clutch lever play/fade

[mysterious_rider]

Recently installed new clutch plates due to slippage. Slippage now gone, but I seem to be getting like a fading in heavy traffic. Prolonged use of the clutch means I suddenly get a lot more slack on the lever, and the clutch bite moves more towards the bars.

What could cause this?

On the rebuild of the clutch, the metal plates were slightly tinged blue in places. Could this be the problem? Also refitted with hd clutch springs. Cheers.


GS500E is the bike! Cheers!

[Twisted]

Try adjusting your clutch. GSJack posted a how to here - http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=59173.msg676066#msg676066

[twinrat]

holding your clutch in while waiting at lights or stationary traffic is just asking for clutch problems .always put bike in neutral while waiting in traffic and you wont get blued plates .THAT IS A SIGN OF A OVER HEATED CLUTCH .

[Tombstones81]

holding your clutch in while waiting at lights or stationary traffic is just asking for clutch problems .always put bike in neutral while waiting in traffic and you wont get blued plates .THAT IS A SIGN OF A OVER HEATED CLUTCH .

not being rude but was that a serious reply???

sitting in neutral at a stop is the very LAST thing u want to do very often.

Unless u want a car reamed up your behind sometime with no ability to get out of the way because your stuck in neutral.

I personally only do it when im shifting my pants or junk, or giving my hands a break.
and even then im keeping an even closer eye out behind me then usual.

[twinrat]

if you know the order in which the traffic lights occur just put in to gear a few seconds before they change.If you are in a part of the world where people dont respect your space you are bettor off not being on a bike.iIf in a row of traffic you will always have time to do this unless youve pissed someone off by sneaking up the middle to the front .

[Twisted]

holding your clutch in while waiting at lights or stationary traffic is just asking for clutch problems .always put bike in neutral while waiting in traffic and you wont get blued plates .THAT IS A SIGN OF A OVER HEATED CLUTCH .

You pretty much just said the opposite of what two motorcycle courses I have done tell you you should do.

[BaltimoreGS]

Relaxing at a stoplight is a bad habit!  Stay in gear and scan your mirrors/surroundings.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7D0BTyJBeM

-Jessie

[mysterious_rider]

Hi I think only one reply here was decent! That was to tell me how to adjust the clutch. Adjusted it while the cable was warmed up. And it seems to be good now. 

The plates were blue due to slipping with the previous friction plates. Sitting in gear at lights won't blue them up. I do put it into neutral anyway.

Cheers.

[ohgood]

holding your clutch in while waiting at lights or stationary traffic is just asking for clutch problems .always put bike in neutral while waiting in traffic and you wont get blued plates .THAT IS A SIGN OF A OVER HEATED CLUTCH .

there is no difference whatsoever in clutch in/out and heat at a stop light. where did you get this idea ?

neutral is always the wrong place to be, on a bike. neutral is there for rolling the bike around the garage, if it's running, it's in gear. always.

if you want to justify your post, please try to explain how a clutch overheats.

see the millions of posts about sitting at a red light and getting tagged by a car/truck/bus because they couldn't move fast enough out of the way.

read up !

[fraze11]

holding your clutch in while waiting at lights or stationary traffic is just asking for clutch problems .always put bike in neutral while waiting in traffic ....

To each his own (and I would be a lying hypocrite if I said I haven't done this once in a while), but just a word of advice; if you dont have your full M lisence and do this during your final ridden test.  You fail.  Atleast thats the case in my part of the world.  Just putting that out there so new riders don't develop any bad habits before their test 

[BaltimoreGS]

Hi I think only one reply here was decent! That was to tell me how to adjust the clutch. Adjusted it while the cable was warmed up. And it seems to be good now. 

You'll find this forum does tend to stray from the original topics quite often.  As long as the information being posted is useful it is allowed.  Welcome to the circus   

-Jessie

[rayshon]

When you come to a stop, hold your clutch in UNTIL THE CAR BEHIND YOU HAD MADE A COMPLETE STOP

THEN you can go into neutral and release the clutch lever.

I mean when you're in a car, do you hold the pedal in too?

[BaltimoreGS]

Every safety course I've done has said to always stay in gear with the clutch in and your rear brake on to illuminate your brake light.  Part of the "expect the unexpected" mind set.  What if the car behind you is rear ended and pushed into you?  What if the guy in front of you decides to back up for some reason?  What if something happens with cross traffic and somebody swerves towards you?...  In a car you have a protective cage, on a bike you do not.  Different standards apply. 

-Jessie

[rayshon]

What if the car behind you is rear ended and pushed into you?

Yeah you are probably not going to see that happen 99% of the time unless you are constantly looking at your rear view mirror the whole time you are stopped

What if the guy in front of you decides to back up for some reason? 

