[davej]

I've just returned from an 800 miles trip to Southern England, and on the journey home I noticed the odd 'groan', 'squeal' from the clutch of my 3,800 miles Burger.

Now I am a great believer of some of the advice on this forum, and the 'blipping' of the throttle on take off, is a view that I buy.

Spin the clutch out fast, and try to stop the heat build up, from 'glazing' the clutch shoes.

I dropped in my scoot to my local (trusted) mechanic, and asked him to check for any glazing, and blow out any dust build up in the clutch.

He phoned me later and said he had found 2 rollers with flats worn on them, and did I want them replaced, or being as the bike was still under warranty, take it to the main dealer where I bought it,

I decided to take the £££'s hit being that the bike could be fixed for next day, and he did the job, and I was back riding, no problems the next day.

So my question is this......have I been 'over blipping' on take off, and by saving the clutch, actually put more wear on the rollers, or as a riding buddy suggested, maybe had a dust build up on the rollers, causing them to 'stick' and not revolve properly??

Any thoughts please guys?

 

[Quantum Mechanic]

It's unusual to get rollers with flats on at that mileage. So yes, I'm guessing you had a build up of dust or some debris of some sort that caused stiction. Blipping the engine to move off quickly will not cause any issues with rollers so don't worry about that. If a 400 does lots of city/town work and is not often ridden at higher speeds of 70mph or above, you can get a build up of dust in the variator which can cause this problem. I would suggest to just make sure you really ride it at speed now and again to give the transmission a good 'blow' through and exercise the rollers to make them travel the full way up their channels in the variator.

Safe riding!

 

[davej]

It's unusual to get rollers with flats on at that mileage. So yes, I'm guessing you had a build up of dust or some debris of some sort that caused stiction. Blipping the engine to move off quickly will not cause any issues with rollers so don't worry about that. If a 400 does lots of city/town work and is not often ridden at higher speeds of 70mph or above, you can get a build up of dust in the variator which can cause this problem. I would suggest to just make sure you really ride it at speed now and again to give the transmission a good 'blow' through and exercise the rollers to make them travel the full way up their channels in the variator.

Safe riding!

Thanks for that Quantum.....just to add to my post, I do quite a bit of 70mph+ riding, and the 800 miles that I refered to consisted of....200miles @70-80mph (clock) to our base in Cornwall, 400miles slower speeds around the narrow twisty roads, over the next couple of days, and then the return M5 motorway slog, 200miles @70-80mph (clock).

But I do get your point, and thanks for your input.
70-80mph (clock)

 

[Quantum Mechanic]

Hi Dave, yeah...you probably then just had some grit/debris stopping a couple of rollers from travelling properly and a speedy run had not cleared the issue.

 

[Elliott Larron]

I don't think the Dust! is the Problem in most cases, it's the Clutch, Pads + Belt Dust, i found a good solution so the problem if any one want's to try it. Seems to work for me, Got a Sponge from the Store and Soaked it in Motor Oil, Since Oil Attracts Dust, I put the sponge on the Inside Cover and it keeps the Dust,Belt,Clutch Pad Dust at bay, Checked it after a few months and did not find any dust inside the Varaitor, Problem is just to keep the Sponge Clean by washing it and Re-oil it.

Elliott,

 

[Bolzen]

Good idea, Elliott -- i thought of oiling the filter first but thought better of it later. Sponge is another thing for sure. Seems scavenging of the area is just not equal to dust production.

 

[Mike337]

Took my clutches apart for the first time last year with about 8000 miles on it. My rollers were ALL flat spotted. Scuffed things up, cleaned things up, re-assembled, and buttery smooth (11500 miles) just starting to groan now, is I'll clean them again soon.

 

[Bolzen]

I've got a set of OEM rollers, if someone needs

 

[davej]

Took my clutches apart for the first time last year with about 8000 miles on it. My rollers were ALL flat spotted. Scuffed things up, cleaned things up, re-assembled, and buttery smooth (11500 miles) just starting to groan now, is I'll clean them again soon.

HI Mike.....just wondering, if you didn't install a new set of rollers, how did you manage to make the ride 'butterly smooth'?

I would have thought that once the rollers were worn 'out of shape', they were ready for change?

 

[Mike337]

^^^ Same here. I was shocked how good it worked. On a snowmobile secondary clutch it will 'hang'. I'm going to take it apart again, and I'm worried of what they look like 3000 miles later : o