BMW R1200R R1150R/T F800 K1200R R1100R/T R1250R RnineT Message Board

My R's now got 15k miles on the clock and today I went on our local Advanced Motorcycling "Machine Control Day". Apart from doing lots of emergency stops which certainly proved the value of servo brakes and ABS . For most of the 3 hours, we practised riding between cones at ultra slow speeds. I am sure that the vast majority of you will know this, but the technique involves keeping the revs at around 2-2.5k; 1st gear; slipping the clutch and keeping the speed down (less than walking speed) and maintaining stability using the rear break.

The result was a real improvement in my personal skill but the smell from the clutch was really noticeable. I rode her home and didn't notice anything "wrong" but just wanted to ask whether the smell suggests that the clutch is on her way "out" i.e. knackered !

I don't think it's knackered.. ..I had a smelly crotch a few years ago and all is ok now..

Seriously...our dry clutches don't like to be slipped too much...unlike the typical wet clutches that you get on Jap bikes.

It's worth changing your technique if you are a clutch slipper if you want your clutch to last on our bikes.

DJ

Not sure if this is related.

I have the "Ride Like a Pro" video which involves a lot of slow speed clutch slipping excercises.

It recommended that you take a break after extended slow work and ride around at 'road speed' for a few minutes to give the clutch a chance to cool down.

P

DJ Downunder wrote:It's worth changing your technique if you are a clutch slipper if you want your clutch to last on our bikes.

Not sure what technique you are proposing; please tell !

Lion_Lady wrote:It recommended that you take a break after extended slow work and ride around at 'road speed' for a few minutes to give the clutch a chance to cool down.P

Yes, understood. However this is on an enclosed police training ground. The only thing I could do was to turn off between exercises !

Hi John, I noticed the same thing when I took the Advanced Rider Course a few years ago...no permanent damage done, just got the clutch disk hot doing the slow manuevers. There's so much clutch that it probably didn't reduce the expected life by even 100 miles (so I was told by my 40-years of-riding Beemers Brother-in-Law...)

That was the only part that the bike didn't handle much better than other bikes on the course! It sure gave me a lot more confidence in the RR's handling capabilities. I discovered during the course just how competent this machine is!

Sunbeemer wrote:There's so much clutch that it probably didn't reduce the expected life by even 100 miles (so I was told by my 40-years of-riding Beemers Brother-in-Law...)

Well that's good news; I'll relax

John - The other technique for low speed carpark type manouvers and negotiating cones etc is to trail the rear brake. You can use less cluth sip and and mix it with a bit of light rear braking. It's one of the other things taught here. Mick.

MIXR wrote:John - The other technique for low speed carpark type manouvers and negotiating cones etc is to trail the rear brake. You can use less cluth sip and and mix it with a bit of light rear braking. It's one of the other things taught here. Mick.

Yes, Mick; that's exactly what I meant in my opening para when I said

John I. Stephen wrote: and maintaining stability using the rear break.

The break is trailed the entire exercise. However there is NO WAY that I could not slip the clutch; we are discussing around 2-3mph max; so a fully engaged clutch is not an option? Slipping the clutch is slipping the clutch ; isn't it

DJ Downunder wrote:
It's worth changing your technique if you are a clutch slipper if you want your clutch to last on our bikes.


Not sure what technique you are proposing; please tell !

I will try and explain what I mean.

If you want to do a good time at the drags (drag strip) on our bike you need to be able to dump the clutch before you gun it..too many revs and if you slip the clutch too much you will be left behind with a bad smell in the air and smoke that's not from the exhaust..

Even normal takeoffs on our bikes like the clutch to be almost dumped at low revs and the huge engine grunt helps you not stall..but if you do this with a light flywheel type Jap bike you will most likely stall it.

When I had a weekend on the new BMW K1200R I found that takeoffs needed much more revs and clutch slipping and the bike liked it that way.

As far as slow speed turns etc...you can still pump the clutch in and out rather than drag it (constant slipping it)..it maybe not as smooth but will work...IMO.

All this is just my opinion and I'm no expert...

DJ

DJ Downunder wrote:[snip]
As far as slow speed turns etc...you can still pump the clutch in and out rather than drag it (constant slipping it)..it maybe not as smooth but will work...IMO.

All this is just my opinion and I'm no expert...

DJ

Well, if I engage the clutch fully I will travel at around 12mph (give or take). The point is that we are trying to ride at less than walking speed as though threading delicately through heavy traffic etc. I couldn't help but smile reading your suggestion DJ; conjuring up images of kangarooing along

The UK police use BMWs (amongst other things) and it was on their Kent training ground that we were taught these techniques.

I'll have the cluctch looked at when I take her in for a service on Wednesday

kangarooing along

That's the way we do it down under.. ..it's the Aussie law..

DJ

Yeh - Sort of - You can use the rear brake for more than just stability. You can actually use it against the clutch slip, so that the bike is running with an 'out' clutch and being slowed only by the brake.

These things have a high first gear, so some clutch slip is inevitible, but relatively harmless if controlled for duration and kept to low revs.

The rear brake is great to force the bike into slow motion, as well as 'stabilise' those 100 mph sweepers or mountain hairpins.

I'd say that having a hot clutch is less important than being able to cool it down after it gets hot. Parking with a 'smelly' clutch means the plates are just going to absorb whatever heat has been generated, and you may run the risk of warping something. A very short ride should allow temps to even out and minimise this. It was a problem on my VX800 (renowned for weak clutches) during some rider training, where 'heat-soak' led to 'warped plates' and then a 'grabby' clutch. But that's a different system altogether.

Anyway - I agree with the others that it's no big deal. Cheers.