Clutch Died

[Apex]

Yup. Under 5000 miles and the 125 needs a new clutch. How awesome is that? Now it is totally possible it has been not adjusted right for ages. The previous owner did lever swaps and might have not known what they were doing. Actually, my money is on that one. Once I felt it slipping, I added more slack as it was on the edge. But it is also possible they were trying wheelie and burnouts. Eh, dunno.

It was a fun trip back home on Wednesday though. A 44 mile commute back to my place, and it was slipping after 10 minutes on the bike. It was bucking a lot. I thought it was the chain at first again, but nope. Kept jerking hard occasionally. Then, when it finally clicked that it might be the clutch, I just grabbed a handful of throttle at upper revs and felt a smooth, soft grab/release party in the engine at a very high frequency. Definitely not a chain (besides I swapped that out like 500 miles ago).

By the time I got back home, I could barely maintain 45mph. It was bad! Just glad I got back safe!

I ordered a stock replacement as I only on rare occasions give it some hard acceleration. The springs should be an upgrade though. Makes for a fun weekend.


And my KLR rear tire has a crack in it at a knob. I can see the tube in it too. Fun!

[Bob KellyIII]

Nothing will toast a clutch faster than to have it adjusted too tight !
I did that on my Honda 90 back in the late 1960's and sense then have been very careful to always have slack in the cable..... even if the bike wants to pull
a bit when the clutch is pulled in in gear... which is common when new clutch plates are installed.... with a few hundred miles it will release completely just don't get carried away and tighten the cable too much !
Off brand after market levers also are a problem some do not have a long enough pull from the start ... I remember having to grind off the face of the lever on one bike to get the full travel needed it just didn't sit flush with the bracket and because of that it didn't have the throw needed to work the clutch
....
Yes popping wheelies with the clutch is really hard on a bike... change the final gearing if you want to wheelie so you can simply "throttle up" using the clutch just hurts things inside........ and change that oil because most clutches are wet clutches and all that clutch material is now in the oil ! clean the screens too!
....
Bob.......

[Apex]

Tore into it but didn't finish the work. The cable was too tight. It took forever to get slack in it. Should have checked it when I purchased it. Oh well.

No wheelies here, but I bet the previous owner did. I mainly use it to simply commute with a few heavy throttle applications.

[Apex]

Correction. Once I got my clutch out of the bike, I found it was perfectly fine. I swapped it anyway. Kept my old one just to have a spare. Turns out my rear sprocket was *just* worn enough to skip, even though thr chain slack was in check. Oh well.

[Triple Jim]

Wow, the ones I've seen that skip like that have worn so much that the teeth have all broken off, leaving just nubs.

[Bob KellyIII]

never heard of sprockets wearing out in just 5000 miles
.....
that's a ware item and should have been caught in regular matenance !
letting something like that go till it fails completely is bad news !
obviously replace both sprockets and chain and lubricate well
.... you might check the rear wheel bearings at the same time too, grab the rear wheel and see if you can get any side to side flex out of the swing arm and or the wheel itself...
....
I wore a set of sprockets to the point they would not pull the bike any more on flat ground before I finally got a job and could afford another set
riding a bike with the rear chain slipping is extremally hard on things
I noticed that the output shaft where the primary sprocket attached was quite a bit looser than it should be after that.... and shortly there after the seal started leaking.... by then I knew the bike was fairly well thrashed but I had a spare engine so I swapped transmition, crank oil pump and everything between the case haves .... I essentially put the other engine in the bike but did it the hard way.... the cases I had were better (Not cracked)
and I expect that running that chain and sprockets were the main cause of the engines demise ...the output shaft bearing was so loose the shaft could flex 1/8" forward to back..... I never let chain and sprockets get that bad again !
.... although I didn't have a choice I had no money to get the parts needed
and I had to get money from my mom for gas .... there were no jobs, none
and I was looking hard but there was nothing available ....
when I finally found a job again the pay was $3.25 an hour.... and now even McDonald's up here starts at $17.39hr .... I guess they had to get smart and
pay more to get these Kids back to work.... but back then we didn't have a choice ! it was $3.25 an Hour or nothing .... $75.00 pay check for an 80hr work week seamed like what's the point ?
it's a totally different world now people....!
....
Bob......

