2023 RX4 lost clutch?... 450 miles

Gabbiano88 · 04-30-2023, 04:39 PM

First time poster....

Got my RX4 at the beginning of April and have put 450 miles on it.
I am a new rider and this is my first bike; been having a lot of fun with it up to this point.
I have sent in a support ticket to CSC about my issue. No response yet but it was near their closing time.

Story:
Made it to work just fine yesterday morning 30ish miles or so. On the way back home I noticed I had loss a bit of power going to the wheels.... Like I had to do extra effort with the engine to go the same speed as I was earlier in the morning... About half way home I completely lost power to the wheel and started coasting on the interstate.... decided to get off the interstate and pull over obviously...

After I pulled over I could not shift gears; trying to go down to first... got stuck on 3rd.... Was able to eventually get it down to 1st after rocked the bike back and forth to get it to go down to 1st... Trying to find the friction zone I noticed I could no longer stall the bike letting out the clutch..... There was a small band in pulling in the clutch where I felt power going to the bike but it was essentially nothing... So frustrated I dismounted the bike and put my self in a safe condition to figure out what was happening.... Had so other bikers bros check out my bike. The believed It was the clutch cable. They adjusted on the side of the road for me but we could not get the bike to receive any power.... Ended up towing the bike back to my dad's house..... 209$... brutal... There goes my overtime I just made for that day

Stuff I tried at home:
At home before I adjusted anything after the tow back home the bike could not go down to first after putting it in neutral and could only go up to 3rd. So I adjusted the clutch cable at up high and low at the engine. I am able to shift threw all the gears but having to rock the bike back and forth to go up down the gears..... there is a delay of like a second or so shifting the gears after pushing the gear leaver... The bike stalls out now if I dump the clutch in first.... I was able to get the bike to go on its own power around the neighbor hood.... But it obviously feels very ruff and not even close to how it felt in that mooring going to work... I want to keep adjusting the cable but I am novice when It comes to this stuff and I am looking for advice before I adjust more stuff.

Could it have been my novice driving damaging my clutch? I do not feel like I abuse my clutch at slow speeds but I could be wrong...

Thoughts?

buzz · 04-30-2023, 06:58 PM

No I don't think you had anything to do with bad clutch, even if you beat the crap out it should have lasted more than 450 miles. Just get a new clutch,then happy trails.

buzz · 04-30-2023, 06:59 PM

Oh get new clutch springs too.

tknj99 · 04-30-2023, 07:10 PM

My former RX4 had an issue around the same mileage or prior but it was ABS failure that affected some others at the time.. when you speak to them see if its affecting others as well.. they will send you the parts but hopefully they can guide you on how to do it over the phone as they did for me, im sure a clutch replacement is much more involved though and hopefully its just the cable, etc

Working_ZS · 04-30-2023, 10:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gabbiano88

First time poster....

Got my RX4 at the beginning of April and have put 450 miles on it.
I am a new rider and this is my first bike; been having a lot of fun with it up to this point.
I have sent in a support ticket to CSC about my issue. No response yet but it was near their closing time.

Story:
Made it to work just fine yesterday morning 30ish miles or so. On the way back home I noticed I had loss a bit of power going to the wheels.... Like I had to do extra effort with the engine to go the same speed as I was earlier in the morning... About half way home I completely lost power to the wheel and started coasting on the interstate.... decided to get off the interstate and pull over obviously...

After I pulled over I could not shift gears; trying to go down to first... got stuck on 3rd.... Was able to eventually get it down to 1st after rocked the bike back and forth to get it to go down to 1st... Trying to find the friction zone I noticed I could no longer stall the bike letting out the clutch..... There was a small band in pulling in the clutch where I felt power going to the bike but it was essentially nothing... So frustrated I dismounted the bike and put my self in a safe condition to figure out what was happening.... Had so other bikers bros check out my bike. The believed It was the clutch cable. They adjusted on the side of the road for me but we could not get the bike to receive any power.... Ended up towing the bike back to my dad's house..... 209$... brutal... There goes my overtime I just made for that day

Stuff I tried at home:
At home before I adjusted anything after the tow back home the bike could not go down to first after putting it in neutral and could only go up to 3rd. So I adjusted the clutch cable at up high and low at the engine. I am able to shift threw all the gears but having to rock the bike back and forth to go up down the gears..... there is a delay of like a second or so shifting the gears after pushing the gear leaver... The bike stalls out now if I dump the clutch in first.... I was able to get the bike to go on its own power around the neighbor hood.... But it obviously feels very ruff and not even close to how it felt in that mooring going to work... I want to keep adjusting the cable but I am novice when It comes to this stuff and I am looking for advice before I adjust more stuff.

