4Th Gen (96 Vfr750) Clutch Leakage Problem

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First a little background info. Last year I purchased a 96 VFR750 for my wife Angie. The bike was fairly dirty when we purchased it but nothing that a little cleaning and scrubbing could not fix. The lower cowls (the black textured plastic pieces) were badly scraped from a trip in to the bushes by the previous owner. I had the lower cowls removed and repainted last year before we stored it for the winter. This spring I pulled the bike out of the garage for a good once over and to change the plugs, oil, coolant etc.

When I removed the lower cowls I noticed that the paint on the joint area of the left lower cowl piece was bubbled and peeling. Uh - OH was my first thought. After some careful checking we noticed some clear fluid leaking from behind the front sprocket cover. I had sprayed the chain with some degreaser to clean it before I applied some fresh chain lube, but that was the week before so NOPE. Feeling a bit lost I decided to continue on and think about it. I went ahead with flushing the front brake fluid, and then went to do the clutch. TADA, the reservoir was empty (and I know it was full because I had topped it up with a small amount of fluid before putting it away for the winter) so there must be a leak somewhere.

I refilled the reservoir and continued on and bled the clutch line. Afterwards I placed a piece of tinfoil on the floor after shaping a pan out of it of sorts and put some paper towel on top to see if I could pinpoint approx where the fluid was leaking from. It appears it is leaking from behind the sprocket cover behind the clutch slave cylinder. After looking at the Honda Service Manual I noticed that when removing the sprocket cover there are three gaskets that are supposed to be replaced. One looks to seal the speedo drive to the front of the sprocket cover, one seals the the clutch slave cylinder to the front of the cover, and one seals the back of the sprocket cover to the side of the engine case.

Is there somewhere else that the clutch fluid could be leaking from other than the gasket behind the clutch cover. I know the previous owner mentioned that he had replaced the chain and sprockets shortly before we purchased the bike. Since the bike was soooo dirty in the sprocket cover area that I couldn't tell if there was a leak. The PO was very liberal with his use of chain lube so the area behind the sprocket cover was dripping with goop.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I was going to order the gaskets from Honda, but I thought I would check with the members here to see if there could be any other cause for the leak, such as the slave cylinder itself.

[VFRBert]

Í think the seal from the slave cilinder is leaking.

http://www.davidsilverspares.co.uk/VFR750FT-1996/

http://www.davidsilverspares.co.uk/VFR750FT-1996/part_136929/

http://www.davidsilverspares.co.uk/VFR750FT-1996/part_81947/

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Thanks VFRBert.

I will check that out and see if that is where it is leaking.

Í think the seal from the slave cilinder is leaking.

http://www.davidsilverspares.co.uk/VFR750FT-1996/

http://www.davidsilverspares.co.uk/VFR750FT-1996/part_136929/

http://www.davidsilverspares.co.uk/VFR750FT-1996/part_81947/

Thanks for the suggestion VFRBert. I will check and see if that is the problem.

[Dutchy]

[Switchblade]

And look for pitting on the piston .

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Thanks for all the help guys. I checked with one of the local bike shops and the cost of getting a rebuild kit locally (gasket, piston and oil seal) cost $35.00 more than buying a new slave cylinder, clutch line crush washers, and sprocket cover gasket (including shipping) from Partzilla.com.

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Just an update for this particular thread. I would like to thank all of you who offered suggestions for my clutch issue and let you know that the problem has now been solved.

After checking locally and on Partzilla.com I discovered that I could get an entirely new OEM slave cylinder, and the gasket that goes between it and the sprocket cover for just under $100 Canadian including shipping. After hearing a few stories about those who had rebuilt the slave cylinder only to suffer continuous issues afterwards, I thought for the price, I would do it the cost effective way and replace the whole unit. Would you believe the local dealer wanted nearly $300 Canadian for the same bloody part. YIKES, what a rip off that is.

I ordered the parts on the 5th of May and they arrived on Monday (the 19th) this last week, which is a relatively short period of time in my book considering the parts needed to take a trip across the border. Word of note to any other Canadians who might want to purchase from Partzilla.com I would highly recommend them as their prices were fantastic and the shipping rates by far the cheapest I had found. Also, since the parts from Partzilla are shipped via USPS, they are delivered by Canada Post and thus you don't have to pay any sales taxes or customs fees, and that alone can save you a fair bit of cash.

I should have done a how-to post on the replacement of the slave cylinder but honestly it was not that hard to do with the help of the factory service manual. The only tip I can offer is that when you go to put the slave cylinder back on, be sure to thread the bolt for the clutch fluid line back on the slave cylinder before you reinstall the slave cylinder itself or you will not be able to get the line back on after because the speedo drive cable is in the way of threading the bolt in after the fact. Go ahead, ask me how I know this. LOL

[mcrwt644]

x2 on Partzilla