Karata / Piranha Jr. Clutch Basket Worn

[dingo]

Took my dog in this week for its routine service - bike was one year old in April and has a bit over 3000 miles.

06 K9 with Karata 3” Open Primary and the Piranha Jr. Clutch.

Dealer called today and said that the clutch basket was worn and would need to be replaced – new one is on order but I won’t be riding this weekend :bang:.

Dealer said they spoke with Karata who said that they typically see prematurely worn clutch baskets from one of three things…

1) Burnouts - not my thing

2) Holeshots – again, not my thing

3) Lugging – a surprise to me.

I am very careful not to beat on or lug the bike. I asked the dealer if they ran the RPM download for my bike but they had not done that yet so I have to wait until they get the bike back together next week.

The service guy (who along with the dealership I am very happy with and trust -- a rarity, I know) said -- and I hope I’ve got this right -- that even though I may not have been lugging the motor from an EHC perspective, there may not have been enough rpm’s for the gearing. Does this make sense to anyone?

I was wondering about the clutch alignment - but certainly would appreciate other thoughts.

Thanks,

Chris

aka dingo

 

[dog1]

karata

at idle with the clutch disengaged you will get some wear on basket...and maybe what their seeing is this...I have some wear on mine since day one after install and it works as if were new....unless your having trouble with it I would leave it alone and ride it and see for yourself...these baskets are almost indistructible. I've had mine off and on a dozen times with wear on the inside with not one issue of trouble. hope this helps.

dog1

 

[Pops]

What dealership do you use...Empire Cycles ?

 

[dingo]

What dealership do you use...Empire Cycles ?

Yes, Empire is my dealer.

 

[Thumper]

Pictures please. Curiously I recently had a similar issue with my RMD that appears to be a one off problem with the hardening process.

 

[dingo]

Pictures please.

Thumper,

I have not seen it yet.

Will try to get pictures of the basket tomorrow and post them....if the dealer hasn't sent it back to Karata yet.

 

[bdmridgeback]

Thumper, That one is pretty bad!!

 

[karata]

Took my dog in this week for its routine service - bike was one year old in April and has a bit over 3000 miles.

06 K9 with Karata 3” Open Primary and the Piranha Jr. Clutch.

Dealer called today and said that the clutch basket was worn and would need to be replaced – new one is on order but I won’t be riding this weekend :bang:.

Dealer said they spoke with Karata who said that they typically see prematurely worn clutch baskets from one of three things…

1) Burnouts - not my thing

2) Holeshots – again, not my thing

3) Lugging – a surprise to me.

I am very careful not to beat on or lug the bike. I asked the dealer if they ran the RPM download for my bike but they had not done that yet so I have to wait until they get the bike back together next week.

The service guy (who along with the dealership I am very happy with and trust -- a rarity, I know) said -- and I hope I’ve got this right -- that even though I may not have been lugging the motor from an EHC perspective, there may not have been enough rpm’s for the gearing. Does this make sense to anyone?

I was wondering about the clutch alignment - but certainly would appreciate other thoughts.

Thanks,

Chris

aka dingo

Chris I spoke to Empire cycle yesterday about your drive and the information they gave you is correct.If memory serves me correct you unit has almost 3 years of use and I am not stating that you have not been doing burnouts or etc. but you have had trouble free performance with the system.The million dollar question I have is why your belt is in need of replacement?? with normal use we have never seen a need for the belt replacement as the 3 or 4 inch belt you have is indestructable.
Empire cycle will have the replacement parts today in the early AM and it is only a 1 hour job so you should be riding today if their time permits.
Jim@Karata

 

[dingo]

Chris I spoke to Empire cycle yesterday about your drive and the information they gave you is correct.If memory serves me correct you unit has almost 3 years of use and I am not stating that you have not been doing burnouts or etc. but you have had trouble free performance with the system.The million dollar question I have is why your belt is in need of replacement?? with normal use we have never seen a need for the belt replacement as the 3 or 4 inch belt you have is indestructable.
Empire cycle will have the replacement parts today in the early AM and it is only a 1 hour job so you should be riding today if their time permits.
Jim@Karata

Thanks, Jim.

I want to state very clearly that I love the Karata open primary and am very happy with Empire Cycles.

This is a simple situation that will get worked out.

The purpose of my post is to try and get a better understanding from the more experienced forum members as to what might have caused this situation in order to help me avoid a recurrence.

Chris