Riding The Clutch

[Outlaws Justice]

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The first thing someone must master when riding is the clutch. If you come from driving a stick shift car or truck you may say no problem. While in some respects it is similar, in others it is different. First and formost many people try to operate the clutch by sight, They look at it to judge when it is engaging instead of by feel. First when you look at the controls you are not looking where you are going and second your control by sight is not as good as your sense of feel.

A major difference between bikes and cars is the type of clutch. When learning to drive a car people will tell you "Don't ride the Clutch" And while that is true for a car it is not for a bike. A bike (Unlike a car) has a Wet Clutch system. The clutch plates are inside the engine and lubricated with the engine oil. It is ok and necessary to master the skill of riding the clutch. Having good control of the clutch will enable you to start smoother, change gears smoother and control the bike better at low speeds.

With today's high speed and high power bikes if you do not have mastery of the clutch you will never be smooth and also not be able to make those tight turns or other necessary maneuvers. None of this is hard but without good clutch control you only make your riding more difficult than it needs to be. So Learn to ride the clutch, and learn to do it well. For practice you can sit in one spot and feed out the clutch until it engages and moves you forward a couple feet (Without fully releasing the clutch) then pull it back in. Do this over and over and get used to be able to hold the clutch at the point that it is partially engaged until you are moving smoothly enough to fully release it.

This will help you when starting, shifting and in tight slow speed maneuvers. You will also find that mastery of the clutch helps you when starting out on a hill. You really need that sense of feel so remember to always get used to the controls and operate them by feel. When you want to stop the car do you look down to the floor for the brake pedal? Ok then keep your eyes up and operate the bike by feel as well.

 

[R.Tuned]

What's riding the clutch?

I know if you keep your foot on the clutch in a car, it'll burn it.
Would my clutch plates be burnt if I kept my fingers on the clutch lever on a motorbike?

Also, my clutch lever has a bit of a slack in it, is that normal?

 

[tricky]

What's riding the clutch?

I know if you keep your foot on the clutch in a car, it'll burn it.
Would my clutch plates be burnt if I kept my fingers on the clutch lever on a motorbike?

Also, my clutch lever has a bit of a slack in it, is that normal?

Riding the clutch is when you are using the clutch heavily.. more so than you need to in order to get the bike in gear. Your clutch plates won't be burnt, that's what the OP was talking about with the wet clutch system in most motorcycles.

You can adjust the clutch slack using the adjuster nut near the lever

 

[nakkers]

Riding the clutch, slipping the clutch......it's adjusting the engine's engagement to the transmission to vary the power delievery. Check out Ride like a Pro videos. Works for all types of bikes and is very helpful.

 

[Outlaws Justice]

What's riding the clutch?

I know if you keep your foot on the clutch in a car, it'll burn it.
Would my clutch plates be burnt if I kept my fingers on the clutch lever on a motorbike?

Also, my clutch lever has a bit of a slack in it, is that normal?

Even normal clutch usage on an Automobile will require some slipage of the clutch, but you are correct in that continual over over use of the technique can burn the clutch. But that is one clutch plate in a dry clutch system. The Motorcycle (most) have wet clutch system in that the Clutch plates (Several) are bathed in the engine oil (the main reason why we do not use automobile grade oil in motorcycles)

Being that the clutch plates are lubricated the clutches can take more abuse. At one of the training sites I teach for we have 15 training bikes, all of them are 2001 models and were purchased new, even after 11 years of abuse and usinbg them to teach new riders and mastery of the clutch and riding the clutch we have yet to replace the clutch plates on any of them.

Another thing to consider is the cost and time involved in changing clutch plates should it become necessay. a set of clutch plates for most of my bikes costs about $80 and it takes a trained professional well under an hour to preform the task of changing them unlike the hours and hundereds of dollars it would cost to do the same on an automobile.

