't for the fact I have the RPM at or near 2.5K.
If (while I am still rolling) I pull in the clutch, it stops (the noise, the tapping, everything), and if i begin to re-release it, it usually stops and (sometimes) starts again. If I stop the bike completely and then start moving again, it disappears.
Note, I've never fully released the clutch when this is happening, as soon as I feel it I immediately pull it in and try to re-release it. It feels almost like something is skipping or not catching. I'm not sure if this is just lugging or something else, but my experience with lugging is that it i was a bit more jerky and at lower RPMs. I know the FJR hates traffic, and the throttle is a bit on/off so modulating is not the easiest in traffic.
Today I did some low speed riding and I think driveline lash might have something to do with it too. At low speeds (<10mph) with the clutch in for about 4secs or so (think rolling through a stop sign after almost stopping and then starting again), when I slooooowly release (like msf "I'm trying to find the friction zone" style) and caaaaarefully give it some gas I can sometimes feel a light "bump" from what I perceive is the slack being taken up before the bike begins to move and it feels similar to (but much less in amplitude) the clack clack clack when the issue comes up. I figure that if there is something up with the final drive or joints, I'd feel it much more often, and if it was the tranny it would have other symptoms like slipping out of gear under load, or mis-shifting. So perhaps when the clutch joins under the aforementioned conditions, the free-play in the lash let's the clutch spin unrestricted and then when it hits the end of the lash, it starts skipping due to the sudden resistance. Still though the clutch doesn't slip when i try to make do so, shipting to in 5th and opening the throttle to increase the load, so im kinda miffed.
My approach is to open the clutch housing check the plates and replace with a new model assist setup (was gonna do it anyway) and see what happens.My concern is that the tranny dogs are getting worn, but I'm not familiar enough with bike trannies to diagnose.
What are your thoughts?
The typical situation is that I need to slow down to about 10mph from like 20mph or so. So I pull in the clutch, shift to 1st, and then (while still rolling at about 10mph, or less) slowly release the clutch and throttle (try and keep it at about 2.5K or a little higher, say 3k rpm). What happens next is when the clutch begins to engage (near the end of the travel) I feel in the pegs (and less so in the handlebars) a regular pulsating sensation and hear a "clack-clack-clack", the bike doesn't too jerk violently or anything, but i could mistake it for lugging if it wasn't for the fact I have the RPM at or near 2.5K.
If (while I am still rolling) I pull in the clutch, it stops (the noise, the tapping, everything), and if i begin to re-release it, it usually stops and (sometimes) starts again. If I stop the bike completely and then start moving again, it disappears.
Note, I've never fully released the clutch when this is happening, as soon as I feel it I immediately pull it in and try to re-release it. It feels almost like something is skipping or not catching. I'm not sure if this is just lugging or something else, but my experience with lugging is that it i was a bit more jerky and at lower RPMs. I know the FJR hates traffic, and the throttle is a bit on/off so modulating is not the easiest in traffic.
Today I did some low speed riding and I think driveline lash might have something to do with it too. At low speeds (<10mph) with the clutch in for about 4secs or so (think rolling through a stop sign after almost stopping and then starting again), when I slooooowly release (like msf "I'm trying to find the friction zone" style) and caaaaarefully give it some gas I can sometimes feel a light "bump" from what I perceive is the slack being taken up before the bike begins to move and it feels similar to (but much less in amplitude) the clack clack clack when the issue comes up. I figure that if there is something up with the final drive or joints, I'd feel it much more often, and if it was the tranny it would have other symptoms like slipping out of gear under load, or mis-shifting. So perhaps when the clutch joins under the aforementioned conditions, the free-play in the lash let's the clutch spin unrestricted and then when it hits the end of the lash, it starts skipping due to the sudden resistance. Still though the clutch doesn't slip when i try to make do so, shipting to in 5th and opening the throttle to increase the load, so im kinda miffed.
My approach is to open the clutch housing check the plates and replace with a new model assist setup (was gonna do it anyway) and see what happens.My concern is that the tranny dogs are getting worn, but I'm not familiar enough with bike trannies to diagnose.
What are your thoughts?
