• A few people have been scammed on the site, Only use paypal to pay for items for sale by other members. If they will not use paypal, its likely a scam NEVER SEND E-TRANSFERS OF ANY KIND.

How long did your original clutch last?

Antarius

Site Supporter
Joined
Jun 25, 2013
Messages
693
Reaction score
14
Points
18
Location
.
Visit site
Simple as the title says:

How many miles did you get out of your stock clutch?

I'm at about 23,000 miles - almost all freeway miles, but a few thousand "hard" miles. I noticed the past few days the bike felt somewhat underpowered (yes, even compared to normal!) and when attempting to accelerate quickly and upshifting, it felt like it was slipping a little after I've already gotten off the clutch.

Still have play in the clutch lever both at bottom and top, so it's within adjustment. It just feels like it's slipping a little.

So, anyway, curious how far ya'll got on your OEM clutch before you replaced it? I think I may do mine in 1500 miles at my next oil change.
 
What kind of oil are you using. You really should use a motorcycle dedicated oil as ordinary car oils have Teflon like substances in them to help against wear but it can affect motorcycle clutches.
 
What kind of oil are you using. You really should use a motorcycle dedicated oil as ordinary car oils have Teflon like substances in them to help against wear but it can affect motorcycle clutches.

In this bike, I run Honda GN-4, as the manual asks.

I'm well aware clutch wear will vary from bike to bike, rider to rider. I'm just trying to get a feel for the average length of life on these bikes. If most people are getting 40-50k, then I'll spend a little more time really paying attention and making sure it's slipping before I replace it. On the other hand, if some people have replaced at 15k, 25k, etc, I'm pretty close to the ballpark average anyway and I'll just swap it out with some new fibers and steels. No biggy.
 
The best answer is how long do I expect the clutch to last ? 50-100k would not be uncommon.

BUT...........clutch life is a lot like brake pad life, variable because it is directly related to the rider habits and the type of riding.

Examples:
Single track woods riding or off road riding in deep sand and mud is tougher on the clutch. One past member here was quite proud he was able to trash the clutch at a low mileage.

Fully loaded touring with 300 pound rider and 150 of gear is tougher on the clutch.

Gearing changes can effect the clutch life both for the good and bad.

Cruising at highway speeds for endless hours and distances can be easy on the clutch.

One key indicator, if the clutch free play is going away and has to adjusted to get it back in spec the clutch is wearing.

Not always true..... but .......if your hard on brakes you might be hard on the clutch ?????
 
Last edited:
My first clutch lasted about 40,000 miles on the bike. Had no sign of slippage, it just quit. Near home, so called wife who brought trailer.

My second clutch went out while in Mexico Baja desert with about 60,000 miles on the bike. This was a after market clutch. The clutch did give me slippage warning that time. Had to have a Mexican dealer pick me up with a trailer that time.

My third clutch went out at 70,000 miles on the bike. The third clutch did not last all that long, but that was my fault. I was in a hurry late at night in Mexico, and did not let the clutch plates soak long enough in oil before installing. I was in 5 o'clock rush hour traffic in Baton Rouge in route to Daytona, on I-10 dead center on top of the Mississippi River Bridge. That was a real adventure.

I am very rough on my clutch, so just about everyone's clutch should last longer than mine. The clutch is a fairly easy change, but be carefull not to put that sensor in backwards, as bike will not start if sensor is backwards. A few folks I know have done that.
 
Last edited:
I'm at 49k on the original clutch and it feels fine, knock on wood! OCR and Nortwestrider are the only two I know have replace their clutches -- and both use their bikes off-road regularly in stuff I'd be hesitant to take a DRZ through.

Most of my mileage is commuting and long distance highway travel. Maybe 5% of my time is off pavement, and maybe 1% of that is in knarly enough stuff that requires working the clutch in first gear.

YMMV, literally.

trey
 
Not to alarm..........Back to clutch free play. If the free is gone, it is very possible to destroy the clutch in a very short period of time and or distance. When free play is gone it is just like "riding" or slipping the clutch. ( free play gone means zero play, beyond zero is where it becomes a problem). When things are normal free play does not change fast or often.

A sticky, rusty or worn clutch cable or mechanism can be the same as having a zero free play.
 
If I remember right, he also didn't use all new parts.

The dealership in Mexico had about 2/3's of the clutch parts I needed. So, I took the parts that the Honda dealer had in stock and mixed them with the EBC clutch parts I could salvage. Was in a hurry to get to Copper Canyon, Mexico and it was late at night, so also I did not properly soak the new clutch plates the required time. Drove the bike hard in Copper Canyon, so I was really not all that surprise when the clutch went out 10,000 miles later. Except I did not expect the clutch to go out at rush hour on top of the Mississippi River Bridge without any warning. My current clutch is all Honda parts, it has about 2,000 miles round trip to Daytona, 4,000 miles round trip to Alaska, 2,000 miles round trip to Sturgis, and 2,000 round trip to H.U. in North Carolina.
 
Aight, well it appears as though it'd be a bit early for my clutch to "go," so I'll just continue on and pay close attention to it.

Thanks guys.
 
I still have free play in mine and ride primarily ALL street with my time split between local neighborhood stops and freeway, but do pull in my clutch a LOT when coasting downhill. I have 68,000 miles thus far. I'm considering replacing mine prior to a trip planned next month for a couple of weeks with about 3K of travel estimated.
 
I use my NC for commuting and some day trips and I just want past 90,000 last weekend, on the original clutch
 
I use my NC for commuting and some day trips and I just want past 90,000 last weekend, on the original clutch

Holy thread resurrection... But yeah, mine is exactly the same, 90k on the original clutch - still no slippage so I'm expecting 100k+
I use the clutch to pull away in 1st, once rolling I never use it on the upshift and always balance the revs on a downshift (blip throttle so the clutch is spinning at approx same speed as the plate before engaging) - so that helps prolong clutch life too,
 
Last edited:
for anyone who was curious... his clutch is still fine, and I think I'm at 47k.
 
So I'm planning on attending a rally in March that takes place in death valley, having discussed clutch life and such it's one of the few things that could simply wear out and leave me stranded, I'd imagine I'll be more aggressive on my clutch then usual anyway so I'm concerned it'll fail on me if not changed beforehand.
I've never changed the clutch on a motorcycle but it seems simple enough, all the same if anyone has and advice it'll be well received.

Thinking of Capture+_2019-12-25-21-16-57-1.pnggoing with the EBC plates and springs
 
I have just replaced my clutch at 30k miles. It just quit on my too. No sign of slipping, just dead.
I have replaced it with EBC kit.
I don't know if the oil I used on my last service sped up its demise.
I had always used 10w30 but the last service I put 10w40.
I have now gone back to 10w30 in fear of a repeat issue.
 
I have just replaced my clutch at 30k miles. It just quit on my too. No sign of slipping, just dead.
I have replaced it with EBC kit.
I don't know if the oil I used on my last service sped up its demise.
I had always used 10w30 but the last service I put 10w40.
I have now gone back to 10w30 in fear of a repeat issue.
Thanks for the reply, did you have this done or did you change it yourself?
 
Back
Top