‘Nasty burned smell inside…’
Too much slipping had wreaked havoc with this Yamaha FJR’s clutch
This 2013 Yamaha FJR1300 was racking up the miles, putting on 10,000 in six months with its new owner and getting serviced regularly at NS Motorcycles in Aylesbury, when the owner decided to go on an advanced riding course in London. He passed with flying colours, but his bike wasn’t so happy at the end of a long, hot day.
NS Motorcycles owner Niki Spreng picks up the tale: “It came to us on a truck because the bike had lost all drive as he was setting off from home. The clutch lever went in and out OK and I could select all the gears, but it wasn’t going anywhere.
“You don’t need to drain the oil before removing the clutch cover, but the grubby, blackened state of the fluid in the cover and the burned smell didn’t bode well – then I saw a pile of clutch components swilling around”
A wet clutch in a bike uses metal and friction pads, which have a version of brake material on them. Rather than keep a steady throttle and drag the back brake to control his speed during the slow-riding portion of the course, the guy had been slipping the clutch for so long that all the friction material wore off and the plates welded themselves together. Unlike a cable-operated clutch that would come out of adjustment, the hydraulic design meant the lever feel didn’t change. When he pulled in the clutch one last time the plates wouldn’t separate and exploded instead.
Niki added: “He was lucky it happened at slow speed, so there was little collateral damage. All it needed was a new clutch assembly, oil and four hours labour, which came to a total of £400.”