www.crosstrainingenduro.com Many riders are fine with their stock even if it's a heavy clutch, but in some cases a light clutch can be very cool - if you are doing a lot of slow technical riding with lots of clutch slipping, or you are an older rider with weak fingers. Here are five ways to get a lighter clutch. The clutch is just used for taking off and changing gears, right? We got the hang of that when learning to ride, but many of us don't move on from there. Clutch work is one of the main reasons why so many of the top extreme enduro riders like Graham Jarvis are former trials riders. The cheapest mod is $1 worth of washers with your stock clutch springs. Trials riders learn to use the clutch almost constantly for many of the advanced techniques, and these translate across to dirt riding, at both slow and fast speeds. "But I'm going to wear out my clutch!" was my response to all of this clutch slipping, but one, clutch plates are far tougher and more durable than you think, and two, they don't cost much anyway and are easy to replace. However many of us rarely ride like that so it can pay to dabble with reducing the spring strength if you have a heavy clutch. I would estimate the clutch as being around 20% lighter with 2mm worth of washers. At around US$280 the Clake One light clutch stores energy when you release the clutch in order to make pulling it in much easier. Expensive? Shit yes but if you regard this as a long term investment to swap from bike to bike then it is a great option and what I've been using for several years now. You can adjust it to make the clutch up to 75% lighter. And it doesn't use leverage to do this, so you still have the same engagement and disengagement points as your stock clutch. Try a master cylinder with a larger diameter. A typical case here is the Beta RR350 Race model came out with a larger master cylinder compared to all the other models, and this US$60 part can reduce your clutch pull by about 10%. A third lighter clutch option is if your bike has six clutch springs, try removing two of them... a popular mod for KTMs. And of course check for clutch slipping under full load and high revs. Please note though, I've never tried this o can't guarantee you might not run into issues. But searching all the forums I haven't seen any negative reports from this mod. Option five for a lighter clutch? The Midwest lever uses extra leverage to make your clutch around 30% lighter. This means you do have to pull your lever further in to full disengage the clutch - some guys like this as it gives you extra control over the clutch - a small number of riders don't like this. I've been experimenting with the Midwest lever and the extra springs with excellent results so far. The Midwest lever is around US$80. See our review video for more information.
Remember to check to see if there's any slipping when you drop the clutch or accelerate hard. When they design their clutches, manufacturers have to make dirt bike clutch springs strong enough to prevent clutch slipping at full power in higher gears.
Back to basics - you should always one finger on the clutch. If you have a cable clutch, consider getting a hydraulic conversion kit such as the one available with the Clake One Light Clutch. You only want one finger on the clutch and the rest hanging on to those bars.
Find a slight uphill and ride in a straight line as slow and smoothly as possible - a great way to work on your balance and clutch control at the same time. Come to brief stops as well - it will become automatic to disengage the clutch and this will eventually mean less stalling in tough terrain. Try the basic exercises again, but holding the throttle steady and purely using the clutch to stop and go. Dropping the clutch is important for liftin the front wheel quickly and easily, but remember to cover that rear brake, something one of our gumby riders still hasn't mastered. The second option? Lighter clutch springs or even removing some if you have a heavy clutch. Compare your stock clutch springs with those from a smaller bike like the KTM 200EXC or even 125 enduro bikes. If the dimensions are correct but the springs are softer, try two of these, and even four if you don't get any clutch slipping at full revs. A cheap mod as you can get a full set of clutch springs for as little as $20.
And finally option six, the Rolls Royce treatment.
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