Rider weight and clutching

[likkerpig]

Just wondering if anyone can give me some additional information about how clutching is affected by rider weight.

Say you have 2 riders, 1 at 175lbs, the other at say 275lbs, sharing 1 sled for testing.

What effect does the heavier rider have as far as clutching goes? Should they be able to pull the same weights in the primary? Or does the extra weight of the rider load the motor more, so they'd need to run lighter weights in order to maintain the same RPM?

Just curious, was thinking about this today and wasn't sure....

 

[Frostbite]

I think you're right. A sleds carrying a heavier rider (especially at altitude) would need lighter clutch weights or a heavier primary spring to be able to pull the same RPM.

There's only so much torque in each respective engine and with rider weight making up such a substantial portion of the total vehicle weight, I can't see how 100 lb change wouldn't require a clutching change.

You could also add some performance mods to the engine and probably be able to pull the same clutch weights with the heavier rider. The added power would assist one in doing so.

Remember, this is one guys opinion.