Clutch Lever Suddenly Weak, After 5Mph Grass Laydown (5Th Gen)

[WoahThereThrottle]

Hey guys, the clutch lever on my '98 5th Gen is suddenly feeling different immediately after I picked it up from a laydown on the grass. Went wide in a parking lot turn after hitting an edge trap, and it just slipped out from under me and plopped onto it's left (clutch lever) side. Wasn't very hard or violent, just some shallow whtie scratches on the left fairing.

But the clutch lever, which looks totally fine and undamaged to my eye, felt much weaker. It takes much less effort to pull it in, until the last 1/4 of pull when it's at the handlebar, which is also the same place the friction zone has now moved to. It used to be the clutch would engage as I let the clutch lever nearly totally out. say 3/4 all the way out. Now that friction zone of the clutch is right next to the handlebar/grip, and the rest of the clutch travel is noticablly weak. It works, I rode it the few blocks home but it worries me that the friction zone suddenly moved.

What could the problem be?

1. The clutch fluid is murky/brownish (although according to owner it was replaced last season), I've been told to replace it so maybe that has something to do with it?

2. Maybe some of the air in the fluid resoivour on the grip got into the piston or fluid line to the clutch when it was tipped over and the fluid was sloshing aroudn not where it normally is?

3. When the bike did drop I somehow accidently gave it a big rev before immediately shutting it off. Probably happened when the wheel lifted into the air (adrenaline of dropping the bike clouds my memories, you guys know how it is). Could that very short hi reving have cooked the cluth somehow?

4. Lastly there is an adjuster wheel on the clutch lever. I've played with it and it doesn't seem to have helped but maybe the drop somehow moved that?

Thanks for any adivce or tips, I badly need it!!

- Josh

[Veefer800Canuck]

Either the lever got bent, or the adjuster has been disturbed. It's the little wheel near the inside of the lever.

Try adjusting that and see what it does.

[Switchblade]

Or you blew out the oil ring.

[WoahThereThrottle]

Or you blew out the oil ring.

Where is that and how could I check?

[YoshiHNS]

The clutch AND brake fluid should be clear to light yellow. If it's brown, it's old and you should change it.

Also check the lever and adjustment for damage. And check the clutch slave for a leak, just in case.

[Beck]

The inlet hole in the bottom of the clutch fluid reservoir that goes into the clutch master cylinder might have been above the fluid in the reservoir momentarily when the bike tipped over and the clutch lever was depressed when it hit the dirt, thus pulling in air from the reservoir into the clutch master cylinder and into the clutch fluid line. Now every time you pull in the clutch it mostly just compresses that air gap in the line, instead of directly acting on the clutch slave cylinder...... = flaccid clutch lever.....

BTW, I think the PO lied about changing/flushing the fluid if you saw gunk at the bottom of the reservoir....... As also noted, any darkening of the fluid is a sign of age. New fluid is close to clear in color, with just a hnt of yellow to it.

[Switchblade]

Or you blew out the oil ring.

Where is that and how could I check?

Inside of the front brake master cylinder.

Heres the link.

http://www.bikebandit.com/houseofmotorcycles/1998-honda-interceptor-800-vfr800fi/o/m151441#sch105017

[Switchblade]

How about a update please .......

[VFR4Lee]

Replace the fluid, service the system, or have it done.

[Duc2V4]

Does your fluid this dark? Lighter?, Darker? This is the fluid in my '01 brake reservoir and the PO said he hadn't serviced the bike since he bought it about 2 years ago. Needless to say I flushed/filled the clutch and brake fluid in all the lines. If you are not adventurous or do not have a mechanical aptitude you might take it in to a reputable shop. If you are able to work on it yourself, go buy the speed bleeder kit from wiremybike.com and put those in when you do the flush/fill. From then on, servicing your clutch/brake lines is a snap! I did this to all of my bikes and on the Duc, it takes literally minutes to do all three (Front/Rear/Clutch) lines. The VFR's take a little longer due to the linked braking systems but I can do it solo!

[2thdr]

If you install the Speedbleeders and only plan on doing a flush of the system by replenishing the MC reservoir and pumping out fluid until clean, new fluid is expelled, will you introduce air into the system?

In other words, does just installing the Speedbleeders put air in an otherwise air free system that then has to be removed?

[wagzhp]

Just adding new bleeder screws will possibly allow a tiny amount into the caliper. That small amount can be expelled with just a half pull of the lever, and no removal of the reservoir cap is even required. (But why add new bleeders if you aren't planning to service the system?)

During bleeding, as long as you keep fluid in the reservoir, no air should be introduced.

