Burnt Clutchs on 2013 RT Limited

[ecuaron]

Last week my wife and I were in the NM State Fair Parade. She was on her spyder and I was on my HD. As you can imagine we were moving very slowly. During the parade the spyder went into limp mode due to engine temp. after about 10 minutes temp dropped back to normal, Limp mode went away.

After the parade we drove a bit and then stopped to let the bike cool down. Noticed oil under the bike. Added a quart and off to the dealership. After they took it apart the clutches were burnt to a crisp. Technician stated that the SE5 Transmission clutch slips at low speeds and can cause excessive wear. Hmmm never heard that before, nothing in manual that we were aware of. So clutches are on order should be here Tuesday. The big question is should this be a warranty issue. I say yes, dealer says maybe. Anyone ever hear of this problem? Spyder is 12 months old 7.500 miles.

thanx in advance for feed back

Ernie Cuaron

 

[Chupaca]

Don't know..!!

if it is written but well known it is. The semi automatic clutch is not fully engaged untill it is at or above 3,500 rpms. Manual clutch you can control. The overheating and loss of oil may have complicated this. Clutch is a normal wear item not covered by warranty. You can still appeal to brp, now if the oil loss is a faulty part covered the clutch could be covered as well. Unfortunately I have found that the spyders are not great parade vehicles especially the automatics.. :gaah:

 

[Dragonrider]

This is/was a real issue with the 990's and the SE 5 transmission. If you ride slowly (RPM below 3200), you will fry the clutch. There are lots of threads about this issue, as there were a number of blown clutches in 2010 & 2011.

It was one of my major complaints about my 2010 RTS, riding through "school zones" out here requires a maximum speed of 20 mph, which was 3200 rpm in 1st gear.

This is not an issue with the 990s with the SM transmission, nor with the 1330s with either transmission....

 

[Marker]

You should be able to ride slow especially in school zones. What is important is that you select the proper gear for the speed you are riding . Lugging the spyder will kill the SE5 clutches fast.
I ride my 2010 at slow speed through many of our small towns where the posted speed limit is often 20-30 mph on some streets and never a problem. I always use a low gear and keep the revs up.
I often check the oil level after the last ride when the spyder is still at operating temp and add oil accordingly and never had a problem.

 

[ARtraveler]

All above are on the money. Parade operation, would have been 1st gear only for me.

When driving through in town traffic (30 mph or so) with the 990, I would rarely get out of first gear. Always let the rpms run to 5000 - 6000 before climbing to the next gear.

55 mph operation--the :ani29: stayed in 4th gear. Never use 5th gear until 65 mph +.

With the demands for high rev's on the 990, at first, it seemed I was supposed to use all the gears. It took about 1000 miles before I changed the driving habits to run it by rpms and not mph/gear X.

The 1330 is a whole different thing--but not in this thread.

 

[Bob Denman]

:shocked: Sorry to hear that this happened...Toasted Clutch Plates; make for a lousy breakfast! :gaah:
That having been said; this is a real well-known idiosyncrisy with the SE-5... When you're loading along at less than 3,500 rpm; don't put a load on the tranny, or be prepared to downshift. :thumbup:

 

[jcthorne]

Put the bike in trailer mode and let it teach you correct shifting. After a few hundred miles, spydee will be singing along and all will seem right.

 

[IGETAROUND]

Last week my wife and I were in the NM State Fair Parade. She was on her spyder and I was on my HD. As you can imagine we were moving very slowly. During the parade the spyder went into limp mode due to engine temp. after about 10 minutes temp dropped back to normal, Limp mode went away.

After the parade we drove a bit and then stopped to let the bike cool down. Noticed oil under the bike. Added a quart and off to the dealership. After they took it apart the clutches were burnt to a crisp. Technician stated that the SE5 Transmission clutch slips at low speeds and can cause excessive wear. Hmmm never heard that before, nothing in manual that we were aware of. So clutches are on order should be here Tuesday. The big question is should this be a warranty issue. I say yes, dealer says maybe. Anyone ever hear of this problem? Spyder is 12 months old 7.500 miles.

thanx in advance for feed back

Ernie Cuaron

Not that it will change anything about your present situation but on 8/10/2013 @ 2225 Acinpcola sent you a direct link to new spyder owners do's and don'ts. On 8/15/2013 @ 1853 BigJonhP posted a message about reading new owner do's and don'ts, which you later copied and quoted on 8/16/2013 @ 0957.

I am truly sorry about the major repair that you now are faced with. This forum has been quite consistent about pointing new purchasers to a lot of vital information that they should be aware of. I hope that your dealer can convince BRP that this should be covered under warranty; however I wouldn't hold my breath awaiting that outcome.

I agree that this extremely vital piece of information for the safe, long and happy operation of these vehicles is not stressed enough by either the dealers or the manufacturer.

Here's hoping for a good (and cheap) outcome to your problem:banghead::banghead:

 

[Bob Denman]

Put the bike in trailer mode and let it teach you correct shifting. After a few hundred miles, spydee will be singing along and all will seem right.

GREAT idea! :2thumbs:

 

[ecuaron]

Clutch repair update

Well it has been nearly 3 weeks since our clutch problem occurred. Remember burnt clutches. Well to make a long story short, the parts came in yesterday and the spyder will be ready by saturday (thank god my wife is pissed off to say the least). Anyway BRP came through:clap: and is doing the repair under warranty with instructions to me not to ride in any more parades! LOL. you don't have to tell me twice. So all will be good by saturday. :yes::clap: We ordered a 2015 :spyder2: can't stand the heat of the 2013. We did all of the stuff we were supposed to do, just too hot for Wife.
So lesson learned..... Just makes me wonder if you are stuck in a long traffic jam, I guess switch into neutral as much as you can.

 

[Bob Denman]

Glad to hear that the fix is in the works! :2thumbs:
And :congrats: On the new bike!

 

[Dragonrider]

Your problem is solved - the 2013 is fixed, and you can ride in parades all day long on the 2015.... :clap:

 

[ARtraveler]

Thanks for the update. Glad you were covered under warranty.

RE: traffic jam: I usually go to neutral if there is a wait to move at all.

 

[flaggerphil]

I ride in slow parades all the time...in first gear...and have never had a single clutch problem.

 

[SpyderAnn01]

Glad to hear that you got the repair covered under warranty. I'm also glad that it was just the clutch and not the whole Spyder that burned up.

 

[IGETAROUND]

​Glad to hear BRP resolved this under warranty for you!!! Congratulations on the 2015, as was said parade problems solved, not to mention the heat issues; enjoy:clap::yes:

 

[Orange Spyder Man]

do the 2014 RT limited have the same problem with the clutch at low speeds ????

 

[Dragonrider]

No - the 1330 drive train will run at 2000 rpm all day long. The 990s will not. If you run the 990s below 3200 rpm for any length of time, you will lose your clutch. Some last longer than others, but tick-tock!

 

[bronzeflex42]

clutch

Wow thanks for this thread. I didn't know about the SE5 tranny is not good for a parade. I show was thinking bout driving mine in our local parade but not now.nojoke

 

[Dragonrider]

Remember, it's the 990 SE that has the problem, not the 1330 SE.