[AROTH]

Regarding the 2012 400AN......


Is anyone finding it necessary or "normal" to have to de-glaze the clutch shoes every couple 1000 miles or so?

I have 6700 miles on my 2012 which I purchased new in May of this year. I have done so twice since then while removing the belt cover for routine maintenance/cleaning, etc. Last time was at about 4500 miles.

Clutch engagement is smooth and "judder" free after each time, however, returns after about 1500 miles. I find it annoying as you might suspect, especially in stop and go traffic situations, which aren't that frequent. Today, I was caught in a mile back-up on the road and was jerking around each time I moved forward.

Just live with it, or bite the bullet and do it again?

 

[Liamjs]

Yes, I have a mechanic deglaze my clutch every 5k or so. It is annoying.

There is a temporary, yet quick and effective fix for it. But do it at your own peril. Please no one write me how awful this is for the bike. I know. I know. But it works and I've had no ill affects on my bike doing it many times. Okay here it is...

Apply both brakes fully, then give it gas for about a minute or two, Not full on, just so you can be assured the clutch is engaging. You should hear a squeal (thats from the glazing) It will diminish. When you smell burning clutch pads and the squeal is gone, you will have "burned off" some of the glazing. It's an old trick and yes, it stresses the bike, but it works fine for a couple k miles. Perfect solution between trips to the shop for a proper deglaze.

Good luck. Hope it works should you try.

 

[Bolzen]

A couple of good advices from folks in this thread including its subject as not cheap but the principal solution in my view.

 

[v8eyedoc]

Regarding the 2012 400AN......


Is anyone finding it necessary or "normal" to have to de-glaze the clutch shoes every couple 1000 miles or so?

I have 6700 miles on my 2012 which I purchased new in May of this year. I have done so twice since then while removing the belt cover for routine maintenance/cleaning, etc. Last time was at about 4500 miles.

Clutch engagement is smooth and "judder" free after each time, however, returns after about 1500 miles. I find it annoying as you might suspect, especially in stop and go traffic situations, which aren't that frequent. Today, I was caught in a mile back-up on the road and was jerking around each time I moved forward.

Just live with it, or bite the bullet and do it again?

I did it one time after the break-in and never had to do it again.........

 

[osbornk]

My 400 had 14,000 miles on it before it was hit in the rear and totaled. Neither the original owner or I ever deglazed the clutch and it worked fine. The first thing he told me was to not take off gently from a stop. He told me to give it a lot of throttle from a stop until the clutch is engaged and then proceed. That engages the clutch quickly before it has time to heat up and glaze.

 

[Desert Rat]

My 400 had 14,000 miles on it before it was hit in the rear and totaled. Neither the original owner or I ever deglazed the clutch and it worked fine. The first thing he told me was to not take off gently from a stop. He told me to give it a lot of throttle from a stop until the clutch is engaged and then proceed. That engages the clutch quickly before it has time to heat up and glaze.

+1 take off at 4500-5000 rpm than once engaged back off the throttle to the speed needed. I put 46k+ miles on my 07 400 with out any glazing problem.

 

[itlives]

I've got 11,000 miles on mine. I've got a lot of "judder". Is this caused by the glazing?
I already have a new belt (Mallossi kevlar and Dr.Slider 19G sliders).
I was going to try to get to 14,000 miles before doing anything but this brakes/gas this has me wondering if it might work.

 

[model28a]

Osbornk hit the nail on the head. When I first started to ride maxi scooters I had this happen one time. I was told give it a lot of throttle to start off and then adjust for the speed I want to maintain. I have never had this problem again.

 

[Liamjs]

I've got 11,000 miles on mine. I've got a lot of "judder". Is this caused by the glazing?
I already have a new belt (Mallossi kevlar and Dr.Slider 19G sliders).
I was going to try to get to 14,000 miles before doing anything but this brakes/gas this has me wondering if it might work.

Judder is associated with the clutch glazing. My local shop charges $40 to deglaze. So i don't thing its a big repair. takes more time to take off the tupperware.

or Maybe wait a while and see if it goes away.

 

[AROTH]

I do tend to take off from stops slowly, just giving it enough throttle to get going and that is probably my problem, slipping too much and causing heat build-up and subsequental glazing of the clutch shoes. Gotta change my take-off method, I suppose.

Had it apart today for cleaning and checking the DR P sliders,which were installed about 6 weeks ago, to see if they were doing well. The clutch shoes were as shiny as a new penny - very glazed. Roughed them up a bit with 80 grit and beveled the edges sligthly.

Thanks, everyone for your output.

