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Friction zone

11K views 16 replies 11 participants last post by  LWRider 
#1 ·
I’m getting better with my riding skills, but something that needs work is my accelerating from stops. My friction zone is about ¾ of the way from the handle. So my left hand grip is almost open before the bike starts to take off. What is the opinion about the location of the friction zone? I am considering reducing mine so that it feel more natural for me and my riding habits.
 
#3 ·
If you have adjustable levers, you can bring it in closer to the grip.

The real trick is to practice until you are able to get to then stay in the friction zone as long as you need or want to.

Remember that you should be staying in the friction zone as the motorcycle is moving forward, usually a good 15-25 feet in traffic, depending on the situation.
 
#4 ·
Like Critter said, be careful. Unless you have a lot of free play in the lever, I wouldn't mess with it. Does the lever move a lot before you feel it start to do anything? Can you wiggle it a lot with just your thumb and a finger? A lot is more than 1/4 inch. It's real easy to over adjust and get it to not fully disengage. You don't want that. If you are not sure, might be best to have a shop look at it and adjust so as not to ruin your clutch completely.
 
#7 ·
Your motorcycles owners manual (MOM) will have instructions on how to adjust the clutch. Read and execute what it says. It's very easy to adjust. Friction zone will normally start about 1/4 or 1/2 way through the clutch travel.

Like someone said above, you do have to be careful that there is some free play in the clutch lever. If the cable is too tight, the clutch will always be a little disengaged, which will wear out the clutch. If it is too loose, you may not be able to disengage the clutch enough before shifting

Again, MOM will tell you how to get to the Goldilocks zone.
 
#8 ·
Like someone said above, you do have to be careful that there is some free play in the clutch lever. If the cable is too tight, the clutch will always be a little disengaged, which will wear out the clutch..
That's how it feels to me. I may have another rider try it with the purpose of looking at that specifically. I may first try adjusting the position of the grip so that it's a little higher on the bars so I'm not reaching as far for the clutch. That actually seems like a simpler adjustment as opposed to adjusting the cable itself.
 
#10 ·
You need to ho back to ralphlong's post and use your owner's manual. My clutch is so far out when it starts to engage that I was sure it was wrong when it was brand new. I turned around and went right back to have the dealer check the adjustment in case the bike had not been set up right. As it turns out, 12,000 miles later, the adjustment was fine but not very typical. Every bike is different so check your manual first.
 
#11 ·
The first thing someone must master when riding is the clutch. If you come from driving a stick shift car or truck you may say no problem. While in some respects it is similar, in others it is different. First and formost many people try to operate the clutch by sight, They look at it to judge when it is engaging instead of by feel. First when you look at the controls you are not looking where you are going and second your control by sight is not as good as your sense of feel.

A major difference between bikes and cars is the type of clutch. When learning to drive a car people will tell you "Don't ride the Clutch" And while that is true for a car it is not for a bike. A bike (Unlike a car) has a Wet Clutch system. The clutch plates are inside the engine and lubricated with the engine oil. It is ok and necessary to master the skill of riding the clutch. Having good control of the clutch will enable you to start smoother, change gears smoother and control the bike better at low speeds.

With today's high speed and high power bikes if you do not have mastery of the clutch you will never be smooth and also not be able to make those tight turns or other necessary maneuvers. None of this is hard but without good clutch control you only make your riding more difficult than it needs to be. So Learn to ride the clutch, and learn to do it well. For practice you can sit in one spot and feed out the clutch until it engages and moves you forward a couple feet (Without fully releasing the clutch) then pull it back in. Do this over and over and get used to be able to hold the clutch at the point that it is partially engaged until you are moving smoothly enough to fully release it.

This will help you when starting, shifting and in tight slow speed maneuvers. You will also find that mastery of the clutch helps you when starting out on a hill. You really need that sense of feel so remember to always get used to the controls and operate them by feel. When you want to stop the car do you look down to the floor for the brake pedal? Ok then keep your eyes up and operate the bike by feel as well.
 
#13 ·
Generally speaking, you should have about 3/4" free play at the clutch lever before it does anything. So until you pull it in that 3/4 inch the clutch discs are engaged and moving the bike. As you pull back past the 3/4" mark the clutch discs should start to slip and as you pull further you will reach the point where the disc are not engaging each other at all and not driving the bike forward. That is the friction zone.
 
#14 ·
That may work with your bike LWRider but the 3/4 inches is nowhere near universal. At 3/4 inch or so I am fully disengaged but I get no slip when full out. My friction zone is just very small. Go back to the owner's manual every time. It will tell you how your own bike should be adjusted.
 
#15 ·
Well I haven't been able to ride at all during the week due to the rain, but I was out on Sunday for a few hours. Even though i haven't made any adjustments (yet) it did feel a little more comfortable than before. I'm going to give it some more time.
 
#16 · (Edited)
I'm going to say that you are, most likely, using too much throttle. This, imo, is the number one mistake that new riders make when it comes to accelerating from a stop.

You might consider spending more time "stopping and going" in a safe and empty parking lot rather then thinking and reading about "friction zones". The proper use of a clutch, regardless of vehicle type, is more about practice than it is about reading. Sure, "reading" helps, but it will never replace good old practice and lots of it.

And trust me, the proper use of your clutch will, with practice, become something that you'll hardly think about in due time.

Just my 0.02 worth...

Edit: I'll also agree with others that you should not be looking at your clutch lever or your tachometer while accelerating from a stop. Let your hand and ears be the judge of the of the clutch and throttle. However, like others have said, you will want to make sure that your clutch is adjusted properly as per the owner's or service manual.
 
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