Could it have been my novice driving damaging my clutch? I do not feel like I abuse my clutch at slow speeds but I could be wrong...

Thoughts?

It sounds like your clutch cable was not properly adjusted and was letting the clutch slip, which generated a lot of heat in the clutch plates and caused you to lose drive. If the clutch was slipping the whole 450 miles of riding, then you may have burned the friction plates enough to require replacement. If you can safely do so, take it out and see what RPM you are showing on the tachometer in sixth gear @ 66mph on the speedometer. It should be 5000 RPM. If you gun the throttle in sixth gear, do the RPM's rise rapidly with little increased speed to show for it? If so, then the clutch is still out of adjustment or damaged and may require replacement. The fact that it is now transmitting some power to the rear wheel, after it has cooled off, seems to confirm this.

Gabbiano88 · 05-01-2023, 07:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Working_ZS

It sounds like your clutch cable was not properly adjusted and was letting the clutch slip, which generated a lot of heat in the clutch plates and caused you to lose drive. If the clutch was slipping the whole 450 miles of riding, then you may have burned the friction plates enough to require replacement. If you can safely do so, take it out and see what RPM you are showing on the tachometer in sixth gear @ 66mph on the speedometer. It should be 5000 RPM. If you gun the throttle in sixth gear, do the RPM's rise rapidly with little increased speed to show for it? If so, then the clutch is still out of adjustment or damaged and may require replacement. The fact that it is now transmitting some power to the rear wheel, after it has cooled off, seems to confirm this.

Much sadness, I will try to get my bike up to speed…. Worried about breaking down again though…. I got a back road I can try that doesn’t have much traffic….

I am thinking they got burnt up…. I do not think the clutch stuff has warranty…

tknj99 · 05-01-2023, 08:27 AM

They ship the bike assembled and tested so if it was improperly adjusted at the dealer and shipped that way it should be covered, insist on it

outboardr · 05-01-2023, 06:42 PM

Look at this tutorial:
https://motorepublic.com/clutch-cabl...y-adjustment-1

Gabbiano88 · 05-01-2023, 08:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by outboardr

Look at this tutorial:
https://motorepublic.com/clutch-cabl...y-adjustment-1

Ya I have been looking at tutorials like this in video and in text. My clutch never has had free play and has always been tight. Like no gap at all.

Was not able to look at bike today.... had to work overtime...

CSC responded saying to take the engine cover off and inspect the clutch plates....

pyoungbl · 05-02-2023, 08:25 AM

Where in Virginia are you located? I'm in Portsmouth and might be able to help.

Peter Y.

Gabbiano88 · 05-02-2023, 10:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pyoungbl

Where in Virginia are you located? I'm in Portsmouth and might be able to help.

Peter Y.

Suffolk

Help would be dope

Message times you available

Gabbiano88 · 05-04-2023, 07:01 PM

Got the bike to run again with pyoungbl with a clutch cable adjustment. Thx pyoungbl!

Going to do my oil change this weekend and unpack/clean the clutch plates.
hype!

outboardr · 05-05-2023, 12:22 AM

Great, and thanks for the follow up note. Good plan, oil changes and inspect n clean plates. What color is yours?

Working_ZS · 05-05-2023, 09:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gabbiano88

Got the bike to run again with pyoungbl with a clutch cable adjustment. Thx pyoungbl!

Going to do my oil change this weekend and unpack/clean the clutch plates.
hype!

Awesome news and glad that Peter was able to help you.

It can definitely be frustrating when mechanical issues arise when you are new to motorcycling and are not used to fixing things. However, in time you will get more comfortable with it and much more capable in doing it, trust me...we've all been there at one time or another.

Gabbiano88 · 05-06-2023, 09:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by outboardr

Great, and thanks for the follow up note. Good plan, oil changes and inspect n clean plates. What color is yours?

Yellow

Took out the oil... it was super dirty had a lot of junk attached to the oil plug and the paper filter was super nasty looking.... The oil strainers looked ok though.

Did not have the 6mm hex for the clutch cover but will be getting that today.

Looking at the guide for the RX3/4 clutch work.... It does not say what to torque the stuff back in? I can not find the torque values in the RX4 service manual either.

Also I expect the clutch plates to be max dirty from what I saw in the oil.....

I took a oil sample to send to blackstone. Forgot to take it mid stream so I scooped it out of the oil pan...

