Clutch Drag!

Makes me think I should be taking it in for warrante but I hate letting others touch my bike.

Did a 320 mile ride yesterday and was still noticing it late in the ride when the bike was good and warm. The hard shifting is directly related to the clutch sticking and blipping will get you a smooth downshift because it will break the clutch free but I am way out of the habit of blipping.
 
On the Gen 1 bikes I've read where a plug can come out of the clutch shaft. When this happens there is a lot of clutch drag. You have to remove the clutch pressure plate to see if the plug is in place. I'm not sure if the plug is the same on Gen2 bikes or not. I'd have to see a picture of the clutch without the pressure plate on it.
 
The last time I had the FZ out I noticed that I would pull the clutch in and there would be no change in engine RPM, just as Kevin describes above. I hate the thought of partially disassembling a new motor to fix something that should be under warranty, but I am also not sure I want my local dealer working on it. They are mostly 4-wheeler mechanics.

Roy
 
Adrenaline Junkie said:
The last time I had the FZ out I noticed that I would pull the clutch in and there would be no change in engine RPM, just as Kevin describes above. I hate the thought of partially disassembling a new motor to fix something that should be under warranty, but I am also not sure I want my local dealer working on it. They are mostly 4-wheeler mechanics.

Roy
Click to expand...

I am not sure if I want my local dealer working on my bike but it is clearly not going away and as i see it its Yama's problem.

That said, ANYONE READING THIS... please try the following. put the bike on the center stand, place the bike in 1st gear, pull the clutch, reach back and spin the tire. it should (with little effort) spin. You should feel the added drag of the clutch plates sliding against each other and ther should be some inertia to get the wheel rolling. If on the other hand your rear wheel continues to clunk back and forth like it is still in gear and you have to essentially pound the wheel in order to break the clutch free, then this is the proplem that we are talking about. I have a scheduled visit to the shop on Monday, i will let you know how that goes. In the mean time if you blip your throttle before sifting (even cold when shifting from neutral to first at the start of your ride) this should eliminate all clunking when shifting to first.

-k
 
This might help.

Well here is a great step by step for a FJR which has similar clutch location as the FZ1.
The basket doesn't sit in oil and relies on splash. For some reason the baskets were installed without a disk soaking and only the first and last disk are getting wet.
I Have a 08 FJRAE and have some drag going on. I will be pulling my basket per the following link and soaking the basket. Many have tried it with outstanding results. As I understand the assembly lube on the plates turns to goo after sitting and kinda glues the disks to the plates not allowing them to disengage. So when the basket is out it is most important to clean the metal and get the goo off. Then soak the disks and get them wet.
It seems to eliminate the problems and make the bike shift like butter. Here is the link and please share any new info. It may be what is going on with some of our FZ's.
Atrophy Gallery: 20100320 Soaking clutch plates.
 
As mentioned above I've been having this problem with my '08 but it seems a little better this evening. Several of the guys from work went to the Buffalo Wings bar after work. The only sensible way to get there is to drive/ride all the way through town so that is what I did.....at rush hour, in heavy traffic. This resulted in the engine getting hot enough to kick the fan on at every stop light so my temp was getting up to about 215 Deg F. My normal mode of operation is to pull up to the light, pop into nuetral and wait. Today I sat at the light with the bike in gear and the clutch pulled in. My clutch is not hanging up or dragging near as bad now. I went for a 60 mile loop of twisties after the wings and it is shifting much better. There is only the slightest hesitation between pulling the clutch in and feeling it actually disengage. Perhaps the increased temp. thinned the oil enough to let it work its way in between the plates a little better. I still have some dragging but it is much reduced. The bad side was some of the red lights were long enough that my hand was getting tired and my launches were not very smooth when the light turned green. I even stalled it once, but don't tell anybody.

Roy
 
Pulled my FJR clutch today!

old rice said:
Well here is a great step by step for a FJR which has similar clutch location as the FZ1.
The basket doesn't sit in oil and relies on splash. For some reason the baskets were installed without a disk soaking and only the first and last disk are getting wet.
I Have a 08 FJRAE and have some drag going on. I will be pulling my basket per the following link and soaking the basket. Many have tried it with outstanding results. As I understand the assembly lube on the plates turns to goo after sitting and kinda glues the disks to the plates not allowing them to disengage. So when the basket is out it is most important to clean the metal and get the goo off. Then soak the disks and get them wet.
It seems to eliminate the problems and make the bike shift like butter. Here is the link and please share any new info. It may be what is going on with some of our FZ's.
Atrophy Gallery: 20100320 Soaking clutch plates.
Click to expand...

They were dry!! here is what I posted on the FJR forum. I want to do my 08 FZ1 now just to see. PS You can't get away from the yammy N to 1 clunk... It's a yammy thing! But the rest , well worth the effort at least on my FJR.
***Inside and outside soaked but all the center discs were dry. Had a pic but having a bit of trouble with it. Same as other posts, obvious when you have it laid out. Soaked for 4 hrs, cleaned the plates and sync'd my throttlebodies. Wow what a diff!! Took it for a 100 mile run, highway and twisties lots of shifting and by the time I got home it was like butter. Like day and night on the down shifts and up shifts way better on starting off from a stop light. The adjustment on the FI made a big differance also. Much smoother engine. Makes me wonder about my 08 FZ1. Don't seem right at all but glad it is done on the FJR at least.

PS a bit of discoloration from heat on some of the metal plates (600 miles changed my oil and diff also) Next stop ...Synth at 2500. Oh and by the way I don't care what anybody say's AE's rock!! This is a serious machine. I am upset they are discontinued as of this year. ***
 
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old rice said:
They were dry!! here is what I posted on the FJR forum. I want to do my 08 FZ1 now just to see. PS You can't get away from the yammy N to 1 clunk... It's a yammy thing! But the rest , well worth the effort at least on my FJR.
***Inside and outside soaked but all the center discs were dry. Had a pic but having a bit of trouble with it. Same as other posts, obvious when you have it laid out. Soaked for 4 hrs, cleaned the plates and sync'd my throttlebodies. Wow what a diff!! Took it for a 100 mile run, highway and twisties lots of shifting and by the time I got home it was like butter. Like day and night on the down shifts and up shifts way better on starting off from a stop light. The adjustment on the FI made a big differance also. Much smoother engine. Makes me wonder about my 08 FZ1. Don't seem right at all but glad it is done on the FJR at least.

PS a bit of discoloration from heat on some of the metal plates (600 miles changed my oil and diff also) Next stop ...Synth at 2500. Oh and by the way I don't care what anybody say's AE's rock!! This is a serious machine. I am upset they are discontinued as of this year. ***
Click to expand...

Glad that worked out so well for on the FJR. Very curious as to what you'll discover when you do the FZ1. I have the feeling it may be more of the same...
 
Here is a pic of the FJR clutch pack

You can see the dark outer and inner disks with lubrication and the lighter ones in the middle that are dry. Shifts like butter now. This was after 600 miles.
 
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