Clutch Slipping Per Dealer 2019 RT - does this sound right??

[RTWolfie]

Intermittent Clutch Slip

There are 2 things that will kill the Electric Shift clutch.

1- Lugging the engine. Upshifting and riding at too low an RPM
2- The wrong oil. (A product which is not JASO rated MA2)

Free of these 2 issues. The clutch should last the life of the engine.

Shifting is controlled with hydraulic pressure, which is controlled by electric solenoid valves. If the ECU is not providing correct information to these solenoids, then you can have slippage issues.

Thanks for your input BajaRon. Both times I was doing a consistent speed on flat terrain. What would the optimal RPM be for cruising on a highway?

 

[ArmyChief]

There are 2 things that will kill the Electric Shift clutch.

1- Lugging the engine. Upshifting and riding at too low an RPM
2- The wrong oil. (A product which is not JASO rated MA2)

Free of these 2 issues. The clutch should last the life of the engine.

Shifting is controlled with hydraulic pressure, which is controlled by electric solenoid valves. If the ECU is not providing correct information to these solenoids, then you can have slippage issues.

Good info sir !

BTW, BRP XPS does not have the JASO MA/MA2 rating on the bottle :shocked: !

 

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

There are 2 things that will kill the Electric Shift clutch.

1- Lugging the engine. Upshifting and riding at too low an RPM
2- The wrong oil. (A product which is not JASO rated MA2)

Free of these 2 issues. The clutch should last the life of the engine.

Shifting is controlled with hydraulic pressure, which is controlled by electric solenoid valves. If the ECU is not providing correct information to these solenoids, then you can have slippage issues.

Ron the OP has an SE transmission ..... I also have one, please explain to me , how you / me /anyone can LUG an SE trans...... I gave this some thought ___ the only thing I can come up with is trying to TOW a heavy truck, however more likely you would spin the rear tire ...... JMHO ..... Mike ...............I went back and read a bunch of the OP posts .... it appears He has had some interesting issues .....

 

[BertRemington]

Mike -- as you know the SE6 clutch uses pressure to engage and spring discs (wave springs) to disengage. While the HCM has its own oil pump (two circuits) the line pressure can drop at low rpm under heavy load and high temperature and old oil leading to clutch slippage.

RT's situation is complicated. We have an experienced rider (19K km) with recent dealer service (assume 15K km) riding in probably mild weather maybe with a passenger. And after a presumed winter storage (Victoria can get snow) the slippage (flaring) appears.

RT -- I suggest two things. First, when riding at 100kph try staying in 5th gear for another 1000 km. 6th gear is kinda marginal RPM-wise but I think within the range of ECO mode. If the problem doesn't return then you have a solution. Second, try shifting a bit more often and at 4-5K RPM. It's a long shot but perhaps some sort glaze built up on your clutch plates during the winter and more shifts at higher RPM might help remove it. I'm not liking the other possibilities.

 

[RTWolfie]

Mike -- as you know the SE6 clutch uses pressure to engage and spring discs (wave springs) to disengage. While the HCM has its own oil pump (two circuits) the line pressure can drop at low rpm under heavy load and high temperature and old oil leading to clutch slippage.

RT's situation is complicated. We have an experienced rider (19K km) with recent dealer service (assume 15K km) riding in probably mild weather maybe with a passenger. And after a presumed winter storage (Victoria can get snow) the slippage (flaring) appears.

RT -- I suggest two things. First, when riding at 100kph try staying in 5th gear for another 1000 km. 6th gear is kinda marginal RPM-wise but I think within the range of ECO mode. If the problem doesn't return then you have a solution. Second, try shifting a bit more often and at 4-5K RPM. It's a long shot but perhaps some sort glaze built up on your clutch plates during the winter and more shifts at higher RPM might help remove it. I'm not liking the other possibilities.