Most of the motorcycles that I have had clutch poblems with are bikes I have purchased that have sat for years. After doing the work to make the bike road worthy once again, a couple days of riding and the clutches sometimes start failing. As the bike sits the majority of each clutch plate is not sitting in oil and over time dries out. Trying to operate the bike with plates that are not well soaked and lubricated is what has caused these failures.

 

[malim]

Awsome, thanks for the write up. I just recently took the Humber course, and they strongly emphasize on riding in the fricition zone when making tight right and left hand turns. It always bugged me, since I thought that by riding with a clutch like this will cause it to burn and wear out prematurely but after reading your post, I've realized that I was wrong.

Sorry for an offtopic here. When you are riding in any gear, and you let go of throttle, is it normal for motorcycle to jerk ? Does this mean that the bike is abused or should I focus more on throttle control such as letting go off throttle smoothly ? I found that the motorcycle jerks when I want to just cruise in second gear and let go off throttle since I am going a little bit too fast. As you shift up it is less noticeable in upper gears but it's definitely their in 1st and 2nd gear.

 

[Outlaws Justice]

When you are riding in any gear, and you let go of throttle, is it normal for motorcycle to jerk ? Does this mean that the bike is abused or should I focus more on throttle control such as letting go off throttle smoothly ? I found that the motorcycle jerks when I want to just cruise in second gear and let go off throttle since I am going a little bit too fast. As you shift up it is less noticeable in upper gears but it's definitely their in 1st and 2nd gear.

The Throttle is not a light switch with an on and off position. Many people roll on the throttle well (although they could do it better) but most people turn the throttle off like a light switch and most do not even realize they do this. The throttle needs to be operated slowly and in control. Many people will tell you "be Smooth" but that comment does no good if they cannot tell you what you can do as a rider to be smooth. The first thing any rider must learn to do is operate the throttle much better than we already do, and then work on the throttle to brake transitions. After that there is a whole list of things to work on but this is a great place to start.

 

[apextech]

The Throttle is not a light switch with an on and off position. Many people roll on the throttle well (although they could do it better) but most people turn the throttle off like a light switch and most do not even realize they do this. The throttle needs to be operated slowly and in control. Many people will tell you "be Smooth" but that comment does no good if they cannot tell you what you can do as a rider to be smooth. The first thing any rider must learn to do is operate the throttle much better than we already do, and then work on the throttle to brake transitions. After that there is a whole list of things to work on but this is a great place to start.

More like a water faucet. The clutch is there to control the "flow" of power. But good info all the same.

 

[Outlaws Justice]

More like a water faucet. The clutch is there to control the "flow" of power. But good info all the same.

Yes and No, The Clutch is there to control the flow of power only in connection with the throttle and then only when starting out or shifting gears. When slowing for a corner that does not require you to shift gears or accelerating through a turn or out of a turn it is all in the throttle. If you want to be able to see this in action to better understand it sit down and watch a race. Sit at or near a turn and you will actually know when the rider changes from decreassing the throttle to increasing the throttle and you will get to see what happens if the throttle is opened too fast as the rear of the bike will brake loose.

 

[Rotten_Ronnie]

What's riding the clutch?

I know if you keep your foot on the clutch in a car, it'll burn it.
Would my clutch plates be burnt if I kept my fingers on the clutch lever on a motorbike?

Also, my clutch lever has a bit of a slack in it, is that normal?

You MUST have slack in your clutch cable. Check the owners manual for the adjustment procedure. A tight cable without a tiny bit of slack will never allow the clutch plates to fully engage, and that is when you can damage it.

 

[R.Tuned]

Thanks for answering my questions, I learned a lot. Seeing the advantages of a wet clutch system, I wonder why cars don't have it.

 

[Outlaws Justice]

Thanks for answering my questions, I learned a lot. Seeing the advantages of a wet clutch system, I wonder why cars don't have it.

We are talking a completly different set up, like asking why most cars are shaft drive and most bikes are chain drive.

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