[joeholman]

imported post

Here's the deal. Yesterday, after church, I went for a short ride (30 miles or so) & then stopped at Wal-mart & met up with the wife. After shopping, I rode home and all was fine, there didn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary.

Tonight, after work, I got ready to meet up with some friends to go on a ride & get some ice cream, climbed on the bike, my daughter climbed on the back, it started up fine.

I squeezed the clutch lever, & it didn't seem to have much resistance at all. I kicked it into 1st & it lurched forward & stalled. The clutch didn't engage at all. The lever did nothing.

I checked the M/C & it has fluid in it. A quick inspection doesn't show any leakage & the hose seems to be intact & not leaking. There are certainly no puddles under the bike.

What could cause the clutch to go so completely wrong so suddenly?!

Any assistance/advice is greatly appreciated!

 

[gumbyred]

imported post

If you dodn`t know when last time clutch fluid was replaced I would do that now. Put new D.O.T. 4 brake fluid in, and bleed system till fluid coming out looks clear. If this doesn`t help slave cylinder may need rebuilding. Might also try putting rubber band around clutch lever over night. This gets all air out of system.
Tom Bishop

 

[roscoepc]

imported post

Try cracking the master cylinder banjo bolt loose and bleeding there. Use lot's of shop wrags though to keep the brake fluid from contacting the paint/plastic as that DOT-4 will have it for lunch!!!!!!:shock::shock:

 

[Bike...and Dennis]

imported post

Hi, Joe. Welcome to the forum
Master or slave, could be either. You can flush and bleed the system and hope for the best. If you need to rebuild the cylinders, I strongly urge the use of OEM parts.

 

[Bernieswing]

imported post

Welcome to the forum Joe. Like the other posters said, bleed the clutch first. Get as much old fluid out and new fluid in as you can.

 

[sctrucker]

imported post

joeholman wrote:

I checked the M/C & it has fluid in it. A quick inspection doesn't show any leakage & the hose seems to be intact & not leaking. There are certainly no puddles under the bike.

cmon joe, its not a harley:ROFL:

 

[rideandslidejim]

imported post

Welcome to the Forum and 10-4 on all the above. Had to do mine a few months ago, could not get it in or out of gear without a lot of coxing,bleeding it solved the problem !

Jim

 

[joeholman]

imported post

SUCCESS!!!

I used a mityvac, and after sucking the M/C dry twice, I gave in and asked my wife to watch the fluid level for me while I tended to the vacuum.

All in all, it took about half an hour (including mis-steps), and the clutch seems to be better than ever.

Thanks for all your help, I hope I'm able to repay y'all with something I may know as time draws us along.

Thanks again for helping get me back on the road!:action:

Blessings to all!!!
--JH

 

[JerryH]

imported post

First of all, I believe you meant the clutch wouldn't DISengage.

Those MityVacs are wonderful tools, I have one, but haven't used it in over a year, since I discovered SpeedBleeders. As good as the MityVac is, SpeedBleeders are 10 times better, and to me are the ultimate solution for brake bleeding. ALL vehicle manufacturers should install these things as oem.

Anyway, glad you got it fixed.

 

[joeholman]

imported post

Jerry, you're probably right. I just couldn't decide whether engage or disengage was right. I figured when the clutch engages, it disengages the transmission, thereby taking it out of gear. You're right in assuming that the clutch wouldn't disengage the tranny.
But that's all semantics I guess.

I'm going to have to look into those speed bleeders, they sound like a God-send.

--JH