Coming back from the poker run in Odessa I was about 60 in top gear and pinned the throttle. Revs shot up as clutch slipped. Lever feels the same. A little slack at the end so I'm sure the clutch is returning all the way. 8000 miles of most road with with 1/4 forest service roads. Only hard core is last 40 miles . Oil level fine. Clutch going south? I gotta decide if I should try the 50 mile race tomorrow or limp home.
This may sound simple, but have you fixed where the clutch cable goes by the radiator? I would unhook both ends of the cable and check that first, then work to the engine and cases. Hope it is a simple fix, should be. BMW parts should work for most of the internals.
I did look down while riding and noted the clutch appeared to be returning all way back where the cable enters the case and do an inspection of the cable by the radiator last fall and secured it so it wouldn't chaffe. I don't *think* it's the cable....but going to have to look more. Tension at the lever and its return action all felt normal to me (and yes I have had several clutches go out over the years on other motorcycles so have a bit of a feel for them). So, I didn't race it on Sunday and nursed it home expecting it to spin again. I purposely didn't grab throttle at highway speed for fear of burning it up 100 miles from home. As I got within 10 miles of home I did grab the throttle and surprised that it didn't spin loose at all. Hmmmm. Something that was an issue stopped being an issue since the day before? My gut says the clutch is fine and not itself worn out. Something else is at play here....gonna have to really look things over...including the cable. Frankly, I'd like to find that the poker run rubbed through it and be something obvious. Thanks.
What Bill provided when I bought it at Salem. Specifically motorcycle oil without friction modifiers...I believe it was Spectro Synthetic. 2000 miles on it since the last oil change.
Have you unhooked the cable and checked it isn't binding the cable to case. If one of the wires of the cable breaks it can stick into casing intermittently when activated and releasing. Hyosungs do it a LOT!. Can also do it at the ends
A follow-up on this. No issues since that weekend...hasn't slipped since. I'm not sure I've discovered the underlying issue, but have several observations that may be factors: 1) I was wrong about the Spectro. It was the 600-1000 mile mark I put in the Spectro. I went with Rotella Synthetic last time...about 2000 miles ago. It doesn't have friction modifiers in it as well. Not motorcycle specific and lots of anecdotal from other motorcycle forums its fine. Could it be sensitive to it....yeah maybe. 2) There was a little gunk in the cable end nearest the case. I picked it off. I don't *think* it was preventing the clutch from releasing. 3) The clutch cable routing seems good. I stopped the chaffing a few thousand miles ago using a clamp and running it from lock-to-lock while running the clutch still seems full movement. 4) I lost the right upper motor mount bolt sometime during the race weekend....probably in the poker run. Doh! This one was a shocker to me as I had added AltRider crash bards about two thousand miles ago and had checked the fasteners 500 miles after. I noticed the bar looked a bit odd yesterday and found a bolt missing. Yikes. AltRider didn't say one way or another, but I replaced and blue Loctited. Could clutch function have been affected with a handful of throttle? Possibly.
