Major clutch issues

I am sorry if this has been asked 1,000 times over but I have done days upon days of research on the web to no avail! I bought a 4th gen. viffer in August of 2011, I have had it roughly six months now and I must admit for a bike that is 18 years old this thing is sweet, much better than my old Ninja! The bike runs great, only has 7,2xx miles and is gorgeous, it is simply a champ. My issues started last Thursday. Since I purchased the bike I have experienced zero problems, I tried to start and let it idle every few days through the Winter, when it was warm enough I took it around the block and back just to keep things fresh. Just a few days ago I went outside and started it before taking it for a quick trip; after ten minutes I returned to a hot mess in the garage. Unfortunately I am not joking, you could feel the heat coming from the frame alone, I have never seen it so hot before. For the first time I heard the radiator fan on, the cooling gauge was through the roof, there was a puddle of coolant under the bike on the ground and it did not smell right. I sorted all those issues out and its running like a dream again other than the clutch, for some reason it is not disengaging. I removed both the master and slave cylinders and cleaned them, (talk about nasty!) along with the line going between them. I filled the master after replacing everything; I expected things to be working correctly but to my surprise the clutch lever had no resistance and the bike stalled upon putting it in gear. I have searched and searched, I have tried every single fix I have stumbled upon and have not found a single thing to get it back in working order. When I pull the clutch lever I can hear air in the bleeder valve but nothing comes out, I pulled the banjo bolt at the slave cylinder and hardly anything is coming out when the lever is engaged. This makes me think that a seal or gasket simply needs changed, could I be on the right track? I am going to replace the master cylinder anyway since the window is useless and the cap is cracked, but if a seal is all I need I will start there for now. Although I think I know what is wrong I would like a second opinion or two. I find it extremely odd that on Wednesday the bike was shifting through the gears with no problem, but on Thursday it would not even try.

Forgot to mention that I have bled the bleeder valve, through the banjo bolts, tipped the bike to the right side etc. Nothing is working. Luckily its raining all week so I will have time to get back out to the garage to try a few more tricks.

 

Doesn't anybody have any ideas that could help me out? I would really like to get this thing figured out rather than take it to a shop. I am probably going to rebuild both the master and slave cylinders, any chance the clutch plates could be stuck? I dont know how they would be stuck together suddenly but I suppose it would be worth a shot cracking the case open to check, a replacement job probably wouldnt be a bad idea either considering it is eighteen years old.

 

Use a syringe to reverse-bleed the system with the reservoir cover off and a rag over it to catch any overflow. It's tough to bleed the clutch lines unless you've bleed the mc separately FIRST. Try bench-bleeding the mc. Fill mc, remove banjo bolt, hold a finger on and off over the outlet hole using it like a bleeder valve and fiddle around till you feel pressure, hold lever in, replace banjo bolt and try bleeding the lines again. It may help to lean the bike, turn the bars, remove mc from handle bar, anything to get the outlet hole higher to help expell air.

If plates are stuck (very unlikely unless the bike has been sitting for a long time) the best, easiest way to unstick them is to push the bike in 4th gear while pulling clutch lever. If the rear wheel doesn't skid, plates are free. It's a little tricky, but plates can also be freed by riding the bike and using throttle on the engine to fight against the brakes while the clutch lever is pulled in.

Hope this helps.....

 

I have been busy the last few days but finally got around to trying to reverse bleed the system; that was a no go. I removed the banjo bolt on the MC and held my finger over it, but pressure never built. It is definitely spitting out fluid but thats all it will do! Honestly I am tired of not riding, if I had a truck or trailer my last resort of taking it to a local shop would probably be happening soon..

 

Finally got this issue figured out, I got to the point last night of frustration that does not let you let things sit. I went to the garage and bled the master cylinder for roughly an hour,problem solved! I guess I was either not doing it correctly or was not giving it enough time from the point when I started. Either way, I have a working clutch again!

 

Glad things work out for you....now get her out and ride. She will appreciate you

 

if you don't mind me asking how do you bleed the mc? i'm having the same problem with my 3rd gen!

 

Hi,
I prefer Reverse bleeding, as Air wants to go up. Plus it's less messy.

But the conventional way is to pump the clutch handle a few tymes & while holding pressure open the bleeder, Do NOT release lever till after you close bleeder, & repeat atleast 12 tymes or untill there is no more air. If you have the intergrated resivour keep an eye on the fluid level as there is very little fluid in there to begin with.

Good luck

 

I bought a vaccum pump/brake bleeding kit and did the same thing as mentioned above...but with the added vacuum of the pump, it helped pull the fluid through the lines quicker.

 

I did my 4th gen the other day and eventually resorted to this. Fill a syringe with brake fluid and push it into the small hole in the mc reservoir, empty the syringe as you open the banjo bolt. It can be messy so cover everything up. Obviously make sure the reservoir doesn't overflow but also make sure that the hole is always submerged. Can't gaurantee it but it worked for me.