Hey guys,
I new to bikes and not sure what could be causing this:

Its happened twice during the 2 weeks i've owned the bike (bought used).

I think it the first time it happened, I was in 2nd gear, and the second time it happened, i believe I was in 3rd gear.

During harder (not hard, just harder) acceleration, at around 5,000 rpms the bike will lose power and rpms will fly up passed 7,000. When rpms start flying, I release the throttle for 1 second, and it "kicks" back in.

Its almost like an automatic car with a slipping tranny...RPMS rise, but car does not move forward.

The bike was stored for winter, and not ridden since Sept. of 2008. The oil was changed in Sept. '08.

I had not yet given it an oil change when this happened. I gave it an oil change last night, and my friend adjusted the chain. I had a 15 minute ride home, and did not experience "slippage"...although it never happened all the time or anything to begin with.

Could this be the clutch going back? The bike has about 16,000 miles.
Or could have been the oil that went bad from sitting since Sept?


I know I should have changed the oil when I got it. I put about 40 miles on it with the old oil and realized i should change the oil ASAP.

Thanks for any input.

 

sounds like a slipping clutch, even with the chain extremely loose if it raised in rpms like that, your sprocket would be toothless. My car did this for a while, especially under stress (i.e. acceleration)

 

That sucks!
The engine oil is actually clutch oil as well....right? Sorry, don't know much about bikes.

If so, I'm hoping the oil change would have cured the slippage.

If not, is it a very difficult job to put in a new clutch? how many hours of labor would a shop typically charge?

Thanks for the input!

 

Did some searching, and it seems like EBC clutch is recommended.

Anyone know the part number for the clutch set for a '96 F3? I can't seem to find it!

I'm looking for the one with Heavy Duty springs.

Thanks!

 

Hopefully an oil change may fix the problem. Some people (ie. cheap bastards) will put car oil in their bikes. They contain a lot of detergents to make the oil slipperier & oil bath clutches on bikes no likie.

 

ebay!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...3AIT&viewitem=

 

Pull the dipstick out of the side cover and take a good sniff.

If it smells like burnt socks you will be needing more than clutch springs...

If not and there is no burnt smell coming from the motor oil you might be able to get away with an oil and filter change.

You did check the cable, correct, Not to tight on adjustment?

And if this does not work and your tight on cash like all of us these days you could slip a flat washer behind each clutch spring to take up the slack on the clutch springs.

I have done this many times on many bikes before I had money and it allows you to get the last few miles out of a tired old clutch.

And before you plunk down a couple hundred bucks on EBC fiber plates and springs make sure your metal plates are straight and not warped from heat...otherwise your wasting money.

IMHO go with Barnett or OEM fiber plates.

SIRR1

 

16,000 miles on the bike and clutch is nothing. It should last much longer than that. Now, that being said it is possible that someone could wear out a clutch much sooner than that if they rode it real hard all the time. Drag racing and rapid starts are really hard on a clutch. More than likely you got some of the wrong oil in the bike that was causing it. Some oils contain "Friction Modifiers" which can cause your clutch to slip under a heavy load. Putting in good oil may have corrected your problem.

If your problem still exists, then changing the clutch is not that difficult. Get a manual and if you have additional questions, post them up.

 

Thanks Sirr!
When we changed the oil, it smelled a little like gas actually. Not crazy...just a little scent of gas what there. The oil was pretty clean looking.

We changed the oil with Forumla 1 4 Stroke motorcycle oil, and changed the filter also.

I have not yet played with the clutch lever adjustment. Currently, the release point is just before the lever is full out. Pulling the lever in a little less than 1 inch is enough to disengage the clutch...although I pull it all the way anyway.

I most likely will not be doing ANY of the work myself. I was planning to take it in to a shop, and if they said it needs a new clutch, I would provide it.

Its been too cold too ride since the oil change, so I haven't had a chance to take it out just yet.

I'm not sure what kind of oil was in the before...hopefully motorcycle oil.

I'll keep you posted on the results once the weather warms up a few degrees.

Thanks!

 

The bike did have 4 previous owners...they could have all "learned' on the bike, and stressed out the clutch.

The seller I bought it from owned it for a little over 4 years. According to this history report, it sat at the dealer for over 2 years at one point too!

I've worked on my old car before, but I never went further than removing the upper intake manifold (to clean it out - design flaw caused gunk to build up), spark plugs, replaced exhaust manifold, starter, brakes + bleeding), etc.

Just don't feel confident enough that I will be able to replace a clutch. I also don't have an impact gun, or the "special tool" to remove the massive nut I've been reading about on the forums and in the manual.