[2thdr]

Just adding new bleeder screws will possibly allow a tiny amount into the caliper. That small amount can be expelled with just a half pull of the lever, and no removal of the reservoir cap is even required. (But why add new bleeders if you aren't planning to service the system?)

During bleeding, as long as you keep fluid in the reservoir, no air should be introduced.

My plan was to install the Speedbleeders and then flush the system by adding new fluid to the MC reservoir and pumping it through either with the levers or a Mighty Vac.

[Havagan]

Does your fluid this dark? Lighter?, Darker?

DSC_0177.JPG

For comparison here is brand new brake fluid (on the left) and fluid that is about 4-5 months old (on the right).

[Higgin]

Just adding new bleeder screws will possibly allow a tiny amount into the caliper. That small amount can be expelled with just a half pull of the lever, and no removal of the reservoir cap is even required. (But why add new bleeders if you aren't planning to service the system?)

During bleeding, as long as you keep fluid in the reservoir, no air should be introduced.

My plan was to install the Speedbleeders and then flush the system by adding new fluid to the MC reservoir and pumping it through either with the levers or a Mighty Vac.

I just installed the speedbleeders from wiremybike.com a couple weeks ago and it made bleeding everything a snap. It may possibly introduce a tiny bit of air at the caliper when you change the bleeders over, but if it did, I didn't notice it. Plus, once you start bleeding, that air is right there at the speedbleeder and will be the first thing ejected. I highly recommend getting the speedbleeders....Once I got them all installed (which was easy....do one at a time, pull one old one out, put new in), it took maybe 30 minutes to bleed everything....and that includes removing the rear tire and rear caliper to flip it over as you are supposed to (supposedly you can do it without removing rear tire, but it gave to much more room it was a no-brainer). And that was the first time I bled my brakes. Doing it again, I bet it would be a 15-20 minute job start to finish. No hiccups at all. Just followed the sequence procedure in the service manual. I did it by cracking the speedbleeders open and pumping the lever. If you are going to use a mity vac, the speedbleeders are kind of pointless, except as just a backup to make sure no air gets back in. Not to mention, I'm not really sure the mity vac would build up enough pressure to overcome the oneway valve inside the speedbleeder. It might, but still, using it seems pointless with the SB.

For the original poster....I would imagine (as someone else posted) that a small amount of air got in the line when the bike was on its side. Try bleeding the clutch first. Its a piece of cake even with out speedbleeders. I would be willing to bet that will solve your clutch problem.

[Duc2V4]

Just adding new bleeder screws will possibly allow a tiny amount into the caliper. That small amount can be expelled with just a half pull of the lever, and no removal of the reservoir cap is even required. (But why add new bleeders if you aren't planning to service the system?)

During bleeding, as long as you keep fluid in the reservoir, no air should be introduced.

My plan was to install the Speedbleeders and then flush the system by adding new fluid to the MC reservoir and pumping it through either with the levers or a Mighty Vac.

I just installed the speedbleeders from wiremybike.com a couple weeks ago and it made bleeding everything a snap. It may possibly introduce a tiny bit of air at the caliper when you change the bleeders over, but if it did, I didn't notice it. Plus, once you start bleeding, that air is right there at the speedbleeder and will be the first thing ejected. I highly recommend getting the speedbleeders....Once I got them all installed (which was easy....do one at a time, pull one old one out, put new in), it took maybe 30 minutes to bleed everything....and that includes removing the rear tire and rear caliper to flip it over as you are supposed to (supposedly you can do it without removing rear tire, but it gave to much more room it was a no-brainer). And that was the first time I bled my brakes. Doing it again, I bet it would be a 15-20 minute job start to finish. No hiccups at all. Just followed the sequence procedure in the service manual. I did it by cracking the speedbleeders open and pumping the lever. If you are going to use a mity vac, the speedbleeders are kind of pointless, except as just a backup to make sure no air gets back in. Not to mention, I'm not really sure the mity vac would build up enough pressure to overcome the oneway valve inside the speedbleeder. It might, but still, using it seems pointless with the SB.

For the original poster....I would imagine (as someone else posted) that a small amount of air got in the line when the bike was on its side. Try bleeding the clutch first. Its a piece of cake even with out speedbleeders. I would be willing to bet that will solve your clutch problem.

The mighty-vac does not work with speed bleeders, at least with anything 15psi or lower, you still need to pump the levers.

[WoahThereThrottle]

I ended up replacing all of the clutch fluid. But I noticed already after only bleeding a little bit that the clutch lever returned to normal operation, I must have gotten air in the system like you said.