An old clutch with worn plates will slip under throttle, not engine brake. Worn plates is like having too short of a stack height; the stack isn't thick enough for the springs and pressure plate to provide the necessary friction to drive the transmission. And so you don't get full engagement with the clutch out and the plates will slip when you apply throttle. But this could complicate a problem elsewhere. Check your stack height, and if it's too short, replace your plates.

If your bike was still driving with the clutch pulled all the way in, you could have air or water in your clutch line. This will be solved with a thorough bleed. Or, it could be your clutch lever is incorrectly adjusted. Your comment about fresh fluid changing color on one hot ride is concerning, however. Did you recently change the fluid? Did you use the proper DOT fluid? Did you bleed it thoroughly? Did you flush the old fluid out or just top it off? Also, is this your first ride in a while? Was the bike in storage. The poor throttle response under power sounds like bad/old gas. It could still idle fine, but give you fits under load.

Basically, what have you done recently to the bike? Start there. If you fiddled with the clutch fluid that may be the source. If the bike has been sitting I suspect bad gas.

 

I was DOT4 fluid and recently flushed and replaced. The clutch only did this at 230-240 degrees on the highway. Doesn't do it now.

Clutch feels fine, bike idles fine. It's my daily driver so gas is no issue, and I doubt it's anything else besides clutch/fluid related, stressed due to high heat.

 

Pressure plate bearing tight or seized.. spins the pushrods heats the fluid damages the th slave piston could make it harder for the assembly to release.

Long bow to draw though

 

Your final question was..

"Does this sound like a clutch problem?"

Short answer

No.

 

I had a friend tell me it could be the fuel lines (from tank to engine) could have expanded and then constricted. I know its not anything in my tank and this could be a valid reason since the lines sit right above the motor.

 

More than a clutch issue.

Rode it again around the block. Aggressively trying to kick me off the bike. You hear a pop and the rpms drop. Pop sounds like gas exploding in the pipe.

Misfire? Coil failure?

 

Front cylinder isn't firing.

New plugs and using a coil/coil wire from a 916 did not fix the problem.

 

have you checked the timing belt is there for the horizontal cylinder?

 

I have not.

Just unplugged cylinder #2 injector and the bike started. It only bogs down over 5k RPM when I was test riding the bike with both injectors in.

I'm thinking the injector is failing to spray enough fuel at or above that range. Which explains why it idles fine and starts on just the #1 cylinder.

 

Worth replacing your fuel filter. These things do not last a specified period - one load of dirty fuel can clog them.

And replace the large O-ring around the pump assembly flange. They usually grow whilst in use and are a bugger to re-use.

 

Just did that. Changed the coil for the rear cylinder and things seem to have gotten a little worse.

Rejects revving past 4K or so at idle, you hear mini explosions in the exhaust.

 

Here's a video, best I can do right now. It's rejecting me at 5,000 rpm. Doesn't do this below that.
You can hear it happen at 22 seconds in. Looks/sounds like jerking the throttle but it's doing it with steady acceleration.

https://youtu.be/1YmdWKAJLVc

 

sounds like you have some after fire detonations. My guess.....you have some teeth missing on the cam belt for the affected cylinder. The cams on that cylinder have slipped time. IOW, the timing is off for that cylinder.

It's just a guess but easy enough to prove or disprove as the cause. If it is the cause, you may have gotten lucky and not done any damage as yet.

I would not attempt to start the thing again until you know for certain that all the teeth on the cam belt are intact and the timing marks all line up........sean

 

Yup, definitely some detonations.

It needs a service so might as well do it now. Thanks.

 

That really sounds like a timing issue. Don't start again until you verify as stated above...and use a crank turning tool to turn over by hand slowly.