How often do you change your bike's clutch plates?

[crazydj]

Hello all!

 

I was wondering how often do you guys change your clutch plates for your bikes? Apparently, it feels that my bike's clutch plates are gonna be worn out soon. The same "feeling" is there before i changed it a year ago.

 

I just changed my clutch plates about more than a year ago. I ride my bike everyday but not to the extent at which dispatch rider bros do. I almost always open full throttle on expressways and place a heavy emphasis on engine braking. Engine sounds LOUDER, i can get a higher top-speed and i need to change gears at a higher RPM. Last time about 4-5k RPM, now must change at above 5k RPM.

 

All these symptoms were present when i needed to replace my clutch plates last year, LESS the RPM increasing like siao when i open a sudden BIG THROTTLE.

 

Any ideas?

 

EDIT: Could it be my friction plates?

 

http://i945.photobucket.com/albums/ad291/crazydj_sgbikes/ClutchDiagram.jpg?t=1283344400

Edited September 1, 2010 by crazydj

[KeraKing]

clutch plate is it the metal one?

and friction plate is it the fiber/kevlar (??) one?

i always confuse the name.. hee

 

i think usually just change the fiber (??) one.

 

the metal one they say can grind untill smooth again.. but its a bit*ch to do.. hee

[natgw]

im still using the same set of clutch that came from the factory till date. and its still working fine. currently its ongoing for 27000kms.

 

but if u're changing. just change the friction plates will do.

 

unless if ur metal plates are badly burnt or warped. then replace the metal plates as well.

[yeukeong]

I change my clutch plate after 50,000km. When i measure the thickness, it is still within the spec...

 

Next time i'll change it at 80,000km...

[crazydj]

My bike mileage is 97,282.8KM. I changed my plates last year at 89,679.8KM. Been riding my new clutch plates for about 7,603KM. Must be something else?

[Pandoras Kitten 3]

How long have you had your YBR? It seems strange the clutch plates wear out so fast.

 

I got my old Yamaha at

 

Wet clutches usually take a lot of abuse without issue, so long as the oil is changed frequently, which I bet you do as standard practise (you're more experienced than me on the oil stuff).

 

So it might be just the bike's design? (YBR is made in PRC?). Anyway, the fuel penguins are more than enough to counteract this minor inconvenience... YBR FTW

[crazydj]

tonychan says its a China bike. Ask me to change haha.

 

I've had it for about 1.5 years. Second owner. I change my oil frequently, but tend to switch brands and type here and there.

 

Just changed my EO just now. The Carlube fully synthetic, wah, disgusting sia. Come out of my engine, like WATER. Smells like some funky smelling horrible chloroform. The consistency is like when i poured OWS engine flush into my engine. The Oil drip drip drip, so watery, not slowly flow out like other oils.

 

It could be the oil. So yeah, reused a re-gaped spark plug and a fresh bottle of that same Carlube crap. Its cheap, but i am starting to think thats its crap. I wil trying riding again and see whether its this carlube oil which is causing the "slipping feeling".

[KeraKing]

my mech say an oil too "slick" (?) can also cause slipping on a wet clutch..

[Pandoras Kitten 3]

Oil performance...

 

Besides doing all the other things like lubricating, protecting, etc, oil must also be stable under high temperature conditions.

 

If oil starts breaking down under pressure and temperature (ie, if it starts foaming up) it may cause the clutch to overheat and start degrading very rapidly?

 

The carlube 4T is branded as a motorcycle oil so SHOULD not contain any friction reducers. I just thought about the part about oil stability and decided to share it...

[crazydj]

Hmm. What was funny was that it is by far the most "frothy" oil i have ever changed. In my oil pan got bubbles floating on the top lets say compared to agip, shell or maxima.

[Pandoras Kitten 3]

Foaming:

Source - http://www.usmotors.com/Service/faq30.htm

Oil Foaming

Question: What causes the lubricating oil in my vertical motor to foam?

 

 

Answer: Oil foaming is generally caused from moisture contamination, cleaning solvents etc. that get into the oil. The contaminates tend to discolor the oil giving it a milky appearance and the bubbles will dissipate very slowly after the motor has stopped.

 

 

The primary method of correcting foaming is to have the oil reservoir and associated parts thoroughly steam cleaned and baked dry. The main emphasis is to make sure all contaminates have been removed and the reservoir is completely free of moisture. If the issue still persists, anti-foaming agents are available as an additive to stop the foaming

 

Suggestion: better oils have better anti-foaming properties.

Source: AMSOIL affiliate website

 

ANTI-FOAM AGENTS

 

Most motor oil has some type of anti-foam additive blended in. This is due to the fact that petroleum oils are subjected to extreme agitation primarily due the high RPM of a rotating crankshaft and also the movement and circulation of oil in valvetrain components. The action created by the oil pump and the effect of blow-by gasses mixing with the oil also causes foaming. A motor oil that foams excessively cannot perform the job of properly lubricating an engine under severe operating conditions, or even in average operating conditions. When air bubbles form in the foam, the anti-foam additives will attach themselves to the air bubbles in the foam and cause the foam to weaken which in turn causes other foam bubbles attached to each other to collapse. The anti-foam additive essentially breaks down the foam when the oil film surrounding the air bubbles is ruptured. There is an ASTM D-892 test that measures a motor oils ability to resist foaming.