04-30-2023, 04:39 PM	#1
Gabbiano88 Join Date: Apr 2023 Location: Virginia Posts: 24	2023 RX4 lost clutch?... 450 miles First time poster.... Got my RX4 at the beginning of April and have put 450 miles on it. I am a new rider and this is my first bike; been having a lot of fun with it up to this point. I have sent in a support ticket to CSC about my issue. No response yet but it was near their closing time. Story: Made it to work just fine yesterday morning 30ish miles or so. On the way back home I noticed I had loss a bit of power going to the wheels.... Like I had to do extra effort with the engine to go the same speed as I was earlier in the morning... About half way home I completely lost power to the wheel and started coasting on the interstate.... decided to get off the interstate and pull over obviously... After I pulled over I could not shift gears; trying to go down to first... got stuck on 3rd.... Was able to eventually get it down to 1st after rocked the bike back and forth to get it to go down to 1st... Trying to find the friction zone I noticed I could no longer stall the bike letting out the clutch..... There was a small band in pulling in the clutch where I felt power going to the bike but it was essentially nothing... So frustrated I dismounted the bike and put my self in a safe condition to figure out what was happening.... Had so other bikers bros check out my bike. The believed It was the clutch cable. They adjusted on the side of the road for me but we could not get the bike to receive any power.... Ended up towing the bike back to my dad's house..... 209$... brutal... There goes my overtime I just made for that day Stuff I tried at home: At home before I adjusted anything after the tow back home the bike could not go down to first after putting it in neutral and could only go up to 3rd. So I adjusted the clutch cable at up high and low at the engine. I am able to shift threw all the gears but having to rock the bike back and forth to go up down the gears..... there is a delay of like a second or so shifting the gears after pushing the gear leaver... The bike stalls out now if I dump the clutch in first.... I was able to get the bike to go on its own power around the neighbor hood.... But it obviously feels very ruff and not even close to how it felt in that mooring going to work... I want to keep adjusting the cable but I am novice when It comes to this stuff and I am looking for advice before I adjust more stuff. Could it have been my novice driving damaging my clutch? I do not feel like I abuse my clutch at slow speeds but I could be wrong... Thoughts?
	0

04-30-2023, 07:10 PM	#4
tknj99 Join Date: Oct 2020 Location: Central VA Posts: 1,303	My former RX4 had an issue around the same mileage or prior but it was ABS failure that affected some others at the time.. when you speak to them see if its affecting others as well.. they will send you the parts but hopefully they can guide you on how to do it over the phone as they did for me, im sure a clutch replacement is much more involved though and hopefully its just the cable, etc __________________ 2024 Templar 250 2021 Beta 500 RRS 2018 VStrom 1000 XT Former China Bikes: Tao DBX1, Brozz 250, CSC RX4, Titan DLX, Templar X, Storm DLX 150
	0

05-01-2023, 08:27 AM	#7
tknj99 Join Date: Oct 2020 Location: Central VA Posts: 1,303	They ship the bike assembled and tested so if it was improperly adjusted at the dealer and shipped that way it should be covered, insist on it __________________ 2024 Templar 250 2021 Beta 500 RRS 2018 VStrom 1000 XT Former China Bikes: Tao DBX1, Brozz 250, CSC RX4, Titan DLX, Templar X, Storm DLX 150
	0

05-02-2023, 08:25 AM	#10
pyoungbl Join Date: Feb 2016 Location: Portsmouth, Virginia, USA Posts: 632	Clutch Problem Where in Virginia are you located? I'm in Portsmouth and might be able to help. Peter Y.
	0

04-30-2023, 06:58 PM	#2
buzz Join Date: Dec 2020 Location: Dayton Pa. Posts: 955	No I don't think you had anything to do with bad clutch, even if you beat the crap out it should have lasted more than 450 miles. Just get a new clutch,then happy trails.
	0

04-30-2023, 06:59 PM	#3
buzz Join Date: Dec 2020 Location: Dayton Pa. Posts: 955	Oh get new clutch springs too.
	0

05-01-2023, 06:42 PM	#8
outboardr Join Date: Jan 2022 Posts: 44	Look at this tutorial: https://motorepublic.com/clutch-cabl...y-adjustment-1
	0

05-04-2023, 07:01 PM	#12
Gabbiano88 Join Date: Apr 2023 Location: Virginia Posts: 24	Got the bike to run again with pyoungbl with a clutch cable adjustment. Thx pyoungbl! Going to do my oil change this weekend and unpack/clean the clutch plates. hype!
	1

05-05-2023, 12:22 AM	#13
outboardr Join Date: Jan 2022 Posts: 44	Great, and thanks for the follow up note. Good plan, oil changes and inspect n clean plates. What color is yours?
	0