styran Posted May 6, 2021 Share Posted May 6, 2021 I just fixed a thread near the clutch slave cylinder so I had to remove it from the bike. It was off for a month with the fluid completely drained but the line still connected. The gasket was ripped so I replaced it and put it back on. I'm not sure if this relates to the problem but the oil was changed at this time. Yesterday I put DOT 4 brake fluid in the reservoir and tried to bleed it but the lever had no pressure so it was impossible to bleed. I read somewhere online that if you take off the SC and push it against the rod air will come out. So, I did that and lots of air bubbles came out at the top of the reservoir. After no more bubbles came out I grabbed the lever and there was pressure. I began bleeding the clutch using the following method: 1. pump clutch a couple times and hold it in 2. crack open the bleed valve (lever looses resistance) 3. close the valve 4. let go of clutch (level regains resistance) 5. repeat & make sure reservoir doesn't run dry I did this a lot of times and the lever had a good amount of resistance to it and no air bubbles could be seen in the brake fluid. But when I hold it in and try to spin the rear wheel on the center stand it is impossible unless you turn it by hand which requires a lot of force. I took off the SC again and tried to push it against the rod to get air out but that didn't do anything. I also tried to bleed it many more times but no luck with that either. I ended up using about half a bottle of brake fluid doing this. The clutch is partially engaging because I can hear the rod pushing the clutch assembly on the other side of the bike but it is not fully engaging because the wheel does not spin freely. I've never bled hydraulic systems before & I'm not sure how to proceed here. Is there still air in the system or is there something wrong with the slave cylinder? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Stray Posted May 6, 2021 Member Contributer Share Posted May 6, 2021 Sounds like there’s still air. With the SC off, try turning it so any areas near the bleed nipple or hose union where bubbles can get trapped are facing upwards. Then push the piston in with your thumbs. Might need to do this a couple times. Watch out not to spill fluid out the master at the top as it could damage paint. Best to keep the fluid level below max and put some towels round to catch any spray when you push in the piston. Wash any spills off ASAP with water. Rotate the SC to get at all the air-trap spots. Refill with more fluid and pump lever as necessary. DO NOT PUMP THE PISTON RIGHT OUT!!! When you’ve done all you can, fit everything back together and leave the master reservoir lid open just a crack. Pump the lever 20 times to build up as much pressure as you can (watch for spills again) and on the last pump tie the lever to the handlebar. Leave overnight and you should have a rock solid clutch in the morning. This also works with brakes, by the way. Don’t do this on a humid/rainy night as don’t want your brake fluid absorbing moisture. Happy riding! Stray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer BusyLittleShop Posted May 6, 2021 Member Contributer Share Posted May 6, 2021 We know that our gears can't shift smoothly if our clutch is part way engaged... First visually check for clutch plate travel by opening the oil filler and pear inside and note what degree the plates follow the actuation of the lever... Keeping working on it until you note a quick and abundant spread... Here are the steps how to check and eliminate unwanted clutch drag... 1 Place your bike on the center stand... 2 Start engine and establish a steady idle at 212ºF (operating temp)... 3 Squeeze in the clutch lever and shift into first gear... 4 Continue holding in the clutch lever and note if the rear wheel coast to stop or not... if it continues spinning that's unwanted drag... continue trouble shooting like bleed system for bubbles... rebuild slave cylinder... Ultimately you want the rear wheel to coast to a stop when the engine is idling and first gear selected with the clutch lever is squeezed in... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer DannoXYZ Posted May 6, 2021 Member Contributer Share Posted May 6, 2021 Distance between ends of rod is highly critical. If distance is greater than rod, it won't push clutch plates far enough to disengage. 1. make sure cover you removed is fully seated up to engine. 2. make sure you didn't double-up on gaskets between slave & engine. 3. As test, remove gasket from slave and reinstall to see if shifting improves. This will show that you've got too great distance between rod-ends. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer ShipFixer Posted May 6, 2021 Member Contributer Share Posted May 6, 2021 I had trouble getting my clutch to bleed correctly after rebuilding it, and I am reasonably experienced (have a lot of things that seem to like collecting humidity and air in lines). A speed bleeder nipple (a bleed nipple with a spring loaded check valve inside) helped a lot! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer DannoXYZ Posted May 7, 2021 Member Contributer Share Posted May 7, 2021 Yeah, it's downhill battle as bubbles rise in hose while you're trying to force them down. Best to raise slave-cylinder higher than master-cylinder so bubbles move one-way only. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
styran Posted May 8, 2021 Author Share Posted May 8, 2021 On 5/6/2021 at 4:56 AM, Stray said: Sounds like there’s still air. With the SC off, try turning it so any areas near the bleed nipple or hose union where bubbles can get trapped are facing upwards. Then push the piston in with your thumbs. Might need to do this a couple times. Watch out not to spill fluid out the master at the top as it could damage paint. Best to keep the fluid level below max and put some towels round to catch any spray when you push in the piston. Wash any spills off ASAP with water. Rotate the SC to get at all the air-trap spots. Refill with more fluid and pump lever as necessary. DO NOT PUMP THE PISTON RIGHT OUT!!! When you’ve done all you can, fit everything back together and leave the master reservoir lid open just a crack. Pump the lever 20 times to build up as much pressure as you can (watch for spills again) and on the last pump tie the lever to the handlebar. Leave overnight and you should have a rock solid clutch in the morning. This also works with brakes, by the way. Don’t do this on a humid/rainy night as don’t want your brake fluid absorbing moisture. Happy riding! Stray I did this for a day and clutch lever got stronger. I also found a bleed nipple at the MC and bled that. Although air did come out it still would not fully engage. The brake fluid was a little too clear so I’m gonna assume some water got in there. I’ll be sure to rebleed before putting everything back together. On 5/6/2021 at 11:51 AM, BusyLittleShop said: We know that our gears can't shift smoothly if our clutch is part way engaged... First visually check for clutch plate travel by opening the oil filler and pear inside and note what degree the plates follow the actuation of the lever... Keeping working on it until you note a quick and abundant spread... Here are the steps how to check and eliminate unwanted clutch drag... 1 Place your bike on the center stand... 2 Start engine and establish a steady idle at 212ºF (operating temp)... 3 Squeeze in the clutch lever and shift into first gear... 4 Continue holding in the clutch lever and note if the rear wheel coast to stop or not... if it continues spinning that's unwanted drag... continue trouble shooting like bleed system for bubbles... rebuild slave cylinder... Ultimately you want the rear wheel to coast to a stop when the engine is idling and first gear selected with the clutch lever is squeezed in... I idled the bike steadily at around 220F (when the fan turns on) and the clutch worked. The wheel would turn when I shifted to first but then would eventually stop. When I killed the engine it was harder to turn the wheel with the clutch in. Is this normal? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer BusyLittleShop Posted May 9, 2021 Member Contributer Share Posted May 9, 2021 On 5/8/2021 at 1:56 PM, styran said: I idled the bike steadily at around 220F (when the fan turns on) and the clutch worked. The wheel would turn when I shifted to first but then would eventually stop. When I killed the engine it was harder to turn the wheel with the clutch in. Is this normal? Eventually stops is normal... Turning the wheel by hand is not a worry... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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