Poll Stinky clutch yes or no

[aspad]

Dear Tossers,
Wondering whether everyone with a new 12GS has noticed the smell coming from the clutch when used in anything other than gentle/normal mode - eg hill starts, 3 point turns on steep roads etc.
Mine stinks does yours?
Also wondering if stinkiness is correlated with excessive wear/burn out.
Anyone had clutch failures and if yes did your clutch stink a lot before it failed?

 

[Stig]

Haven't voted in yer pole... but..

Summin stinks on my GS too.... but i've always assumed it to be the newness of the heated grips ... "bedding in" ...

 

[aspad]

Stig - try a 3 point turn on a steep narrow road. If you are enveloped in fug as you do it then chances are it is yer clutch honking...

 

[wessie]

Dear Tossers,
Wondering whether everyone with a new 12GS has noticed the smell coming from the clutch when used in anything other than gentle/normal mode - eg hill starts, 3 point turns on steep roads etc.
Mine stinks does yours?
Also wondering if stinkiness is correlated with excessive wear/burn out.
Anyone had clutch failures and if yes did your clutch stink a lot before it failed?

My 1150 has always produced a rancid smell when slipping the clutch to negotiate a tight hairpin etc. The bike has done nearly 30k miles on the original clutch so it's not a problem IME.

The GS is the first bike I've owned with a dry clutch. I've always assumed it was a characteristic of the design.

 

[Fanum]

No experience of 12gs' clutches but you should smell the air on the egress from a decent ford on an enthusiastic ride out.....the dead fish smell wasn't coming from the water and I'm pretty sure it wasn't all from Clive the wafter's clutch.

Oh yeah, and I nearly choked Judge with a miserably failed attempt at a three hundred yard wheelie in Sheffield on Saturday......wheelie be damned, it was lurch, clunk, lurch, clunk, lurch, clunk, for all of twenty foot before it stalled.


Stank like an old dyke.

 

[aspad]

pong

Thanks Fanum,
I think that's cleared that question right up....
OK here is a new challenge.
What is the best ie most accurate or metaphorically amusing description of the smell?
I started with old fish oil
Fanum countered with old dyke (either kind might do)
I'll stick with the fishy connection and go with rendered whale blubber.....(BTW for all the pedants out there I know they are technically cetacea but for the sake of simplicity.....)

 

[laughingBob]

No problem with the 12 but, my 100GS used to stink in heavy traffic when filtering or whenever the clutch was used alot.

 

[Stig]

==============================================
Stig - try a 3 point turn on a steep narrow road. If you are enveloped in fug as you do it then chances are it is yer clutch honking
==============================================


Tell me where to find a "steep narrow road!!"... in NORFOLK... and i'll try it... it's a tad flaaaaattt round ere!!!

 

[TheJoker]

You could just pull away in 6th... I bet that would take a bit of clutch slipping... and, no, I'm not paying for a new clutch or anything else...

 

[rdover]

OY ASPAD! That's Mr Tosser to you.

There's certainely a stink around my bike. Bloody Dog! I'm going to tie a knot in it on of these days.

 

[wessie]

==============================================
Stig - try a 3 point turn on a steep narrow road. If you are enveloped in fug as you do it then chances are it is yer clutch honking
==============================================


Tell me where to find a "steep narrow road!!"... in NORFOLK... and i'll try it... it's a tad flaaaaattt round ere!!!

IIRC Cadwell Park & Snetterton are not renowned for their flatness

 

[Stig]

Granted!!! ... Caddy isn't "flat" .... but its in Lincs

Snetterton is in Norfolk... but its flat!!!

I'll try riding it up the stairs... and see if that makes the "clutch" stink!!!

 

[Mouse]

FWIW, the clutch smell (if that's what it was) from my bike has all but gone away after 5000 miles.

 

[The Machine Cat]

Use a jet and floss more often

 

[aspad]

conclusions on stinky clutch (or not)

They are speculative and drawn from a small n (67) but for what it is worth...
54% say the clutch stinks under hard use and 6% all of the time making a majority who have a smelly clutch, at least in part.
The remainder have no clutch associated smell.
I think Mouse may have produced the answer in noting that his smells a lot less after 5K miles.
I was just thinking the same about mine after 3.5K Kms until I botched a hill start yesterday and noticed it again.
So my take (guess) on the what the responses indicates is:
1. The 12GS has a new clutch smell which is noticeable if you use the clutch hard during the run in
2. If you do not use the clutch hard during run in or have a very smooth hand (!!!) then you may never notice your inherently smelly clutch. The alternative explanation is that some are smelly and some are not which is an unlikely explanation since they are all built the same (I assume).
3. The potential for the clutch to smell goes away but never completely. If like Fanum on his 1150, or me yesterday, you use it too hard then some degree of smell will be present.
The good news is that any smell does not seem to be associated with clutch failure.

 

[HIGHTECH]

Stinky Cluch

When the bike was new and I was traveling in heavy traffic it did smell some, but now does not. First bike I have had with a dry clutch. Cheers.