 

[itlives]

I tried the "holding the brakes and revving" method this morning. Seems to have worked pretty good. It's a lot smoother now. I'll leave mine as is until I hit the 14,000 tune up.
Didn't really like doing it that way but it did help.

 

[Liamjs]

I tried the "holding the brakes and revving" method this morning. Seems to have worked pretty good. It's a lot smoother now. I'll leave mine as is until I hit the 14,000 tune up.
Didn't really like doing it that way but it did help.

I know, it's painful to do. But on my last clutch that lasted 28k and still had a little pad left, I did it probably a dozen times with presumably no ill effect. I had the belt changed at the same time as the clutch and it was still healthy too with 18k on it.

It's not a full deglazing, but it will last a few k miles till you get to the shop.

Glad it worked.

 

[w8wca]

Thanks for the input here it answers a thread I started today!

i tried the quick fix and it did work.

This weekend I will take it down and do it right.

It is a pain for me to drop mine off to the shop and i was not happy with the 1st service i had done there.

 

[HomeCamp]

Yes, I have a mechanic deglaze my clutch every 5k or so. It is annoying.

There is a temporary, yet quick and effective fix for it. But do it at your own peril. Please no one write me how awful this is for the bike. I know. I know. But it works and I've had no ill affects on my bike doing it many times. Okay here it is...

Apply both brakes fully, then give it gas for about a minute or two, Not full on, just so you can be assured the clutch is engaging. You should hear a squeal (thats from the glazing) It will diminish. When you smell burning clutch pads and the squeal is gone, you will have "burned off" some of the glazing. It's an old trick and yes, it stresses the bike, but it works fine for a couple k miles. Perfect solution between trips to the shop for a proper deglaze.

Good luck. Hope it works should you try.

I just bought a 2008 400 with 5,950 miles Saturday. It had the judder's as they say! Tried your method this afternoon. Was just what the doctor prescribed. Start out nice and smooth! Well see how long it lasts.

Thanks for the tip,
Dan

 

[Liamjs]

I'm glad this little trick is working for some of you.

FYI, although I have an 07, I switched the original three shoe clutch at about 5k to the '08 and newer model's five shoe version. It's a much better clutch and lasts much longer. Seems Suzuki redesigned a few parts for the redesigned b400 after its initial year.

 

[Mike337]

Don't wear a notch in your belt from doing that too long! It's trying to move forward, that's why you're holding the brake, what do you think is happening to your belt......

 

[Bolzen]

This is such a "shock therapy" that even my hair stands on end

 

[Liamjs]

Don't wear a notch in your belt from doing that too long! It's trying to move forward, that's why you're holding the brake, what do you think is happening to your belt......

It didn't seem to be bad at all. This my belt after 18k and several times doing the above procedure. Still has some life in it I think. The clutch didn't look bad either.

View attachment 18433

Like I said, its only a temporary fix and not a replacement for a full deglaze, but it works in a pinch till you can. And yes, hold it only for a minute or two.

 

[Liamjs]

This is such a "shock therapy" that even my hair stands on end

Ya, I agree. But for those who live in hilly areas, ride two up a lot or are perhaps bigger riders, anything that could make the clutch drag, seem to suffer this problem. Unless you're willing to take apart the Tupperware for a proper deglaze every few thousand miles, this is an effective, temporary fix.

This is my clutch after 28k miles and probably a dozen of these fixes.

View attachment 18441

It's worn, but not overly so. IMHO. I had the mechanic check the clutch at every deglaze (I think three or four in its 28k of life) and they never said it looked stressed.

So that's my experience. I only brought it to attention because it seems many people have had to deal with this problem. So use it if your comfortable. Don't if your not.

 

[Quantum Mechanic]

Don't wear a notch in your belt from doing that too long! It's trying to move forward, that's why you're holding the brake, what do you think is happening to your belt......

Mike...it's ok to do that. Nothing is happening to the belt. The belt is not slipping or doing anything nasty. It's just doing it's normal job of turning the clutch, and trying to turn the rear wheel.

However, I would strongly suggest that doing the clutch slipping thing isn't done for 1 to 2 minutes. That's totally unnecessary. Normally, a couple of 5-10 second bursts at 4-4,500rpm will do exactly the same trick, but without heating and burning the clutch and causing more glazing. After all, you are only trying to move out the dust. You cannot remove the glazing by doing that, but you can make it worse if it gets too hot by heating/melting more of the resin and spreading it around the shoes and bell. It will feel smooth once you've done this but the judder will return very soon if the glazing is bad. If you need to do more than 5-10 second bursts then you really need to strip it down and clean and deglaze. But as Liam says, it works temporarily.