How long does a clutch last?

[mp183]

Anyone replaced a clutch?
How many miles and what type of riding?

[pixelmonkey]

normal riding conditions with an experinced rider that doesnt drag the clutch...  likely the life of the motor!

racing... anywhere from 2 to 10 races

hard rider / inexperinced rider that is hard on the bike.... under 10K miles

chris<pixelmonkey>

[Rema1000]

It seems like many GS500s live a hard life, passed from one new rider to the next every few years.  But I'd bet that there are many out there which have done more than 20k miles on the original clutch, even being sold from one rider to the next newbie every 5k miles.

[gsJack]

My 97 GS that I bought new in 99 has about 80,000 miles on it now and still has the original clutch.  I did hear a couple strange metalic scraping noises come from it last time I had it down in the mountains  :lol: , but it has yet to start slipping.

Considering that I weigh 240# and it is necessary to rev the engine to 4k rpm and slip the clutch till the bike speed catches up to the engine speed  to get it moving from a stop, it's a pretty durable clutch.  The 97 with std jetting needs to be kept above 4k rpm to pull smoothly.

The newer 02 GS with the much improved 3 circuit carbs and revised cam timing does not require this high reving to get underway and will pull smoother and stronger at lower rpm's than the 97 will.

[The Buddha]

Yea what GSJack said ... but 46K on mine and original clutch... But I had it snce 8K and I knew how to reide rather well by the time I got it ... so not a hand me down bike ... atleast not after 8K...
Cool.
Srinath.

[V8Pinto]

Mine lasted about 25,000 miles.  I have only street ridden it until a year or two ago.  After dragging it a season the clutch started going.  I replaced with stock Suzuki parts and haven't had any problems.  Make sure you are changing your oil as the clutch material went *somewhere*...

[TeBo]

from all the tricking, and standup burnouts, to the canyon riding, and slow standups, I can feel my clutch slipping, and my bike only has a lil' over 5000 miles on it..  I'm scheduled to replace next week tho