A couple of things I noticed riding my 2011 EC300

[gasgasman]

Originally Posted by Clay

I would like to have your old clutch to see if we can figure out the problem.
Clay

It is caused by the clutch drive plates rubbing against the clutch basket fingers.
Same effect as a duck caller-rubbing the reeds together creates the squacking sound.
My 2001 Gas Gas 250 did this.

[onegreyghost]

I don't believe it has anything to do with the baskket because I replaced the OEM basket with a barnette that has stainless steel fingers and replaced the inner with a rekluse manual and if I really abuse it hill climbing she will squawk like a wounded goose. I believe its the friction material but its anybody's guess

[jeffs2200]

It is odd that some do it and others (mine) do not.

[ScottyR]

My 250 didnt make a sound during the Sumter enduro last weekend.

I honestly think that this "issue" is becoming totally overblown.

[smoke229]

back in 1998 my 98 KX250 did roughly the same thing and was grabby until warmed up , i never tried to fix it and won the motocross track championship that year with it.....
so maybe gasgas bikes do it , but i can attest to other brands doing it also.

[rgranger]

I have a call with Rekluse to see what they thing. sent them this link and the other link mentioned in this thread.

[toolmaker]

Gas Gas is not the only brand that has clutch squeel. I rode a 07 200 KTM for three years and it would howl loudly when I was really working the clutch during a race. I put in a Barnett clutch when it was new so I don't think it was the stock fiber material causing the noise. The clutch survived three years of abuse without any problems of any kind. I think some people are worried about a little noise that doesn't really cause any harm. ( Oh yea, the rear brake on the KTM squalled also. Not a sound out of the GG rear binder.)

[moto9]

I ride all tech stuff and my 08 300 clutch squawked pretty often.
I recently enlarged the oil feed holes on the pressure plate by about 2mm.
I added more oil feed holes to the hub (3 across) in a random pattern, spreading the pattern out evenly in the hub...just like the WR mod.
I also drilled angled holes into each basket finger (mid point)...I angled the holes facing the direction of rotation.

Now, I only have one ride in but I rode the same tech trails.
The report so far is the there was a drastic reduction in the squawk.
Where it use to do it 10 to 15 times during a ride, I could only get it to squawk twice.
Also the duration of the noise was shorter.
IMHO I think getting more oil to the clutch is the answer.
I may need to enlarge the holes in the pressure plate even more and add more holes to the hub.
The real way to test this is to have a 2-3 pressure plates and hubs on hand and get a controlled experiment going, because I'm on tight budget I just winged it.

[Clay]

Originally Posted by gasgasman

It is caused by the clutch drive plates rubbing against the clutch basket fingers.
Same effect as a duck caller-rubbing the reeds together creates the squacking sound.
My 2001 Gas Gas 250 did this.

The factory has told us that we should use 80 weight oil in the gear box. A friend of mine who has been riding one of my demos did this and said it stopped the squeal. I asked him to go back to the oil he was using to see if it came back. The 80 weight oil he used was a Honda oil.
We have also been told that it is the primary gear causing the noise. I want to get a "squawker" from someone a try a few things with it.
I asked Mark at GF to do this but apparently they can't find any dirt in MN just now and they don't know when that 4 feet of snow they have will be gone! I am soooo glad I'm from the south!
Clay

[Bobt250]

My bike supposedly came from my dealer with 80 weight in it and it made noise. At my first oil change I put in 10w40 because it's so cold where I live and as an experiment to see if it changed anything. If anything it slightly reduced the noise but it's impossible to be sure. I haven't been in any situations where I've had to abuse my clutch, it makes small amounts of noise pretty much all day regardless of the situation.

Someone I know says he heard that Amzoil motorcycle specific 0w40 oil fixes the problem. He's going to try it and I'll let you know.