BigMike55

OK... Got her going. The problem was not bleeding all the air out of system. I checked her this morning and had no clutch. I held the lever in and opened the bleed valve. Closed it and gave her 15-20 good pumps. Repeated. I started noticing a little pressure build up. Kept doing this until it was real firm. Buttoned her up and started her up. Took her for a nice brisk ride. Holy guacamole! What a huge difference. It's like a brand new bike. No slipping at any speed, any gear. I've had this bike for 12 years, and I could almost say she's better than new. Thanks to all who gave advice.. I owe you all.

Yeah, plates were tight. That's what I thought too. 1/32" ought to be enough. One guy said maybe I need to service the clutch cylinder on the handlebar. I might say that, if it was acting weird before I started this job, but it was doing just right before. Just was slipping in the higher gears.

Okay... Mikey still no fixxey. 1. I put her back exactly like it was before I started messing with it. Still no clutch. Lever goes to handlebar super easy. 2. I put it back with all the Barnett stuff. Someone here mentioned matching the notches with the dots. My new Barnett plates have no notches like the originals. There is nothing different about any of these tabs. I just staggered clutch plate and steel until they were all installed. Then I put the pressure plate and the springs and former to 65 in-lbs. The book says 5.8 ft-lbs. Still nothing. I could see the plates and the pressure plate move out about 1/32". I put the cover back on and started up the engine and let it run until hot, to get the plates oiled up. Still nothing. She will not go into any gear. 3. Thinking maybe I blew out the seals on the slave cylinder, I removed and replaced the seals and bled the clutch. I still get no pressure on the clutch lever and she still will not go into gear. I can't imagine what I have done wrong. I even had a friend over to help and he could not figure it out either. I'm about to bring it to a dealer (stealer) to get them to trigger it out. At my wit's end. Any other ideas???

Thanks to everyone for all the ideas and advice. Maybe I'm just confusing the pressure buildup that you get with brakes with the clutch pressure. I think after work today I will replace the cover and start her up and see what happens when I put it in gear. I'm just confused, cuz when I press the clutch lever, it goes all the way to the handlebar and I can't see that it has moved anything down at the pressure plate. I guess worse case I will remove the slave and replace the seals and see what happens. Thanks again.

OK let me ask one more dumb question... I don't have to have the cover back on and engine running for her to get any pressure on the lever do I? I have tried everything suggested and the clutch still feels like there's no pressure built up. There IS suppose to be some feel there right? The small piston never came out so the ball never came out.

Thanks Bob. I did not use any replacement Yamaha parts. I went all Barnett. All the discs and the pressure plate/springs. I used the larger diameter disc first and the spacer and the toothed disc. I reused the original wire to hold all that. Then alternated disc, steel,disc,steel until all were on. Then the pressure plate and springs. It is a pretty simple setup. I just don't know what I could have done wrong.

Hello gents.. First time poster here. I have a clutch problem that's about to make me pull what's left of my hair out. I've been riding since the late 70's, so I pretty much knew when my clutch was slipping. I decided to go whole hog and replaced the plates and pressure plate with Barnett stuff. I took the old stuff out and replaced everything. I was going to take a test drive and when I grabbed the clutch lever, it went solid. I had no clutch. I took it back apart and rotated the pressure plate one bolt hole. I also pushed the piston back in the hole as far as it would go. Everything went together solid, no slack in the discs etc. I figured this is good. I buttoned everything up and when I grabbed the clutch lever, it went all the way to the handlebar and would not pump up.. I have a slave cylinder repair kit on order but I'm not sure that is my problem. My thinking is that when I put the pressure plate in wrong, the piston came out further than it normally does and when I pushed it back in, Maybe I blew the seals out??? This bike has 50,000 miles on the clock and the slave cylinder has never been serviced. Can someone please give me some advice... I'm running out of hair to pull out.