Is it my clutch?

You know that screeching noise that sometimes happens as you start from a stop? Well... it's happening more than sometimes now. It's happening a lot. Even happens sometimes when suddenly speeding up from a low speed (e.g. 15-20mph).

The bike has about 27k on it. I'm wondering if my clutch is just worn out. What do you guys think? Is that a worn-out clutch symptom?

I have done serious auto work before, but that was years ago. I've never done anything this deep to my bike. Had the tupperware off to install fuse block and wiring fore and aft, mounted add-on lights, things like that. I've disassembled and reassembled the front forks in order to add a spacer and install relays under the cowl, but I have never touched anything at the business end.

Is replacing the clutch something I might be able to do myself? How deep will I have to go? Special tools? Is this delicate enough that I should leave it to a mechanic instead of ending up whimpering in the corner of my garage with parts spread all around me?

I need some advice from any of you who have worked on that part of the bike before. I appreciate anything you can tell me. The only thing in my favor is that I do have the service manual and can actually understand it.

Thanks guys!

craigory wrote:

The bike has about 27k on it. I'm wondering if my clutch is just worn out. What do you guys think?

I have not heard of a clutch needing to be replaced at 27k ... so I doubt it is worn out. You can measure the depth of the clutch shoes, to determine if worn out.

Have you tried consistently faster 0-15 MPH acceleration ... which has resolved the problem for me.

x

Thanks Bill and Bird. I was feeling okay until bigbird said "variator holder" (what?). Also, I don't have an impact wrench and I don't think my wife will let me buy one unless I can convince her that it will help me do the yard work. I will definitely need to think about this a little more.

In any case you may be right that the clutch is not worn out yet. Is it possible to have glazing of the clutch shoes such as sometimes happens on cars? I know that a car will squeel if it has glazed brake shoes, so it makes me wonder.

With regards to the acceleration, yes I do that. So far it is the only thing that helps. Originally this only happened in that speed range, and the faster start usually avoided the screech. However, it is not helping consistently anymore, and the screech occurs under more circumstances. It's not just that it doesn't grab at first. Now it often loses grab when I slightly slow down and starts screeching again. If I give the throttle a quick pop the noise goes away for a moment, but when I let the throttle go back to it's original position the screeching starts again. By "original position" I don't mean releasing the throttle completely - just returning it to the position which maintains my current speed. All of this can happen when going anywhere from 15-25mph. (Sigh)

Frankly, it's quite embarrasing. People look up when it happens, and I'm sure they think that something is terribly wrong. I'd rather they looked up to think "what a beautiful bike", but it's now working out that way right now.

So, anybody has any other ideas about what I might be able to do to resolve the problem, I will be most appreciative. As it stands I'm just scratching my head.

Thanks all!

x

Have you changed the belt yet? It is supposed to be changed at 16,000.

Hi Bigbird. That does sound like the perfect solution, but it's beyond my budget. Nonetheless I've kept the link in my favorites in hopes that I'll be able to do it sometime in the future. Thanks!

Hi Roger. That's a good question. It would have been at that mileage maybe 3-4 years ago. I'll check with my shop. Thanks for the tip!

craigory, have you tried this yet:

have the scoot on the center stand, engine running
hold left brake lever firmly
rev the throttle to 5000 rpm for five seconds
go for a ride.

Try fast/hard take-offs as a habit. Avoid slow or crawling traffic if possible. Many people get a glaze on the belt or the clutch, and remove it by using the above method.

Let us know if it corrects your problem, please.

Hi Philip,
I came across that exact advice last night while searching the forum using "clutch glazing" and "belt squeal". I'm going to try it later today and will let everyone know whether it works. I'm pretty confident because all of the other threads exactly described what's happening for me, and it seems to have worked for pretty much all of them.

I do fast/hard starts as a rule, but I just bought the bike a few months ago and I have a feeling that the previous owner was pretty conservative. I suspect that he did a lot of slow starts.

As to avoiding slow/crawling traffic - I wish! I live in the San Francisco bay area, and slow/crawling traffic is pretty common here. The best I can do is to always do fast starts, which is what I like to do anyway!

Thanks for the tip. I'll let you know if it works.

You mean it's ok to leave em in the dust when we take off???? That's nice to know!!! :D

All,
Yesiree Bob! Worked exactly as advertised. Pointed the bike toward something safe (for it, anyway), held BOTH brake levers hard, reved up to 5000 rpm for about 6 seconds, closed the throttle. Strong burning odor, still there when I parked the bike in my garage 10 minutes later. But more importantly, blessed silence from that point onwards! I'm confident that this "treatment" will be good for a long time as I have no trouble avoiding slow starts. Thanks everyone for your good advice!

(Smiling man riding away on his silent SWing.)

x

It's not just you. I had to grit my teeth before I did it, and that burning smell left me squirming on my seat. But the advice came from so many different people who said it worked that I decided it was worth a try. Probably burned a few hundred miles off of the clutch pads, but my baby is quiet again. So, in summary ... it was really hard to do, but worth it.

bigbird wrote:

Is it just me, or does anyone else have a tough time torturing your clutch pads and drive belt by trying this?

The way I see it, the short, temporary torture is worth the de-glazing maneuver. As long as it isn't something that has to be done repeatedly, I don't think it would be a great deal of extra wear.