Well, I adjusted the throwout last night and Athena ran beautifully. Twenty miles of night time Las Vegas asphalt and she was clutching without missing a beat. This morning she flew down I-95 one my daily commute without a single complaint.Lunch time errands included a lot of stop and go surface traffic. Up and down East Tropicana and Flamingo typically requires a lot of clutching and braking. Arriving at work, the clutch handle was getting loose again, but there was little worry. I knew how to fix it.
On the way home from work I pulled into the parking lot of the smoke shop I frequent. While riding around in first, slipping the clutch, searching for a parking spot, there was a pop. The clutch handle plunged back to the grip while Athena lurched forward. Only way to stop was to hit the kill switch.
So, without clutch, we limped the two miles back to the house. Brings back memories of the little 50 CC Honda dirt bike I rode in grade school. When its clutch cable snapped I learned the fine art of motorcycle riding without a clutch. Even though Athena is about 450 pounds heavier than the Honda, the principals of clutch-less riding are the same.
I get to the house, grab a Red Bull and remove the derby cover. Guess what tumbles out. The clutch throwout assembly. (above pic)
Hopefully this part of the clutch is covered under the extended warranty. Hopefully.
2 comments:
razor, phew, im glad you are ok my friend. consider yourself very fortunate it was low speed and controlled. wow...
Thank you, dear. I didn't think I would ever be glad I rode that mini-bike with the impaired clutch.
According to several on the XL list, this is a common clutch failure. Last night, after a prerequisite Red Bull and only an hour or so of wrenching the whole throwout mechanism was right there in my hand. Not bad for a beginning wrencher. lol
Post a Comment