Sprag Clutch Failure

[97tiger885]

I plan to ride my '97 all winter with an electric jacket.  I hope not to destroy the sprag clutch by overcranking with a low battery, but the odds are against me.  With my former mc, K75, excessive angry cranking led to the starter relay fusing and the starter running until the battery died.  That was an easy fix.  From what I gather here, things are not so good with the Tiger.  I know nothing about this.  What is a sprag clutch?  How does it fail?  Is there any way to place some sort of fuse between the battery and the sprag clutch so that the fuse fails at low voltage prior to the sprag clutch failing?  

+++++
Jon

[JetdocX]

The sprag cluth is a mechanical device that allows the starter to turn the engine, but not the opposite.  It is not electrical in any way.

Keep your battery in good condition, replace it if it's old, keep it plugged into a tender when not in use, always use choke when cold starting.  Keep your intake valve clearances in spec.

I'm sure Mustang will chime in with a few more tips.

[Mustang]

If you want to run all winter get some lighter wt oil in the girl , cuz she'll turn pretty slow at 25 degrees with 10 w 40 !

Jetdocx is right on the money with the battery tender ,like every night plug it in .

and think about fattening the jetting up . Bring those air screws out to 2 1/2 turns , raise the needles 1 notch and possibly go with new pilot jets also .
a richer mixture will get her to pop a lot easier when it is brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr cold out !

Will help a lot if the bike has a nice warm garage to live in too !
You will also find that you will probably need to block off part if not all of the radiator with some cardboard , otherwise she aint never going to come up to operating temp .

[97tiger885]

Thanks for the tips.  The overnight charging has begun.  What weight oil would you suggest and what brand/type of oil?  Carbs are something I try to avoid touching, but if I have to I will.   Unfortunately, no garage-heated or unheated. Guess I will have to practice restraint in cranking on cold mornings.

[JetdocX]

Can you park on a hill and bump start it?

[Mustang]

Keep a 12 volt car battery charged and ready don't jump start from a RUNNING car though , too many amps .
But jumping from a car battery works very well cranks it real good when it's cpld out  :?

[skoron]

Use Shell Rotella T synthetic 5W40 CI plus if you can find it.  Not the newer CJ.

Skoron