Hey guys,

I just toasted my clutch and need some help. Two of the friction plates broke (one in 3 pieces, and one in 2 pieces) and one of the steel plates ended up spinning on the inner hub and destroyed it. I took it to my not-so-local dealer today (3 hrs away) and they are going to talk to C-Dale about it. The motor is only 9 months old so technically it's out of warranty, but hopefully they can help me out a bit. I don't think that should have happened.

Does anyone have any insight into what may have caused this? It's going to be costly to fix and I don't want it to happen again.

 

Go w/ a Hinson clutch.

Do you know of anyway that you could have "abused" the clutch? I haven't ever heard of anyone havin problems with theirs on the Dales, but maybe you got a bum clutch. Or there might be more people that have had the same problem, but I haven't heard from them.

Let me know what happens.

 

How often have you been changing your oil and what oil have you been using?

 

As of yesterday, Hinson does not make any components for the C-Dale. The guys at QC II said they are working on it but the guy from Hinson didn't mention anything.

I have been using Silkolene Comp Gear Semi synthetic 80W/90 for the tranny and change it every other time I change the motor oil.

 

I lost my cluch on my first big trip to pismo. i was all ready because i could open it up bc it was after break in. and on the first rid of the second day i when to climb a hill and was thinking damm i need bigger tires bc i am spinning all the way up, but when i stoped at the top it never whent again. i got dale to warrenty it.

 

The early fx and some early cannibles maybe early speeds had aluminum clutch plates and weak springs they were replaced with steel plates and heavier clutch springs cannondale covered all that failed.
Since that replacment I have only seen one that failed the red adjuster **** had been broken of the clutch mastercylinder allowing the adjustment to go to far the clutch was pumped up.Like if you wouldnt let your brake lever come back all the way.
As far as I know all cannibles were considered 2002 models so if you bought yours in 2001 it could be one of those I am talking about
they also had cable clutch which is another thing to check when I used to race my 250rs I would go through at least 2 clutches a year
first sign of slipping or if I had to adjust the cable alot it was time to put new clutch in.Hope this helps.

 

As a follow up, CDale is NOT helping me out with it. Evidently, there have only been a couple of failures so it isn't like a recall thing. It is out of warranty also. Oh well, I'm neither surprised nor dissapointed. I just wish I could get a good explanation of what happened so I can be sure it doesn't happen again.

I can tell you though that I would much rather buy accessories than replacement parts!

 

Grem- What is the price tag??? for repairs. thanks

 

Well, my dealer sponsors me so I get a pretty good price on parts. With that said, the friction plates are around $99, the steel plates around $22, and the inner hub is $81. That's a lot less than I thought it was going to be. The major lesson that I learned was to check the clutch plates every time I change the tranny oil. It is super easy to do and I believe that the wear on the tabs of the friction plates, is what caused the plates to break. If I had caught it earlier, I could have replaced them before all of the damage.