Burning up a clutch

SMSW

Joined
Sep 4, 2013
Messages
8,170
Location
Cleveland
Bike
2010 ST1300
I'm posting this here (instead of the Itchy Boots thread) because it has wider application than Noraly's situation and will draw a larger audience.

In her last episode, she encountered a bit of mud (video link below), and a Liberian guy named Lawrence offers to ride the bike to dry ground. He slipped the clutch in order to get the bike through the goo and burned it up. He pretty much powered through, despite Noraly's entreaties to stop and let the bike cool down.

Would it be possible to get a low power bike (she is riding a Honda CRF 300) through that muck without damage? Noraly did not blame him but accepted the damage as inevitable.

About 10 minutes worth of watching will give you an idea of the problem she faced.
 
Just to be sure , unless I dreamt the last couple episodes ... her clutch was already on its way out ... obviously Lawrence made it worse.

And to your question about using a "low powered bike" ... isn't that what 96% of the locals ride? Low powered bikes ?
 
core-aggie said:
Just to be sure , unless I dreamt the last couple episodes ... her clutch was already on its way out ... obviously Lawrence made it worse.

And to your question about using a "low powered bike" ... isn't that what 96% of the locals ride? Low powered bikes ?
Click to expand...
I thought the problem was overheating from when she lost all the coolant. I must have missed that she was having clutch problems earlier. And how did they all power through without toasting their clutches?
 
I think she’s got 2 different problems. First the overheating definitely did some damage. And she’s also replaced the chain and sprockets a few times. And I’m wondering if she/they changed the gearing by increasing the front sprocket diameter or decreasing the rear diameter, and that info was never shared with us, or I missed it. (Possibly by the fella that rebuilt the engine after Alaska.) Which will definitely put a lot more strain on the clutch, and that heavy sticky clay mess she went thro on the ‘clutch burnout episode’ greatly compounded the situation, if that’s what it was. Plus all the cargo she’s carrying. Which is the scenario that makes the most sense to me. I sure was cringing when she was making that clutch slip, I was yelling at her to get off the throttle, but she wouldn’t listen lol. An observation: a few times she’s showed us he speed at 100kph (approx62mph), and I noticed her motor didn’t sound ‘wound out’ at all. My drz400 revs higher than that at 100 kph, or it sure sounds like it does.

I also was wondering how the rest of those street bikes made it thro too, some of them riding 2 or 3 up.
 
The key to mud clearance is wide open knobby tread and wheelspin to clean out the blocks.
Though the bike may be capable of that unloaded with a fresh rider, I doubt it, loaded as hers is and tired as she must be.

Rob
 
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