C14 has a Slipper Clutch? Really?

[marku8a]

I do know what a slipper clutch is and what it's supposed to do. I haven't ridden a bike with one. Just for the heck of it I tried pretty hard to botch some downshifts (no rev matching). I chirped the rear a few times where I was expecting a much smoother deceleration. I only have a little over 1k miles on the bike. Does the "slip" improve over time?

Mark

[jimmymac]

No.

I can kick it out sideways with ease with an abrupt downshift.

They can call it a slipper clutch all they want. It's probably just enough to keep the ring and pinion from exploding.

[DenverC-14]

It's a lot easier to downshift quickly than an older 600, that's for sure. I've had those step out on me more than a few times. I kinda forget after riding the connie all the time.

[Son of Pappy]

In 5 differant trips to the track I never had an issue, I dont just dump the clutch, but I do let er out quickly.  I saw an R1 get too aggresive on a downhill, low cambered turn, lots of smoke, and a great teaching point.  Some wouldnt have a bike without ABS, I dont want a performance based bike with out a slipper clutch.  Works great for me.  I've run Lucas full synthetic since mile 75.  over 49000 miles on the odo.
Great another oil thread

[IRULE]

Let's get started...your oil suck and my oil is better...bah bah bah   

[marku8a]

Let's get started...your oil suck and my oil is better...bah bah bah

Agreed! I was really not asking about the merits of with or without. My question is about your take with our bikes. I really didn't experience what I was expecting.

Mark

[Son of Pappy]

If I may?  Which oil are you using?  I aint no high falutin Rossi mech, but oils do play heavy in the clutch area.

[Boomer]

Yes, it has Back Torque Limiter or Slipper Clutch.
Believe it or not the C10 had one too, way back in 1986.

What this means is that if you downshift far enough to put the motor past the rev-limiter the clutch will slip.
The BTL is set so that it opens the clutch up enough to slip when the back torque gets close the no-fuel torque (drag) of the motor at 11,000rpm.
It prevents 2 things from happening. It stops you from over-revving the motor too much and stops the rear tyre from locking.
It will chirp if you do this while cornering and on some tyres they chirp anyways but you need to be either incredibly ham-fisted or else pushing REALLY hard to do this accidentally.

Doing it deliberately is easy and usually the only indication that you downshifted too far is that the needle stays on 11,000rpm until the clutch re-engages.

[Barry]

Yes, it has Back Torque Limiter or Slipper Clutch.
Believe it or not the C10 had one too, way back in 1986.

What this means is that if you downshift far enough to put the motor past the rev-limiter the clutch will slip.
The BTL is set so that it opens the clutch up enough to slip when the back torque gets close the no-fuel torque (drag) of the motor at 11,000rpm.
It prevents 2 things from happening. It stops you from over-revving the motor too much and stops the rear tyre from locking.
It will chirp if you do this while cornering and on some tyres they chirp anyways but you need to be either incredibly ham-fisted or else pushing REALLY hard to do this accidentally.

Doing it deliberately is easy and usually the only indication that you downshifted too far is that the needle stays on 11,000rpm until the clutch re-engages.

I've never heard of a slipper working only at/near redline....  should be x force generated causes the slipper mechanism (springs?) to work.  If sufficient force is generated at any mph/rpm, the clutch slips.

Be curious to see verbiage from Kawasaki on your explanation being how this particular clutch works.

Not picking nits, just sayin'.

[Gearhead82]

I definitely don't think the slipper clutch works only at redline.  This is my first bike with a slipper clutch and it was IMMEDIATELY noticeable to me within the first couple downshifts on my test drive that the slipper was smoothing out my downshifts.  I remember thinking "oh, so that's how a slipper clutch feels."

[Boomer]

You are probably right. I'm no slipper clutch expert.
The C10 one was designed to prevent rear wheel locking and over-revving the motor.
The 1400 one may well be more sophisticated but from my repeated forays into the clutch it looks identical except that this has four 3-pronged star springs on top of each other where the C10 had one 6-pronged spring for the 86-93 and then two 3-pronged ones that overlapped for the 94-07 models.
I believe these springs are what defines the back-torque limit.

[Mister Tee]

I honestly don't know if I've ever had the slipper clutch disengage or not.  I suppose if I botched a downshift I probably wouldn't have noticed it.  It seems to engine brake normally on downshifts.  My track bike doesn't have a slipper clutch and I never have issues downshifting, and having ridden the newer GSXR's with a slipper clutch nothing feels different about downshifting them.

[DaveO]

use the brakes instead of your gearbox to slow down and you wont have to worry about it.

[Barry]

I honestly don't know if I've ever had the slipper clutch disengage or not.  I suppose if I botched a downshift I probably wouldn't have noticed it.  It seems to engine brake normally on downshifts.  My track bike doesn't have a slipper clutch and I never have issues downshifting, and having ridden the newer GSXR's with a slipper clutch nothing feels different about downshifting them.

If you ride a bike with a slipper like a bike that does not have a slipper, you won't notice it.

[jjsC6]

If you ride a bike with a slipper like a bike that does not have a slipper, you won't notice it.

Exactly - they are not designed to completely freewheel.  You wouldn't want that.

[Barry]

What i meant was if u ride it like a non-slipper it wont slip. 

U have to be fairly aggressive or it wont slip...  Both in riding and the use of the clutch lever.

B

[Steve in Sunny Fla]

Slippers are easily adjusted by changing the thickness of the steels in the clutch pack. Thin down the pack by a mm or 2 for a quicker release, and thicken it for a tighter - slipper free action.

  Trust me, you want the slipper - I replaced the slipper in my c-10 with a cut down zx11 inner hub, and immediately realised that I'd kill myself on a couple gear downshift. with a shaft drive, the wheel doesn't chirp, it locks. Steve

[rcannon409]

I have an sv 650 as well as the Concours 14. No way is the sv getting a slipper as the cost of adding one is about 800.00.  Anyway, the Concours will let me get by with sloppy downshifts where the sv will lock its tire.

When I bought the 14 I did not even know it had one and could have cared less. However, after a few miles its a pretty cool thing to have.

[Bourne2Ride]

Hard locking the rear with a botched downshift is scary stuff, and a high side in the making. The C14 has saved my butt on overly aggressive clutch dumps. A little chirp is nothing if it prevents the rear wheel from sliding.

[Goat]

I agree the few times I've made aggressive clutch dumps on the 14 I can feel the engagement but definitely as much lug down and effect on the rear wheel as there was on my zx-9, zx-11, or zx-12.