bleeding the clutch

[CaptainJoe]

Well, I lowered the front end of the bike and everything went exceptionally smooth...

Today I went to pull out to do a carb tune on it and "no clutch", clunked into first gear.

Hummmmmmmmm.

Those resivours must not like being hung upside down...LOL:bang head:

Oh well something else to do to her...

Shouldn't take that long...

[Rick Butler]

Yeah Joe,

 

That bit of air in the top of the reservoir sent some bubbles right up the line. You just have to make sure that you keep the reservoir higher than the slave cylinder. This is why I always suspend the handlebars from the ceiling when I take the handlebars loose.

 

Just bleed it and you should be ok,

 

Rick

[CaptainJoe]

Wish i'd have seen that tip before. Oh well no biggie. Worst part is i have to go to advance auto about 6 miles away fot DOT4.

I do have 12 small containers of DOT3 along with a full gallon can of it...Go figure...

You never have what you need... Thanks Rick.

[V7Goose]

Wish i'd have seen that tip before. Oh well no biggie. Worst part is i have to go to advance auto about 6 miles away fot DOT4.

I do have 12 small containers of DOT3 along with a full gallon can of it...Go figure...

You never have what you need... Thanks Rick.

FYI - I have used DOT3 in my clutch with no problems at all for the past 50,000 miles or so (with lots of 500-1000 mile days in blistering summer heat).

 

Yes, our bike specifies DOT4, and that is the best choice. But here is my logic:

 

1. I had DOT3 fluid sitting on the shelf.

2. DOT3 and DOT4 fluids are completely compatible, so no problem mixing it or switching from one to the other without doing special system cleaning.

3. The only difference in the specs is that DOT4 has a higher boiling temperature.

4. The dry boiling temp on both is over 400 F, and thus excellent, but the big issue is the "wet" boiling temp. The wet temp is the boiling point of older fluid that has absorbed moisture. DOT3 is 284 F while DOT4 is 311 F.

5. That difference is very significant on brakes, where the slave cylinder is in direct contact with the brake pads, which generate a lot of heat in hard use. However, our clutch is a very different animal.

6. A wet clutch is not going to generate significant heat from friction. And even if it did, the slave cylinder is only connected to the pressure plate by a long rod, so it cannot absorb significant heat that way. While the slave cylinder is mounted directly to the engine case and will therefore run at the same temperature, there is no way your engine oil is going to run over 280 F without doing damage to your engine; therefore, the wet boiling point of DOT3 is not an issue.

 

So I chose to use some of the the old DOT3 fluid I still had on the shelf (but ALWAYS use only new un-opened containers). As I have had no clutch problems, that was a good choice for me.

Goose

[CaptainJoe]

Then I'll just save myself a trip to the store! And some

Thanks Goose!