Road Racing Clutches

Bob Wimmer · Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2012 10:39 am Post subject: Road Racing Clutches

For a Leopard we have two choices:
1) A std clutch that lasts (for me) a full day of practice and two races. This is with slow part-throttle starts every time I leave the pits for practice. Is this normal?

2) A road race clutch that may last longer (never tried), but tends to break clutch fingers from what I'm seeing at the track.

I personally would rather spend the money and repalce the clutch after every race weekend than take the chance of failure with a RR clutch. Assuming RR clutches actually last longer, is there a way to minmize clutch breakage?

Thanks
_________________
Wild Wimmer Racing
Animal Sprint & Enduro
Leopard Enduro

kelly Read · Joined: 19 Nov 2002 Posts: 1386

Bob,

We have ran both the sprint & R.R. hubs for road racing and only issue we had was with the sprint version. This issue was that the shoes didn't last as long as the R.R. hub. We seen no difference in performance in either.

You are correct, you have to be real careful when giving it throttle. You either need to be on the gas or off, not both and this includes on the track. We warm ours up on the stand before going out to practice or to the line. On the line, we start it about 20 seconds before the flag drops without giving it throttle. Just let it idle or give it just enough throttle to keep from engaging the clutch.

To maintain our clutch, we take it apart after each weekend and clean it with brakleen.

Sam Jordan · Joined: 31 Jan 2008 Posts: 27

Like Kelly, we have had very good luck with the RR style clutches on our Leopard (hope I didn't just jinx myself). If you're conscious about being either ON or OFF of the throttle and not hovering around the RPM range where the clutch is engaging, the RR clutches seem to be fairly reliable. Minimizing the amount of driving you do in the pits will help with their life as well. We also remove it after every weekend for cleaning and to lube the bearing.