Just curious, after my recent two burnt clutches mostly because riding in deep sand I guess for longer trips I will always carry spare clutch plates.

Yes



On the bus. No spare clutch plates, Morocco 2005. Vor you zee trip iz over....




Blown another one, BAM Road, Siberia 2013




Yevgeny and Todor helping to change said offending article. I was carrying a spare.BAM Road, Siberia 2013. 5 hour delay and the journey continues....

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Brighty's website: TheBrightStuffDotCom

CURRENT RR WITH REGULAR UPDATES: The Wife Takes on Chlamydia: A South American Retrospective

Having had it happen once I considered it for the next trip but concluded the risk was low on this occasion. So I guess it kinda depends on the expected terrain you will encounter on the trip, length of trip etc.. I just hate carting around anything I don't need, but as soon as you don't, you need it! It's down to a "risk assessment" per trip for me and knowing you bike's limitations helps with this.

So ......... NO - not always.

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Regards Tim

Learning my craft for the big stuff, it won't be long now and it's not that far anyway

wow, you have loaded that bike nicely great shots.
Good to have bike that parts are available in most countries when you don't have spare...
BTW I was wondering, so many years of motorcycling and they still did't get better idea for clutch then plates...

I've always carried a spare clutch cable.

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Right Way Round ...

Yep, carryin a fair bit of stuff in the picture, but the red bag should be tied on the back properly.... , it fell off in the river .

From experience, carrying lightweight specific bike show-stopping (if broken) parts like clutch plates and cables is a good idea.

But it depends on where you're riding. If you're going on an exclusively pavement trip, then spare clutch plates might be OTT, but if you're on on a Honda V twin (Transalp/Africa Twin are well known to have chocolate teacup clutch plates) and hitting the dirt, then I strongly suggest you should carry a spare.

My views, of course, count for nothing in the big scheme of things. Everyone should make their own experiences.

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Brighty's website: TheBrightStuffDotCom

CURRENT RR WITH REGULAR UPDATES: The Wife Takes on Chlamydia: A South American Retrospective

In something like 300-400,000 miles I only ever had a clutch start to slip once—on a Tenere—and I got it replaced in Casablanca (Morocco) with no problems. So it depends where I was headed.

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"For sheer delight there is nothing like altitude; it gives one the thrill of adventure
and enlarges the world in which you live," Irving Mather (1892-1966)

I killed the clutch on almost new tenere in sand so I guess factory plates are made from paper...Will be replacing aftermarket stronger ones.

Didn't know honda twins had also weak clutches.

I don't think either bike has a weak clutch but more down to the rider and how hard you drive the bike, I have never had to replace the clutch on any bike. My GS has now done 170,000 miles on the original and that bike has taken me many places and in most conditions, I have met riders of Japanese bikes with similar high mileage on them who have had the same long life.
If you do ride your bike hard and expect to wear out a clutch it would be a good idea to carry spare plates.

you probably right, if you don't ride difficult off-road terrain only tarmac clutch wear is not a problem. I have never kill clutch on the street either.

My experience is that Chris is right:



The snapped clutch cable on my Honda XL650V Transalp.

From that moment onwards I fitted a spare cable - threaded (lazy) alongside the active one.

Hasn't snapped again since that incident - 80,000 km ago - but I've had peace of mind.

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Right Way Round ...

I have never needed to replace clutch parts on the road but always carried a spare clutch cable. The closest I came to it was in the winter of 1962/3 riding overnight from Norfolk to Cornwall (UK).

Going through Wiltshire I noticed that when climbing the north east facing hills that the engine revs kept increasing but speed remained constant. In those days there was a wooden hut opposite a layby on the old A303. Inside the hut would be a fire and hot drinks, which were very tempting as it was really cold. I pulled into the layby only to discover I could hardly stand due to frozen ice on the layby and road. I then realised that I hadn't been getting clutch slip but wheelspin instead. Any way, had my hot drink in the shed/cafe and continued on my way, a little less heavy on the throttle. The up hill parts of the road faced the cold winds and were totally covered in black ice.

Probably a good idea! OR .... ?
Amateur sand riders typically burn up clutches riding deep sand. Too much "slipping" of the clutch. They'll do this until they learn how to ride sand.

Chances are good you're riding too slow and constantly slipping the clutch in 1st gear. Which means short life for clutch plates ... and Springs too!

Solution? RIDE FASTER! Don't touch the clutch. Pick a gear and TWIST that throttle, get OUT OF 1st Gear and stay off that clutch! Your bike is not a 125cc Two Stroke Moto Crosser!

Use the torque, LOOK WELL OUT AHEAD and gas it!
Get moving fast and stay "On Top" of the sand.

Easier said than done of course, depending on the bike. But if you work at it ... you may get better. Should be good incentive to cut luggage weight down?

My DR650 is brilliant at this, easy to ride even loaded in DEEP SAND. Other bikes not so easy. Earlier XT600 were good in sand too, no idea about the much heavier XT660 Tenere.

I learned to "baby" my clutch decades ago riding clapped out Triumphs in the California Desert at age 14. (1960's) I learned well how to nurse a slipping clutch home and not overheat it or BLOW it. I never abuse my clutch.

One KEY POINT you are missing regards carrying spares: SPRINGS!
Once you've properly COOKED your clutch you may have also ruined the Springs. Take them out, measure spring length against a NEW spring! COOKED springs will be much shorter. Replace them.

Also ... OIL! Once you've burned the clutch you may have released a bunch of clutch debris/particles into your oil. Not good. So do an oil and filter change ASAP after "burning" the clutch. Particles can clog oil lines and cost you an engine. Serious.

Conclusion? If you are taking clutch plates, carry a set of springs along too!

My DR650 is now approaching 65,000 miles. (90K km.) Still on original clutch.
But before next longish trip I will do:
1. New clutch plates 2. New clutch springs 3. New Pressure Plate 4. New Clutch basket. 5. New Clutch cable.

My DR650 clutch is working perfectly but I'll do the switch just a preventative maintenance.

No spares taken here. No spare cable either, just install a NEW cable before departure. A properly routed NEW OEM cable should last at least 40,000
miles or more. I'm still on original, but time for a change.

Good luck, work on your sand riding technique, in a few HARD days of sand, you hopefully will get better, fall less and go FASTER!

exactly, easier said then done - have you actually ridden difficult terrain in deep sand? not on the flat beach, but on curvy, narrow, hilly trail?
You cannot go fast all the time, slipping the clutch is the basic technique
for getting traction back. No other bike gave up clutch on me so quickly as xt660z.

Narrow rocky canyons present challenges avoiding rocks, hard to maintain momentum. The silt beds of Baja are some of the worst (think Fesh Fesh)

Many twist and turns lots of Whoops through the Desert. Secret is to keep speed up.

Flat Beach? Yea but with 1/2 meter deep sand!