[crazydj]

Kalyan i love you sia! Haha. This is a good read. No wonder my bike, even though pump 98 still can stall when at idle. Clutch in also can stall. I suspect it was water sia because the consistency of my oil was really like water. Not as thick as when i poured it into my engine. Weird. Where is all the water coming from? Condensation?

[natgw]

Kalyan i love you sia! Haha. This is a good read. No wonder my bike, even though pump 98 still can stall when at idle. Clutch in also can stall. I suspect it was water sia because the consistency of my oil was really like water. Not as thick as when i poured it into my engine. Weird. Where is all the water coming from? Condensation?

 

1 possible answer is your coolant. better get it checked. look carefully during oil change. watery, foamy, or milky engine oil are signs of water contaminated EO. and it will eventually cause engine failure.

[crazydj]

1 possible answer is your coolant. better get it checked. look carefully during oil change. watery, foamy, or milky engine oil are signs of water contaminated EO. and it will eventually cause engine failure.

 

My bike got no coolant. Air cooled.

[Pandoras Kitten 3]

Putting aside riding in floods, the other main source for water ingestion is condensation within the exhaust system.

 

There are a number of 4 stroke designs that use interference valve timing to boost engine efficiency. The good thing is that opening both intake and exhaust valves at once at a certain point of the combustion cycle results in the incoming fuel-air charge ejecting the combustion gases out of the exhaust port.

 

The bad is that under certain conditions this causes condensation from the exhaust to enter the engine.

 

Source: I did some reading on SUV and diesel truck engines being converted for heavy duty marine use (ie, "marinised" ,very common in the States). Raw water was found in some more problematic engines that used interference valves, the source wasn't flooding (you'd get salt water and obviously much more damage to the boat itself then), but from condensation in the exhaust. This can be considered the 'worst case scenario'.

[BLACK COMET]

And old experience with carlube oil is not that good. they tends to break down pretty fast. Usually in 1000Km, U can start to feel it.

 

Ur bike is aircooled, so it's subjected to more heat extremes than water cooled.Aircooled bike tends to break down the oil faster.

 

Foaming. Like what Bro Kaylan have mentioned. Could be due to contamination.

 

Also over filled or underfilled will cause foaming. Another possibility is mixing car and motor oil (this is not comfirm yet, I'still researching on that.)

 

I know car lube is cheap. But in my opinion, way too cheap. I'm really wondering is it possible to sell a "synthetic" oil that is cheaper than mobil/shell mineral oil. (eitehr local oil company overcharge us or carlube oil really sucks. This part is subjective)

 

Why not try Amsoil? on ebay sg, AMSOIL 10-40 is selling for 16bucks only, self collection.

 

Maybe u might want to give it a try.

 

Just make sure u fill to the correct level. Other things to take note is AMS sells in quarts. 1 quarts is = to 0.946L

[crazydj]

I love you bros la! Haha. But i think its something to do with this carlube oil. I think it breaks down quite fast. After about a month of hard and hot riding, i can feel as if my clutch is watery/dry. The feelings is just weird. I went to lube my chains yesterday night with the used carlube oil.

 

Its so weird. Today, the oil on my chain dried up. It looks like, well, as if i didnt even lube it at all! And i slapped alot of used carlube eo on it sia. Is this oil messed up or what?

[Pandoras Kitten 3]

It sounds like even $3 LAB oil can do better than carlube.

 

Palm oil from malaysia also better, from what I read about people using it in their cute peroduas.

[crazydj]

What is this $3 lab oil called?

[Pandoras Kitten 3]

UNCLUBE

 

It's right at the bottom of the oil shelf. Warning - has a very old API certification.

[Raptor]

The engine oil is the blood of the engine. It lubricates, removes heat and dirt from the engine.

 

What is cheap is seldom good.

 

Oils meant for car engines contain friction reducers which will coat on your 'wet' clutch plates causing a loss of friction = clutch slip = higher rpm for same speed. Cars have no problem using the oil coz their's is a 'dry' clutch system. Dry clutch means the clutch plates are not immersed in the engine oil sump.

 

To save money by using cheap oil now, in order to finance an engine overhaul later due to lubrication problems....is simply poor money saving tactics.

[HaiR1]

i used my cluth on my Spark135 for about 30 000km.

 

just feel like changing, so i changed...

[crazydj]

How much you changed?

[mild_slevin]

like the mech told me, so long when you rev and you don't experience power lag/drop in speed the clutch should be OK. So long we maintain it well, regular oil change don't stay in half clutch time after time it should works for more than 10 yrs?