TOS
Member
I saw several threads about high speed clutch slipping. Thought I'd post my experience as a troubleshoot before replacing your clutch plates.
On a recent road trip, I noticed when I hammered the throttle passing cars (even at higher speeds in top gear) I noticed the RPM was going a little higher than the speed being produced. After doing this several times it was an obvious problem and I had 100's of miles left to my destination, so I started taking it more easy on the clutch. So, when I reached my friends house we removed the lid and checked the clutch fluid. It was very dark colored, like used motor oil. I evacuated the reservoir and filled with fresh DOT 4. I also tried to clean around the clutch plunger at the master cylinder, in case it might be sticking. I didn't want to go too deep into troubleshooting while on the road and a weekend. Next day, rode about 130 miles and clutch was slipping less but still slipping some.
Today I looked at the fluid in clutch reservoir, which was somewhat dark again. I carefully bled and refilled clutch lines and reservoir until all discolored fluid was gone. Took her out for a test ride and no more clutch slipping. I still can't believe it was that simple and just changing out old fluid fixed my problem. I'm a happy rider again.
On a recent road trip, I noticed when I hammered the throttle passing cars (even at higher speeds in top gear) I noticed the RPM was going a little higher than the speed being produced. After doing this several times it was an obvious problem and I had 100's of miles left to my destination, so I started taking it more easy on the clutch. So, when I reached my friends house we removed the lid and checked the clutch fluid. It was very dark colored, like used motor oil. I evacuated the reservoir and filled with fresh DOT 4. I also tried to clean around the clutch plunger at the master cylinder, in case it might be sticking. I didn't want to go too deep into troubleshooting while on the road and a weekend. Next day, rode about 130 miles and clutch was slipping less but still slipping some.
Today I looked at the fluid in clutch reservoir, which was somewhat dark again. I carefully bled and refilled clutch lines and reservoir until all discolored fluid was gone. Took her out for a test ride and no more clutch slipping. I still can't believe it was that simple and just changing out old fluid fixed my problem. I'm a happy rider again.