[Apex]

Oh I checked it like 300mi ago. New chain, but what I I find out during the work is my axle bolt torque was much lighter than it should have been. It felt light, took out my torque wrench and CLAMPED it down. Calling the Kawi dealer on Tuesday to get a new one. Front sprocket is mint. It is an aftermarket unit, 32T instead of 30. So I'm going back to stock...which will help my commute by dropping revs some.

[ducatiman]

Originally Posted by Triple Jim

Wow, the ones I've seen that skip like that have worn so much that the teeth have all broken off, leaving just nubs.

like-a dis here-a

[Bob KellyIII]

LOL Yah I guess we've all seen them like that but that is the classic "I ain't going another mile till this is fixed" Routine !
I admit I wore the sprockets down till they were just sharp needles on the rear
on my 305 once..... I didn't have the $35.00 it took to buy a new one so I just kept riding it.... I was working only 2 days a week at the gas station and money was really tight.... I was comming back from seeing my future wife in the hills north of Redding when on a long hill I noticed the first skip... that is a weird feeling I slowed down a bit and then sped up and it skipped about 30 times then.... but I was almost to the top of the hill so I just babbied it to the top
and continued.... there are several hills from there to the Ranch and it slipped on every hill.... needless to say it got fixed the next payday !
I knew it was going to happen but I thought I had more time.... Nope !
.... before I went to work I tightened the chain adjustment a bit just to get me to town.... and that helped a huge amount.... that got me through till payday and I went to the Honda shop with my check in my hand ! LOL
the guy behind the counter said he'd cash the check for me so I went away with $10.00 in my wallet and the 2 sprockets and chain.... I was ever so glad to replace those sprockets !
.....
Yes 2 teeth in the front will make a big change on the RPM of the engine
at speed the rule of thumb I use is 10mph per tooth on the front for 3~5 teeth on the rear it's 10mph as well..... so with the final drive alone you can really change the cruise speed on the bikes !
.....
My brother in law put a 72 tooth sprocket on a Bridgestone 50cc back when I was a kid and that bike became a kick to ride it would wheelie so easy it wasn't even funny... top speed was 25 or 30 mph though ! BUT it would go anywhere it had traction to go !
....
I have a 16Tooth sprocket o the front of my Ninja and that changed so much about that bike it was unreal.... I no longer had to shift 3 times before reaching 20mph and it spaced the gears out alot better and cruising at 70 was super easy it made a world of difference for me !
.....
Bob.......

[Apex]

So, after doing all the work and really checking the chain tension, I took the Z to work.

It felt like there was a ton of vibration in the pegs. I got to work alright, but on the way back it was bad. Started skipping yet again. Took slow backroads, watched me acceleration, and nursed it back home again. I had teeth on the rear sprocket when I left this morning, now I don't. Looks like the previous owner got one of those lightweight aluminum rear sprockets meant for racing. The sucker just ate itself in 80 miles.

Called my dealer, changing up from the current (aftermarket) setup of 14/32, and going 15/30. Should help on the highway too. No point having it geared low unless I was racing. I'm just cruising around on this thing, so I'll be happy with more top end speed.

[Triple Jim]

Aluminum rear sprockets can be excellent, but aluminum alloys and tempers vary greatly. I put 20 or 30 thousand miles on the one I installed on my '72 H2 and it's still in good shape. It just depends on whether the manufacturer is trying to make good ones, or just to sell a bunch until word gets out that they suck.

[Apex]

I'm currently waiting for my new final drive to come in. I was hoping for Saturday, but most likely Tuesday or Wednesday.


I would be taking the KLR everywhere, but that is waiting on a new 605 tire. I got it in (took a week and a half), and then I dropped it by a local dirtbike dealer. They swapped it and it was ready for pickup on Saturday, but a family gathering prevented me from picking it up.

I will get it tomorrow after work. You don't realize how much you like being on a motorcycle until you are without one....or in my case, two. lol

In other news, the KLR might be traded in on a Honda Navi 125 for my lady. She wants to ride but shifting freaks her out, on top of doing all the other motorcycle stuff. So I will probably do that. Would be a nice putt-around machine too. Twist and go. lol