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Last time I was at my dealer he mentioned they had just done a clutch replacement on an LT trike and there were 28 hours labor. He says the trike kit adds too much weight and it is very easy to trash the clutch.
Have any of you with LT's had any issues with your clutch? Do any of you tow a trailer with the LT? We have been thinking about an Aluma lite trailer but wonder about more weight.
I replaced the whole clutch assembly, (clutch plate, pressure plate, spring diaphragm and seals), just before I triked it in June 2012, it had approximately 18k miles. My issue was a front transmission seal leak which I didn't want to fix after it was triked. I also used a Siebenrock clutch plate which is supposed to be resistant to any type of lubricant exposure. There have been other threads with questions for the extra weight of trailers and very few clutch issues, most use OEM clutches. The majority try to keep the RPM's low, (1500 or less), when taking off in 1st gear as to prevent too much slipping. Of course the jury is still out on my trike clutch but it's gonna get a good workout this summer............Rob
I have never been one to "gas it" when taking off so I have not had any clutch issues in over 50k miles. I will continue to treat it gently and, if my wife does learn to ride it, she will do the same.
So far no clutch issues with 50k miles on the trike and I don't expect any. I've been on Beemers for a lot of years and miles now and have never needed to replace a clutch on one of my bikes. This is my first trike and I understand there could be more strain on the clutch with the extran weight. It is a much bigger repair job with the trike kit but I won't worry about it for now. I'll just keep on riding.
ciao homeless
Forgot to mention I do pull a Hannigan trailer much of the time. Still no problems.
ciao homeless
Back in 2006 I had a 4 year old BMW R1200C Grinnall trike which had done about 45000 miles. I had owned it from new and it was triked from new and I really looked after it. I'm the non speed merchant who obeys the rules. As soon as I decided to sell it, it developed a clutch problem. Originally it was thought to be a slave cylinder problem and I must have spent a week trying to sort it. Finally I took it back to the trike builder, and it cost me back then £1000 to replace the clutch which was a hell of a lot of money. I had a Grinnall Triumph Rocket 3 after that, then a HD Lehman Ultra classic all new. I am now on a pension and cannot afford such maintenance costs so my next trike is not going to be a glam model but a simple bolt on back end that can be converted back to a bike quickly and easily and will be as cheap to work on as a BMW can be. It doesn't surprise me the man hours it takes to fix these machines as the back end and bodywork has to be removed. Someone far more intelligent than me (and that's most living beings) needs to come up with a clip-on clip-off bodywork that doesn't take days to take off and days to replace and they will make some money and they'll get my custom.
50K+ on my BMW since triking. No clutch issues what so ever. I tow a trailer.
I have owned two trikes with BMW power, a Grinnall Scorpion 111 with a K1100LT drivetrain and a Hannigan with a K1200 drivetrain. I has no clutch problems with either.