Burning Wood

[hellavelo]

Hey Everyone- first time, long time...glad to be here.

I noticed an interesting smell from my bike twice today-I had a couple of short jaunts (~10km or so) and when I parked I noticed the smell of burnt wood.  Not so much a fireplace, but more of the smell that you get from burning wood via sanding.  I inspected closer on the second trip and am fairly confident it is coming from the front of the engine.  The bike was running a bit odd on the first trip-primarily a lack of engine braking.

Has anyone noticed something like this and what should I do about it? This is my first water cooled street bike so I automatically assumed it is something with the cooling system.

Thoughts?

[K75RT Keith]

If you think it is cooling related, you might check the coolant level at the radiator.

However, your statement "The bike was running a bit odd on the first trip-primarily a lack of engine braking." leads me to think ot could be something else.

The smell could be  coming from an over heated, burned, clutch or you have a seal leak and have some oil on the clutch that is causing it to slip, heat up and then burn off.

I'd guess your used to riding things with a wet clutch.  One bathed in oil that doesn't mind being slipped a lot.  The K's all have dry clutches (like a car) and don't take well to slipping. 

[johnny]

greetings hellavelo...

atherton... humm... proally a local hipster burning some santa cruz mountain weed... did it have a wet skunk smell too...

welcome to motobrick.com...

j o

[Motorhobo]

+1 on what Keith said. After burning through 2 clutch disks back in 2001 the service dept told me I was either going to have to change my riding style or get a second job to pay for all the clutch jobs I was going to need.

Haven't ridden the clutch since and haven't had any funny smells or clutch problems.

[hellavelo]

Wow guys- spot on. I slip the clutch like crazy...old habits die hard. I'll pay more attention to that and see if the problem goes away.

Funny you mention Santa Crus-I rode over the hill today and there are certainly a plethora of other "environmental" smells down here!

Thanks everyone!

[K75RT Keith]

Learned about killing a clutch in St Thomas back in the 80's.  Poor rental car, My buddy slipped the clutch on that puppy till it wouldn't pull us up a hill and we rolled back into the car behind us.  Smelled like there was a fire with smoke pouring out  from under the car.   

[racinrich]

walnuts left behind the radiator on block by a motobrick squirrel, better that than poop.

[Grim]

Ive had problems with the grounds keepers at my office clearing leaves and other yard crap blowing leaves and pine straw up onto the exhaust system on mowing day. Line of cars and then a bike thats the spot they always pick to move the leaves when they are trying to get it into the parking lot to pick up.   

[Motorhobo]

Backing an F350 diesel dually up an embankment with a 40 foot toy hauler on the hitch. Gave my clutch the nickname "Old Smokey".

But back on topic -- After my 2nd $600 clutch job as a brick noob back in the early 2000s, not only do I not feather the clutch but when not shifting I get my hand off it completely. Am I right in assuming you can burn through a Kbike clutch just by riding the lever, just like  keeping your foot on the clutch pedal of your car? It is a car clutch, so that would stand to reason.

If so, it's something for the OP to consider ... It's not just slipping the clutch the fries the guts, but riding it will do it just as fast...at least that's my understanding of it.