87 VFR 700 Clutch issue...

Hey everybody, been awhile since my last post but things have been crazy these last several months as I am sure most of you can attest to.

I began experiencing a clutch issue last last year right before I got off the bike for winter. The clutch lever is REALLY loose and I cannot engage the clutch to put it in first or second gear, at least not easily.

I tried a couple of things already like bleeding the line, adding new fluid and basic adjustments but have not torn anything apart yet.

About two months before I parked it for the winter I got an oil change. I thought I read somewhere that certain oils can cause slippage. :crazy:

Thanks in advance.
D

 

Sounds like the master cyl has air in it. It can be a real pain to bleed all the air out of the master. And easy to suck air in when bleeding by hand.

I'd also check the slave cylinder for leaks, and check that the level itself is properly connected to the master cylinder, make sure it's actually fully engaging the master's piston.

 

Different kind of problem. That slippage is the slippage of the plates/friction discs in the clutch because they've been contaminated with low-friction additives in automotive engine oil.

What the clutch lever does is compress some springs, via the slave cylinder (and a really long rod that goes through the engine case). So you feel the resistance from compressing those springs, not the friction of the plates/discs against each other.

 

here's a suggestion:

remove the 3 bolts holding on the slave cylinder and use a C-clamp to push back and retain the piston in place. (Be extremely careful not to overtorque those bolts on reassembly.)

Now you can work on getting resistance into the clutch lever by whaterver means; once you have pressure up top remove the clamp and watch for movement of the slave cylinder......being careful not to push it out too far.

Clutch bleeding is most sucessful if the system is bled while the slave cylinder is pushed fully in with the C-clamp because that eliminates space for air to hide.

 

I had a simialr problem recently and it was air in the clutch line. After 30 min of bleeding I finally have a fully functional clutch again. Maybe check for any leaks through out the entire clutch setup and try bleeding again if none found.

 

This is why I built an adapter for the Motive PowerBleeder I originally picked up for the cars. Pressurizes the system to 10psi or so, and forces fluid through smoothly, and fully takes care of any pesky bubbles in the master with a few strokes of the clutch/brake lever when pushing fluid through the system.

 

The master cylinders whether brake or clutch are self bleeding kind of. If there is air in the top part of the lines it will bleed back in to the mc and out the small hole (two holes in mc). It's best to remove the little plate thats over the small hole that's held by the larger hole. One thing that's need to be done for this to work right is to get the hose connection joint to the mc pointed down below level. If you look at the mc you'll find where the hose connects is actually pointed up, higher than the bottom of the mc. Air will get trapped there. Loosen the mc clamp and rotate the mc. so the connection is pointed lower than the bottom of the mc itself. Then just keep pumping the mc and the air will feed thru the mc seal area and out in to the bottom of the fluid area. If you have air down by the slave or calipers you then must bleed it normally from those bleeders. If you don't get the connection area lower you will be pumping for hours to try force the air out.

 

answer to clutch problem

sounds like a a worn clutch plate to me I have a 1987 VFR700f2 intercepter that iam in the middle of restoring back and the color is the candy wave blue with the silver you have to check out my pics feel free to ask any other questions

 

Parts...

I was just googling and came across this thread... I was wondering if you guys might be able to help me on what would be a good source if I needed to buy the lower slave cylinder for my clutch on an 87 700?

Thanks!

George

 

You can order a whole new slave assembly from Bike Bandit, but it's $90. If it's just leaking, you probably just need the seals (been there, done that), which are a fair bit cheaper:

1986 Honda VFR700F INTERCEPTOR OEM Parts, 1986 Honda VFR700F INTERCEPTOR OEM Motorcycle Parts - BikeBandit.com

Look in the section for the left side cover of the engine to find the clutch slave cylinder.

 

Great thanks... I'll check it out.