[escogold]

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I seem to remember this happening on my other 1200. When I start it when it's cold, like sitting overnight cold, after warm up I wince when I drop the clutch and kick it down to first because it always lurches noticeably- clunk! It only does it once and then fine until the next time it's set overnight. What causes this?

 

[Shooter]

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Cold thick sticky motor oil on the clutch plates is causing a bit of drag. Both of my 1200's did this with new or old oil of any viscosity. My solution is to work the clutch lever 15/20 times as the engine is warming.(1-2 minutes) Then a FIRM dab on the shift lever into 1st. while holding the lever to the bar.



The loud "CLUNK" is still there, but the lurchung is greatly reduced... :gunhead:

 

[Hatchetman]

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Your idle should be around 1000 rpm. if it is higher, you will get this problem. 10 W 40 should be the weight of your oil. The clutches are oil dependant & thick oil will also cause this. Even 10 W 40 will cause drag when it's cold & thicker. When you let the clutch out, at what point in the stroke does it begin to engage?

 

[escogold]

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I don't think the clutch engagement changed at all but I'll double check that. Idle is correct and I'm positive that's not the problem. It only does it once and for the rest of the day it never does it again. I got the feeling it was a "something was sticking" issue. My first thought was that it had something to do with the clutch. Both my 1200's were allowed to sit for way too long so I thought maybe some kind of glazing/corrosion/rust was the culprit. Weird thing is I pull the clutch in as far as it will go and I, out of habit, pump the lever a half dozen times but that doesn't get around it. With the clutch fully depressed I usually try to give it a quick kick into first but on the way from neutral to first gear I get the clunk and the bike lurches a bit. Clunk is never a sound you wanna hear associated with a shift. Both of my 1200's do it. Bear in mind they are both 84's and each one has literally 36,000 on the odometer. Point being they both spent way too much time idle. Shooter I think you are describing the exact same issue I'm having and I'll give your suggestion a try and hatchetman thanks for your input too.

 

[D-Rod]

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I wonder if the seafoam in the oil trick might clear it up. Give it a try about 100 miles before your next oil change. Follow directions on the can.

 

[RB]

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Yep I agree sea foam or MMO for a few miles and then oil change you've got sticky plates. You cold adjust the clutch a bit to give more pull but if the adjustment is correct now you just masking the real problem.

 

[escogold]

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I've never had the pleasure of messin' with a clutch pack yet so I'll have to do some homework there. Hard to envision what's going on if one doesn't know how the system works. I was curious if this was common. I've already got a can of seafoam on the shelf and she's close enough to being due for an oil change so I'll give that a try and report back. Thx y'all.

 

[ChasW]

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Mine does the same, I think every bike I have had has done it. I don't worry about it, I just hold the front brake tight, pull the clutch in and hit first gear quick. Hey, I wonder if we put it second gear first if it will decrease the lurching problem. I am going to give that a try.

 

[ChasW]

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By the way, my oil is super clean. I seafoamed it with two changes, mine still lurches. As I said before, I don't worry about it.. My bike is 23 years old, 50k miles on it and all is still functioning.

My thoughts of the why it lurches, I think the clutch friction plates dry up sitting over night, oil drains out of them a little and causes drag. The oil is not going to work back into the plates until the clutch starts spin and slip a little and the bike is driven a foot or so. All the parts of the plates get resubmursed back into the oil and get wet again.

 

[cntryboy1289]

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Mine will do it at times, what I do is engaged the clutch and roll it backwards a foot or so and then hit the switch and it stops it from lurching.

 

[escogold]

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Interesting. The lurching issue doesn't bother me because it's minor and isn't a control issue. What concerned me was the "CLUNK" and I was curious if it was common to other wings and finally what caused it. BTW, In the past I tried the rollback, the clutch pump, the quick shift, the second gear shift. Didn't make much difference. I just thought of a new one: start it with clutch depressed in gear. I'll try it and get back.

 

[Shooter]

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escogold wrote:

I just thought of a new one: start it with clutch depressed in gear. I'll try it and get back.

Hang on to the bars, you'll be going for a short ride.... :gunhead:

 

[ChasW]

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Starting it with it engaged, that puts extra strain on the starter, battery, starter relay and wiring. I like to be gentle on all the above. I would rather put up with the clunk. How about letting it run for about 5 mins., does that help?

 

[BC]

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All of my bikes have done this same thing. The clutch on my Wing is hydraulic, how do you propose to adjust the travel on it?? If it is properly bled it has maximum travel.

 

[croderick]

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Start engine in neutral. Had that happen to me when wing was new (to me) over the winter. A;lmost made shed a drive through. Has hydraulic clutch running 10w-40 oil at this time. Lots of us have the same "problem" with similar model bikes. I asked the same questions only put it in a different context and got similar answers. William_86 put it the best " start it in neutral, less stress on the battery"

 

[NeedleNick]

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I solved that problem on my 1200.

Pull in the clutch lever, then give the throttle a quick "blip" before dropping it into gear. I think you'll find that this will greatly reduce if not eliminate the "lurch".

 

[escogold]

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When my bike is cold on the stand I always start it in neutral . Just seemed like common sense safety wise and ease on moving parts but apparently there's a reason why I shouldn't start it in gear because there's a chance it will bolt? Why is that?

 

[derekhendry]

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i think the problem is that the cluth plates are normally working in oil, i assume that the oil drains off them and the plates dry up and stick, when you first click it in gear when cold the do clunk, the 1500 used to lurch forward the 1800 not so much, after that its fine. I have actually dropped the 1500 rather lie it on its side, was on wet grass put it in gear, the back wheel just span and the bike slid over, nothing i could do. I think its just the nature of the beast