Then if you are in neutral you can walk your bike backwards or honk or just go into gear and ride out of the way.

What if something happens with cross traffic and somebody swerves towards you?

Can you illustrate this? I can't picture what you mean

[BaltimoreGS]

Look into the Smith System of driving program.  It is meant for cars but many of the concepts apply to motorcycling.  I worked for a company where certification was required to drive company vehicles.  One of the principles is scanning your mirrors to know what is going on behind you.  A real world example where this worked was on an interstate off ramp.  Traffic was backed up at the bottom of the ramp so we were at a dead stop.  One of the Smith principles is to stop while you can still see the rear wheels of the car in front of you.  Like I said, it is geared towards autos, not motorcycles, but the idea is to leave enough room to have an "out" should you need it.  Scanning the rear view I see a pickup coming down the ramp kind of fast.  I keep scanning my mirrors and see he is not slowing down.  I used my "out" and ran the truck over the curb into the grassy area on the side of the ramp.  Just as I thought, he wasn't paying attention and creamed the woman in front of me.  I really remember this incident because the woman sued the company I worked for because I moved out of the way.  Luckily when I jumped the curb it triggered the in truck camera so there was a video of the whole incident.  In case you're curious, it is not illegal to avoid being hit    So long story short, had I been on a motorcycle and not paying attention I would have probably been killed.

Take it a step farther using your riding technique, what if I was the woman in front of me?  If I had come to a stop and quit paying attention to my mirrors once the vehicle behind me stopped I would have been creamed just like she was.  Had I come to a stop and continued to watch my surroundings I'm sure I would have been alarmed when I saw the truck behind me hopping a curb.

In the guy backing up scenario you are assuming the guy in front of you will be alert to your horn.  He is already doing something erratic, why would a horn stop him??  You are also assuming there isn't another car with his bumper 3 inches from your rear tire.  It may not seem like much but it does take time to put your bike in gear.

The other scenario I threw out there was sitting at a 4 way intersection with a stop light.  You are at a red light and there is cross traffic.  Now suppose a person or a dog steps out into traffic and that a driver swerves to miss them but in doing so starts on a collision course towards you.  It is going to take time for your brain just to process what is going on, having your bike in gear and ready to move may give you the split second extra you need to get out of harms way.

I'm not looking to argue with you but there are a lot of noobs on this board and I hate to see bad habits/advice given to them.  I have been riding/racing dirt bikes since I was a kid and have been into street bikes as long as I could legally ride them (close to 15 years now).  I try to pass on the little bits of wisdom I have acquired in that time, whether or not you choose to follow it is your business.

-Jessie

[rayshon]

I see your point, and I suppose it is an extra safety step to keep it in gear.

Keyword being "extra" though, which is always a good idea. 

[BaltimoreGS]

Think of it as looking out for #1   

-Jessie

[shonole]

Relaxing at a stoplight is a bad habit!  Stay in gear and scan your mirrors/surroundings.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7D0BTyJBeM

-Jessie

I get that staying in gear is the smart thing to do..

BUT

There is nothing he could have done to have avoided that.  (I know the video was just an example)

[BaltimoreGS]

Relaxing at a stoplight is a bad habit!  Stay in gear and scan your mirrors/surroundings.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7D0BTyJBeM

-Jessie

I get that staying in gear is the smart thing to do..

BUT

There is nothing he could have done to have avoided that.  (I know the video was just an example)

I have to disagree.  Had he been monitoring his mirrors while he was stopping he could have seen the xB not slowing down and swerved into the empty right lane.  A little more distance between him and the car stopped in front of him wouldn't have hurt either.  I'm not usually this argumentative, I swear...   

[shonole]

Relaxing at a stoplight is a bad habit!  Stay in gear and scan your mirrors/surroundings.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7D0BTyJBeM

-Jessie

I get that staying in gear is the smart thing to do..

BUT

There is nothing he could have done to have avoided that.  (I know the video was just an example)

I have to disagree.  Had he been monitoring his mirrors while he was stopping he could have seen the xB not slowing down and swerved into the empty right lane.  A little more distance between him and the car stopped in front of him wouldn't have hurt either.  I'm not usually this argumentative, I swear...   

Unless he had the reaction time of a jet pilot (and even then), there is nothing he could have done.  Should he have left more space between him and the car in front of him?  Probably.  But then, you can argue, since the driver of the xB failed to slow regardless, she would have hit him at a greater speed, likely causing greater injury. 

Monitoring mirrors prior to stopping changes the entire scenario.  And is also purely speculative.  There is no guarantee he would have seen the xB (closing speed, lane changes, etc.) and been able to react sooner.