Monday, April 7, 2014

W650 Clutch Problems

A mate and I dived into the clutch of my Kawasaki W650.  It slips sometimes when cold, mainly when I drop it from standing at a green light.  This is probably the bike's greatest fault, which is impressive.  $30 of clutch springs and at most an hour's worth of work.  As Marlon said, clutch spring replacement amounts to the least output for the most manliness kudos. 

Marlon:



A very simple system:



I went for an exciting ride the other night, up the freeway on a new(ish) Royal Enfield Bullet.  In military trim. 

The new engine is quite amazing. I had not ridden one at 100kph before.  It feels more capable at that speed that a stock SR500, which feels over-worked.  The old Bullet too feels over-worked - at anything over 75kph!  The new Bullet feels content at highway speeds.  Which I find remarkable.  At the same time my God does this new engine vibrate.  I do not mean buzz, I mean beating, thumping, all-absorbing violent pulsation!  My hands started to go numb.  For that reason I would not want it as my main touring bike, but it is possibly the best motorcycle out there for charismatic back roads.  It was intense fun to ride.  Which is what motorcycling is all about. 

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