Burning/Riding the clutch too much?

[ikillterrorists]

I have a M695, this is the first bike I have ever had. I know it has a wet clutch, but is it still possible to ride it too much? I ask because I smelled burning clutch the other day, and couldn't figure out if it was me or one of the hundreds of cars that were surrounding me in NYC traffic. And I smelled it again today while I was crawling at 5 mph through traffic jams.

[Ddan]

Yes you can ride the clutch too much, and if you're crawling through traffic at 5mph by slipping the clutch, it's probably too much

[stopintime]

The first APTC wet clutch on my S2R looked like this when it started to slip after ~16,000 miles.
Friction plates aren't that bad, but the blue steel plates

I feather my clutch a lot and 16K was what I got out of my second clutch too.

My third clutch lasted ~25,000 with the same operation modus even though it has been tuned with +22bhp/+20Nm. The difference is the semisynthetic 15-50 oil.

[ikillterrorists]

What can I do?

[stopintime]

Make sure you have good and enough oil.

Maybe try to completely engage or disengage rather than slipping somewhere in between. It's probably not possible all the time, but worth a try...

[ducpainter]

You can also change your gearing to make low speed operation a little smoother.

Are your sprockets stock?

[ikillterrorists]

Yeah they're stock. How do you do that?

[ducpainter]

You could try a 14T front sprocket. That will help. You can buy one from one of the sponsors. It does not require a different chain.

You can buy a larger rear sprocket. Typically that requires a longer chain.

If you don't care about highway riding/top speed you can do both. It will help with chugging around town.

To find out how much top end you lose with different combinations check out www.gearingcommander.com

[ikillterrorists]

Is it easy to change to the 14T sprocket?
I do ride on the highway too, but never really above 70 mph. But the majority of my riding is stop and go. Does this sound like the right thing for me to do?

[ducpainter]

Many people go to a 14T front. That won't impact your highway riding much.

It's very easy.

[motoxmann]

I'm not 100% certain here, but with a wet clutch I would imagine it near impossible to smell it burning.
burning clutch is almost the same smell as burning brakes. when I smell that while riding it's actually a car somewhere nearby with a burnt clutch or a sticky brake caliper or driving with the e-brake partially on. often times I can actually spot it from the smoke coming out of the wheel well. and in nyc with so much stop and go, I'd imagine there'd be plenty of cars around that are burning their clutch.

but yeah, wet clutch shouldnt be able to be smelled as far as I can guess, because it's drenched in oil. and the only vent out of the crankcase (where the clutch is) goes to the airbox where the engine sucks in the vapors, making it even harder to smell because it rarely will make it to atmosphere.

someone correct me if I'm wrong

I agree though, if you rarely ride highway, and very often ride stop and go, 14t front sprocket will help greatly. it'll also give you more torque

[ikillterrorists]

Where do I buy the sprocket? And where can I find out how to do this on my own?

[ikillterrorists]

http://ca-cycleworks.com/catalogsearch/result/index/?front_sprocket_teeth=156&q=sprocket&x=0&y=0

What's the difference between JT and SuperLite? Are there other brands?
And what's the difference between Front sprocket and front countershaft sprocket?

[stopintime]

They will both work fine.

No difference, two names for the same product.

[Howie]

A front sprocket is a front counter shaft sprocket except without the middle name.  Lots of different brands.  JT is good for the money, Superlight a (very little bit) lighter.  You can't go wrong with either.  The folks at CA Cycleworks will help you make your choice.  How many miles on the chain?  

Changing the sprocket is easy.  Unbolt slave cylinder.  Leave hydraulics attached.  Move aside and support.  Remove the the small screws and retainer plate or big nut depending on design.  If it is a big nut it will be very tight.  An impact wrench will be helpful.  You also will have to bend down the tab on the washer.  Loosen chain.  Install new sprocket.  Adjust chain.  Make sure you tighten the axle adjusters after you tighten the axle.  Did I forget anything?

Torque specs are here:
http://www.ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=373.0

This video by Chris Kelley, owner of CA Cycleworks will help you with proper chain adjustment:
http://www.ducatitech.com/info/wheelchange.html