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vincefriese
7/21/2022 9:56am
7/21/2022 9:56am
Edited Date/Time
7/25/2022 11:48am
Just got done watching an interview between Justin Cooper and Oldenburg from 2019. Cooper was talking about how he hopped on Oldenburg's bike with the auto clutch and how smooth/different it was. Oldenburg was saying how hard on clutches he was so they put on the auto clutch.
Anyone have good experience with the auto clutch? Reviews? I've never had an after market clutch in my bike, just OEM, maybe some stiffer clutch springs. But i'm really interested in trying an auto clutch in my next bike just to try something different.
(Also, does anyone know if Justin Cooper rides with the auto clutch today?)
Anyone have good experience with the auto clutch? Reviews? I've never had an after market clutch in my bike, just OEM, maybe some stiffer clutch springs. But i'm really interested in trying an auto clutch in my next bike just to try something different.
(Also, does anyone know if Justin Cooper rides with the auto clutch today?)
Don’t think of it as an ‘Auto’ clutch. Think of it as a regular clutch that will never allow you to stall.
The Shop
I was surprised on how basically there was no difference in riding the bike, just that it wont stall.
Mine is a Core systems upgraded to CX, riding is MX.
The only guys I know who got rid of them are the super gnarly rock crawler enduro guys who I ride Baja with. They are the type who stand on their pegs on their 300's and work the clutch moving at .001mph to get the traction they need on wet rocks and sand covered rocks. With the rekluse, there's a tiny gap in rpms vs clutch engagement so these guys who ride at .001mph don't like the rekluse.
Unless you are one of those guys, it works well for all other technical riding and moto.
Be careful when you get one...before you get used to it you will accidentally rev your bike while sitting on it the bike will leap out from under you.
On an MX track you are not stopping and your rpm's are up so there's no issue at all for that application.
Pit Row
Ride with one and you’ll feel like a hero dragging the rear brake into corners and powering out smooth as butter.
I like them everywhere except slow technical stuff. Black Diesel Bro nailed it a few posts back.
My 2 complaints with it are the same as above for down hill. Even on mx, if its a steep down hill where you coast for a second before getting on the brakes, it feels like its going into neutral in turn losing your engine braking. You'll adapt and leave the throttle on just above idle so you can keep your engine braking, or you can adjust your idle higher and it'll leave it engaged.
2nd complaint-some people can ride/race a season and not need to adjust it (you set a gap at the pressure plate), other people need to adjust them quite a bit, others burn them up after 1 race. For me it was once in a while needing adjusted, but when it got to that point i would be riding and it'd be fine that day, then the next day when it cooled down and i went to ride again it would be slipping. But it'd be hot once i'd warmed up the bike and took off, and the adjustment needs to be when everything is cool. i got tired of that messing up my riding days, so i ditched it. other than that it was great.
You can use them like a normal clutch, and your bike will never stall.
Way better return on the money (performance, results wise) than a $1k exhaust.
Rekluse has a lot of things that adjust how the clutch engages, I think it’s possible to make it work way better for my needs, however the tab for new plates, springs and wedges was well over $400 and that was more than I wanted to spend.
It’s great for moto, being able to roll on power smoothly in corners and airbrake with no worries about stalling was great!
Mine never entirely free wheels and I always have some amount of engine braking. I've also adjusted the transition from off throttle to on throttle to make it as smooth as possible.
I've had a full kit for about 10 years now. Replaced clutch plates and fibers twice. I check adjustment every few rides but have only adjusted it about 3 times post set up in 10 years. Initial setup can be a little bit of a pain if you've never done it. As there's a lot of "feel" associated with the setup process.
I did burn through one though when I first got it. You can lug it really easily but lugging it and riding a gear high will tear it up. As its never fully engaged due to not having enough centrifugal force to spin the wedges out to engage.
Clutch pull is definitely harder on my bike than stock but not a deal breaker. I purchased mine because I was just learning to ride and wanted to take one thing out of the equation to make it easier. Now that am more experience I just ride it like a normal clutch bike when I want to.
2012 WR 450 - 600+ hours - Average 1-2k miles a year at least of desert/trail/mountain.
Never stall again. If I were racing at the top level I’d never use anything else.
Its outlined in the setup manual, if you don't have that you can download it from their site. Parts Fiche/Documentation Just fill out the form click on what you have and the instructions are up above and can be downloaded.
See the quoted section from the owner's manual at the bottom. You might just need to tweak your idle.
But honestly just call Rekluse and ask them. Their tech team is awesome. I've called them a few times and they walked me step by step over the phone on how to make some adjustments when I was on struggle street setting up the clutch again after replacing plates/fibers.
They also sell any part in their kits individually so if you just need the springs etc you can get them.
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Adjusting the engine idle speed to match your engagement setting is important and greatly affects the overall feel of how the EXP disk engages. To prevent freewheeling and maximize engine braking, set the idle so there is a slight amount of drag while the bike is idling in gear and warmed up. The idle should not be so high as to move the bike forward in gear with the throttle closed. However, with a small opening of the throttle, the bike should move forward.
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Anyway...The Recluse clutch literally saved me from having to quit riding.
I had developed RSI in my left wrist to the point that any clutching action was agonizing and the pain would set in after about 10 minutes of riding and get progressively worse to the point I couldn't hang on any more.
Pain specialists and every recommended exercise under the sun didn't help...I tried different bar bends you name it.
Recluse was brand new to the industry when this was happening and I'd never heard of them until a friend of mine mentioned it.
I was skeptical because the first bike I used it on was a KTM 525 and I just thought it would burn out the clutch. I tuned it with the tungsten ball bearings (no idea how the current ones work) and it never slipped etc and the clutch lasted until I sold the bike.
Best aftermarket part I ever used...and it's a blast in the high country up those steep rocky climbs...almost like cheating
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