Hi all,

I'm currently on a rtw trip on an '09 Tenere and had some problems with the clutch yesterday. Riding into Istanbul we hit some serious rush-hour traffic and were constantly stop/starting as we made our way to the centre (Istanbul is very hilly too). After 2 hours of this the bike was very hot (as hot as it's ever been) and the clutch began to slip (or so I thought). I was having to rev it to 4-5k just to get it to move in 1st!

When I came back to the bike today and tried to move it and there was no bite whatsoever, but I noticed that the free play had gone from the clutch lever (it was fine all day yesterday). I adjusted the free play (engine end), got the bite back, and rode it down to Ankara (450km) with no probs, but there was nowhere near as as much traffic in either city, so it was a pretty easy ride.

My question is, what the hell happened to my clutch? Is it about to fail? I'm not completely mechanically incompetent (tyres, oil, filters, etc - no prob), but I'm at a loss to explain this. Could it be the cable even? I'm new to the Ten, I only bought it a couple of months ago for the trip (my old bike - KTM Adventure - had a hydraulic clutch). Bike has 20k km on it, 8k in the last 6 weeks.

Any help or advice would be really gratefully received. I'm a little nervous about this as I am about to head into the Middle East and some pretty remote areas. This site has been a mine of useful info about my new bike, and hopefully I'll be able to contribute a little as I gain more experience with it.

Cheers again, JD

PS. Just in case, can anyone recommend a Yam dealer in Ankara?

Hi Jamie,

I can't seem to find a Yam dealer in Ankara, best is to ask a local to look it up in the phonebook or get in contact with a turkish bike club (there are quit a lot).
As for the clutch, the tenere is legendary heat resistant (I speak from experience) and probably the clutch is allright. It's strange the cable freeplay was out (suggesting a swelling of the clutchplates, if that is even possible?!?), so If I understand correctly, you got the bite back by LOOSENING the cable? That seems very unlogical. If you want to check the clutch visually, it's not very hard to do, a competent mechanic (any bike mechanic) could do this in 15-30 min, just take care with the gasket (when carefull, you could use it again).
I suspect the cable has something to do with it, so be sure that it is correctly adjusted and see if the problem re-occurs.
I used to have the same problem with my Africa Twin, in heavy traffic it overheated, so that even with clutch engaged it krept forward at trafficlights, never found the cause, although I took it appart 3 times.Ended up just avoiding heavy city traffic.

BTW are you driving on motorcycle oil? I'm asking this because in Africa I drove on car oil, which was no problem but can eventually cause clutch problems

and finally, can we follow you on your progress online? (blog)

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www.tony-ontheroad.blogspot.com

I had similar issues on my '08. After a day of ghymkana training. The bike did not get abnormally hot, so I don't think temperature had anything to do with it. But there was quite some riding with slipping clutch.

At the end of the day there was no free play whatsoever anymore in the clutch handle, and the clutch was contsantly slipping. So I did what you did: adjusted free play. It still did not cure the slipping entirely though.

Eventually I took the bike to the dealer's. Turned out one of the clutch plates was entirely worn down whereas the rest was still in good condition. Plates and springs were replaced under warranty. The dealer agreed with me that it was not normal wear on a bike with only 10000km and just that single plate worn.

Thanks for the replies.

Tony - agreed, I'd expect to have to tighten the cable if the clutch was wearing excessively. Definitely had to loosen it which is why I'm so confused. It has bike oil in it - nothin' fancy, just bog-standard 10w40 (changed the oil/filters myself before I left the UK). It hasn't used a drop of oil since I left either.

duibhcek - your issue sounds identical to what I experienced, although much more severe, which is a little worrying!

I think the way I'm gonna play it is to give the bike a good thrashing over the weekend and see if any further issues arise. If the clutch holds up OK then I'm gonna risk it, otherwise I'll get it looked at by a dealer (found one!). I've got to come back to Ankara on Monday to collect a visa anyway.

Btw, we just set up our blogging site - www.roja45.com - already a few blogs/photos from the Balkans on there, and we'll be adding a lot more (and more bike-related) stuff when we get going into the mid-east. There is a blog about the Ten breaking down in Germany though (standard rectifier failure!). Check it out, would love to know what you think.

Will update the thread after the thrash-test and let you know how it turns out.

Cheers again, JD

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www.roja45.com

Don't be.

Happened to me once, and in the heat.

Clutch was adjusted with a litle freeplay, after a few days in the heat it started to slip quite badly. The free play had gone! put in some more free play and it's been fine ever since.

No idea why, but it's been fine. The bike had covered around 19K miles before this, and it's covered around 5K since, or therabouts.

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>-------<

Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

Now that's the answer I was hoping for... fingers crossed for the weekend.

Cheers, JD

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www.roja45.com

Hi JD,

Guys having to loosen the cable to get the clutch to bite again does make sence, let me try and draw a diagram.

Health clutch cable and clutch plates below;

------------------|||||||===[]
......^cable^.......^plates.^gearbox


If the plates are wearing thin, then as the springs within the clutch pack push the clutch plates closer together to try and get it to bite, then it pulls on the clutch cable to the point that they are so thin and warn out that they are suspended/hanging by the clutch cable as below;

------------------|| | |===[]

Those hanging plates in the middle of the diagram above mean the plates are spaced and slipping.

Loosening the cable essentially makes it a little longer and allows the plates to press tightly together again.
----------------------|||===[]

+1, Nutt. great explanation. That's what happens alright. Also 8000km without an oil change (if that's the case) might be seeing the oil at the end of its life.

Btw, after a lot of clutch slippage, there can be small carbonaceous bits of clutch pack floating about in the oil.

If so, it's definitely oil and filter time.

+ 2 nutt, brilliant post. Makes perfect sense now you've explained it so well.

I was worried that the clutch performance dropped off so quickly, but maybe I was losing the free play gradually and just didn't notice. I guess once the lever's got nothing more to give then the slip would occur quite rapidly given the mileage I've been doing.

66T - the oil has done best part of 8k km since leaving the UK, so maybe a change wouldn't hurt!

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www.roja45.com

Just after my 30 000 km service,I noted that when in 3rd gear and accelerating hard , the clutch slipps slightly.
I called the dealer to see if there was any Technical reports from the factory in that regard, the answer was no,your clutch must be going.

Sorry , I didnt accept that , so I removed the side cover and carefully removed all the friction and stator plates,
I measured all the friction plates in accordance with the manual( There are 3 different types of friction plates that make up the clutch , just by the way)

All were still in spec.

Right now for the clutch springs.
55.2 mm to 52 mm.

Well they range between 54 to 54,4 mm.
So I have added 1mm shim washers on the top of the springs , just under the attachment screws.
Beware of putting them at the bottom under the springs .
The shims I first used , had a slightly smaller center ID and the got stuck on the aluminum attachment posts.
Anyway , all assembled the cluch feels much better than before.
Doing a 500km ride in the mountains tomorrow , so we shall see

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