How to Cool Down a Hot Dirt Bike Clutch

What causes a hot clutch on a dirt bike? Could it be the wrong type of oil? Our resident motorcycle expert John Talley addresses a possible reason why a Honda CRF450 dirt bike has a hot clutch.

John goes live on our YouTube channel every Friday at 3pm Eastern, and in this edition, one viewer wanted to know if there's a way to cool down the clutch on a Honda CRF450 dirt bike. 

Cooling Down a Hot Honda CRF450 Clutch

The clutch on my CRF450 gets hot a lot. Is there a way to cool it down?

John Talley: Well, the clutch on the 450 has a separate oil, or it’s supposed to be separate, from the front. And it depends on what weight of oil you’re running in the back. You may want to consider going to a full synthetic. Maybe that’ll help dissipate the heat a little better. My guess is that the oil is a little too thick and you may need to thin it out just a tick to see if that helps.

As John mentioned, the weight of the oil could affect how the clutch reacts on the CRF450. The oil may be a little too thick or too thin, causing the clutch to overheat. Watch the video below to see how to change the oil in a Honda CRF450 dirt bike.

Is it the oil that's causing the CRF450's clutch to overheat, or does it need a new clutch altogether? Need to replace the clutch on a CRF450 dirt bike? Watch the video below to see how to do a clutch pack replacement on a Honda CRF450.

The video above shows a standard clutch replacement on a 2005 Honda CRF450. Years later, we ended up doing an entire motorcycle rebuild on that same CRF450, including an aftermarket parts clutch upgrade, before we gave the bike away to one lucky winner. Watch the video below to see the clutch upgrade we did on a Honda CRF450 dirt bike.

Want to see more live repair questions answered? See more motorcycle and ATV repair questions answered here.