[kaka_ninja]

what are the disadvantages of having a slipper clutch. i'm talking about service/cost/reliability. We already know it helps performance. But why would one not want to add one to a bike.

 

[sloduck]

COST!!! I can assure you that almost everybody that rides a bike wants one. The only problem or what holding them up is the "COST". I have one on my bike and it saves my behind in a couple of occasions.

 

[chip996]

slipper clutches are primarily for race applications. if your not racing or doing track days on a regular basis, it is a waste of money. the clutch is designed to eliminate engine braking and allows the bike to roll thru turns on a track during race conditions. the rider only has to be concerned with accelerating thru the turn.

 

[_Viper_]

So who makes them or what bikes are they available for while we're on the subject?

<font color=green>MRA #117
http://fullspeed.to/manitobaracing</font color=green>

 

[splyn]

a slipper clutch does not eliminate engine braking. since v twins have so much engine braking, the slipper clutch helps to prevent the rear wheel skidding when downshifting (and not matching revs).

one of the disadvantages is that your clutch will probably wear faster.

- splyn
Cant sleep clowns will eat me

 

[djo]

if you're not a racer or a go-fast track day junkie, don't waste your money on a slipper clutch. they are expensive to buy, and you have to replace the clutch plates about every 500-1,000 miles. the advantages for racing applications, however, are huge: no rear wheel hop on the downshift if you don't match the revs, but more importantly, the rear suspension works better when you're hard on the brakes and unweighting the back end.

 

[RISS]

I have a slipper clutch on my bike. Firstly it still eventually engages, it just stops wheel lock up and chatter until it reaches a "safe" RPM. It lets the bike free wheel into the corner like a two stoke until it engages then it is like a normal clutch and grabs. Basically you can enter a corner and worry less about finding the perfect match between engine and chain rpm. If you use it without making an effort to match chain and engine RPM eventually it will take out not only the clutch plates but the bottom end of the motor. I think Roadracing World killed a Mille R bottom end by just dumping it down a gear or two and making no effort to match RPM's. Lap after lap the engagement shock killed the main bearings.

Talk without action equals zero!

 

[kaka_ninja]

so we can conclude that once u dish out 1000 bucks for a slipper clutch, its not exactly an install and forget job. u have to install new clutch plates every 1000 miles. But my point is even if u didnt have a slipper clutch, and u were shifting from 6th into 2nd really quickly, u would still wear out ur clutch plates pretty rapidly. Wouldnt the slipper clutch just remove the wheel locking from the equation, or do u think the clutch plates would wear out even quicker than in the case of the stock clutch.
how long have u been running the slipper clutch on ur bike ris996. Do ur clutch plates wear out pretty quick? And how do u match rpms with chain rpm, i mean how do u know what rpm is ur chain running. Becuz i've experienced the rear wheel locking once or twice with the stock clutch and i pressed the clutch and dumped it from 5th to 2nd, other than the fear of dropping the bike, i didnt think i did any damage to the motor.

 

[MonsterJ]

I've had a good bit of experience with a variety of slippers.... They really don't have any value for street commuting, but in the canyons (and the track of course), they're great. All of our shop dry clutch bikes have a slipper. 1000 mile clutch life? Ouch! We've got 2500+ miles on one of them with negligable wear. I'm guessin' there's *at least* that much left. TL's and RSV's come stock with slippers and I believe they're getting much better milage than that!

 

[RISS]

I have had slipper clutches on my last two bikes. I have not noticed any huge amount of clutch plate wear compared to the stock clutch. Again it is supposed to be used as a tool to allow you to enter turns more smoothly, not to drop four gears and let the clutch out and still make the corner. You ride just like you would with a normal clutch it just allows you to concentrate more on all the other aspects of cornering because when you downshift and let the clutch out it does not upset the bike as much. Its more forgiving. I still blip the throttle and match the gears. I have approx 1400 miles on my current plates, 99.9% track use.

Talk without action equals zero!

 

[sloduck]

I have the STM EVR Evoluzione slipper clutch on mine and have almost 3K miles on it mostly track miles and the clutch plate still looks pretty good. Maybe I just don't ride hard enough.

 

[kaka_ninja]

i think clutch plate wear is a function of how often u do rapid down shifts. Be it a regular clutch or a slipper clutch.

 

[noah tall]

Well most guys would like a slipper clutch, me you dont really need one...just buy nichols light weight clutch basket...im satisfied with mine...also pull your flywheel off...i dont use one on my bike...i use my 748 for track use only...havent had a problem with my 748 at all....ive got 4,000 miles of track time on my engine....youll eliminate almost 6 lbs of unsprung weight of your motor .thats my 2cents worth.. oh yeah if your not racing your bike...just leave it alone...ride it like you bought it...

 

[djo]

getting thousands of miles of use out of slipper clutch plates is proof that you don't need a slipper clutch!!! the big advantage of a slipper clutch is when you are braking really hard (rear wheel barely on the ground). when this happens, the rear wheel and the engine, connected by the chain, will both want to turn at different speeds. the rear wheel is basically pushing on the motor. this does very uncomfortable things to the rear suspension. the slipper clutch prevents this from happening. there's a good article about this on that british ducati website (can't think of the name but they race alot).

 

[kaka_ninja]

u have a point djo

 

[RISS]

visit www.sigmaperformance.com/slipper.html Anyhooo I dont really understand what part of the article says that I am using my slipper improperly by getting good clutch plate life but I understand that perhaps guys at Rossi's level need an exact slipper clutch set-up on the big four strokes to allow them to re-create the corner entrance handling of a free wheeling 500cc GP bike. Factory teams work on the spring rate and clutch pack height to ensure they have perfect settings for each rider. We mortals do what we can to make riding easier so if a slipper clutch helps me enter the corners of my local tracks safer with more confidence hell ya sign me up!

Talk without action equals zero!

 

[kaka_ninja]

by long clutch plate life on a slipper clutch i think he means, That he's not downshifting quick enough, or using enough engine breaking. becuz if u were down shifting quickly at high revs, u'd be wearing out ur clutch plates very very quickly. Clutch plate wear has nothing to do with slipper clutch or regular clutch. It depends on how often u do quick down shifts, or use extreme engine breaking. The plates will wear the same whether its a slipper clutch or a regular clutch. The only difference being if u have a regular clutch u will lock up ur rear wheel whereas with a slipper u wont.
If ure not thrashing ur bike like ure supposed to, or rather if u dont get in situations where u might lock up the rear wheel due to heavy engine breaking, which is synonymous with a long clutch life, then u dont need a slipper clutch.

 

[Catherine21312]

It is well known that getting thousands of miles out of slipper clutch plates means you might not need a slipper unit! The main advantage to a slipper unit is when there's really hard braking action because your rear wheel will be barely touching the ground; in this case, the two connected items (the engine and the chain which attaches to it) will want to spin at different rates. So basically your rear wheel is going to be pushing up against the engine trying to turn something that isn't meant to turn, so things may get kind of uncomfortable in terms of how they'll feel and move. But with a slipper clutch, these problems are avoided since you don’t need one when you've got one anyway! A good quality slippers can be found on Dinosaur-Universe.com website if anyone wants buy and get more detailed information about it.