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clutch going out?


Sideoftheroad

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Please correct me if I am wrong I don't think there is a clutch cable but I have a lot of play when pulling in the lever. One day after work my bike did lunge forward despite having the lever pulled all the way in or bike in "neutral". Don't remember which at this point, but I think it was lever pulled all the way in. This morning going to work I had a really hard time upshifting. Downshifting, no problem. Upshifting I have to push down on the pedal 2-3 times and then it will engage. I was at a stop light with lever all the way in and again bike was moving forward.

 

I hope it isn't the clutch as I just had it down around 60k miles. I am around 78k now.

 

Thoughts?

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You are correct, thyere is no clutch cable. We have a hydraulic system instead of a cable. This system consists of a master cylinder which is what the clutch handle is attached to just like the front brakes, and a slave cylinder located on the engine which pushes a rod that disengages the clutch. The hydraulic brake fluid gets contaminated with moisture and needs to be completely replaced every so often, like maybe every 4 years give or take. This is accomplished by "bleeding" the system, and is also essential in removing any trapped air in the system.

 

There are several methods ro bleed the system but all do essentially the same thing. On the slave cylinder there is whats known as a bleeder screw. It is located under a rubber boot on the left side of the engine above the chrome covers. The idea is to either push fluid thru this bleeder screw, which has a hole in the middle of it, or suck fluid from it with a vacuum pump, until the fluid coming out is clear. If you push fluid thru it by squeezing the clutch lever, the screw has to be retightened before you release the lever or else you will such air back into the system when you rrelease the lever, defeating the purpose. There are special bleeders made called speed bleeders you can buy and install that have one way valves installed in their holes so air can't get back into the system because the valve is one direction of flow only.

 

There is also the possibility that either the master cylinder or the slave cylinder is worn and needs servicing, or both. There are kits for replacement rubber parts for both, but the bore of the cylinders can become worn and need to be "honed" to make them like new again. The slave cylinder is almost economically more efficient to replace rather than rebuild but the master cylinder is considerably more expensive to replace so repairing is morre feasable.

 

Chances are bleeding your clutch system will cure your problems...

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I was able to nurse it back home and park it in the garage. Felt like I wasn't going to make it a couple times. I do know it ain't moving now because it is stuck in gear. I can't get it to neutral. I did get it to go down into 1st and also neutral once on the way home which helped at a stop light but before and after that I couldn't get it below 2nd. With me having to get it back home and pushing on the shifter a few times to get it to shift do you think it was tearing up the clutch plates? I had them replaced around 20k miles ago. Would hate to do it again it if it has to be done.

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I was able to nurse it back home and park it in the garage. Felt like I wasn't going to make it a couple times. I do know it ain't moving now because it is stuck in gear. I can't get it to neutral. I did get it to go down into 1st and also neutral once on the way home which helped at a stop light but before and after that I couldn't get it below 2nd. With me having to get it back home and pushing on the shifter a few times to get it to shift do you think it was tearing up the clutch plates? I had them replaced around 20k miles ago. Would hate to do it again it if it has to be done.

Sounds to me that the info so far is correct. You have air in the lines and so when you squeeze the handle you are not releasing the clutch entirely, which will make it hard to shift, if not impossible. Try to shift with the engine off and and you'll see what I mean. So once you get the air out of the system, you should be good to go, unless you get more air in there, and then you'll need to fix that problem.

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My slave clutch cyl was leaking but I never saw a drop of it!

It leaked on top of the exhaust collector so all I saw was some white smoke when I first started it up.

 

I would go thru an enitre clutch resevoir og fluid every 3-4 tanks of gas and if I didn't keep on top of it it would do and feel exactly like you describe.

 

So check your clutch resevoir...and if it's empty, fill and bleed....keep an eye on it until you can change the slave cyl.

 

I replaced the slave cyl which is not all that hard....and all is good once again.

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