What is slipper clutch & what advantages does the rider get riding a bike equipped with slipper clutch?
Let's check out what is this and how it works:
When you are riding at high speeds and suddenly you encounter a sharp corner – the obvious reaction would be to slow down by applying the brakes and shifting in lower gear. But what if you have lesser time and you want to shift 2-3 gears at a time? And when you do this, you do it at the cost of damaging the gear box and putting your safety at risk which arises due to engine braking force.
As a mechanism to reduce these issues, Slipper Clutch (also known as back torque limiter clutch) was introduced. Slipper Clutch helps by allowing the clutch to partially slip until the engine speed matches your own speed.
In normal clutches, the engine braking force is transmitted to rear wheel via chain drive (or shaft drive) which causes rear wheel to shake, jump or lose traction. This is the main concept behind slipper clutch to control rear wheel under hard braking and downshifting that causes the rear wheel to lose traction. It is particularly helpful especially on higher displacement bikes where the engine braking force is massive and may cause the motorcycle to go out of control, resulting in a high-speed collision/accident!
Advantages of Slipper Clutch
The following are the advantages of slipper clutch over normal clutch…
- Slipper clutch reduces sudden forces on the inside of the transmission and hence, reduces wear and tear on the transmission
- Correctly installed slipper clutch improves performance.
- It can prevent disastrous rear wheel lock up in case of engine seizure or transmission failure.
- It also reduces work of suspension by absorbing engine braking force hence less bumpy ride while cornering.
- The rider does not need to concentrate on clutch operation which allows him concentrate on other things such as body posture, braking etc. while cornering.
GOOD
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