Thanks for the input. I never carry a passenger, sadly the wife wants nothing to do with my Spyder. I never store my trike I ride all year long, if there's no snow and it's above freezing I don the cold weather gear and ride. The first time it happened I was at about 4500 RPM, the second about 3500 RPM if I remember correctly. It was my first longer ride (2 hours) since the fall. The good news is I'm still under warranty for the next 2 years, so if there's a problem it should be covered. I'll try and keep my RPMs higher and see if that helps. I didn't mention I'm running a stage 2 tune from Monster and have been keeping my RPMs higher as recommended, but admittedly probably wasn't adhering to that on the highway.

 

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Peter & Bert I've forwarded some PM's that I've received from both of you .... Mike :thumbup:

 

[BertRemington]

Mike -- no problem on sharing.

RT -- drat I was hoping for something easy. If you haven't discussed this glitch with Monster, I suggest you do as the transmission line pressure is computer-controlled (TCM and ECM).

While discussing this with Monster, ask about the possibility of CANBUS communications interference.

Also my understanding is the upgrade involves disconnecting and reconnecting the ECM which is kinda a tricky connector if you're not familiar with it. I've read posts where some pins weren't fully seated although I don't recall any issues for the ECM connector itself.

I'm still hoping for something easy.

 

[RTWolfie]

I'll see what happens next time I get a chance to take her out on the highway again, and I'll keep the RPMs higher. According to Steve @Monster, they just update the ECM but he did warn me to keep the RPMs up with the stage 2. The update went flawlessly and it's been running great since I did the update in January. The mechanic at my dealership told me to go ahead with the stage 2 with his blessing and was impressed when he took it out after the service.

 

[BajaRon]

Thanks for your input BajaRon. Both times I was doing a consistent speed on flat terrain. What would the optimal RPM be for cruising on a highway?

Not letting RPM get below 3,500 under load would be my usual advise. However, since you have the Monster tune, I am not sure this applies. I would guess that tune might require an increase in shift RPM. 6th gear is where slippage is most likely. The combination of high loading and lower RPM is where a clutch will fail first.

I don't want to pretend that I am an expert when it comes to these tunes. Frankly, if I were to guess. It sounds like an ECU issue to me. Again, don't go to the bank with my assessment.

Good info sir !

BTW, BRP XPS does not have the JASO MA/MA2 rating on the bottle :shocked: !

BRP leaves all information off of their containers. My guess is, this allows them to change vendors/contents without the necessity of altering the container. But I can assure you that their oil Meets the JASO MA2 rating. However, there is a spread on all of the various ratings. A lubricant can be just barely over the line and qualify in that category right along with a lubricant that is at the top of the spread. That, we aren't probably going to be able to discern with the BRP lubricants. It is possible with others.

 

[Lamonster]

While at the dealer last spring they did update the tranny firmwear.
I can tell you this all started when I went to to other oils and away from BRP oil..... Lamonsters oil and now Redline both have "slipped" never a problem with BPR.
I have changed both filters and It didn't seem to help.
I guess I need to go back to BRP oil and see what happens.

P.W.

I don't know why your clutch is slipping but I can guarantee you it's not because of our oil. Our oil in the highest quality motorcycle oil you can buy made by Spectro Oil. We made sure it would meet or exceed all BRP's specs before would put our brand on it. We have thousands of kits out there with no issues. Testing was done by an independent oil company. You might want to get a hold of Spyderpops and ask him what he replaced in his clutch. He just got his 2020 RT back from the shop with clutch slipping issues and it turned out to be some plastic part that had failed. Nothing to do with the oil he used.
https://spectro-oils.com/platinum-full-synthetic-4/

 

[Wahrsuul]

Got an XPS oil change kit from Amazon - 5w-40 I believe. Seems to have fixed the surging issue I've had on first startup/drive. Shifts seem a little sharper too, but that could just be fresh oil.

Up till now I was getting the oil change kits from Ron. Maybe mine just doesn't like the heavier oil.