I was riding along yesterday and punched the throttle, the clutch completely slips and the engine revs up. I let off the throttle then it engages again. Today I went out to test it more and now the slipping under acceleration is happening in all gears. It also will not accelerate above 65 mph.. I'm just baffled @ why the clutch went bad so fast. It was working one day and now it is almost inoperable. The bike is a 95 with almost 50,000 miles. Any ideas on what needs to be done? Thanks
Is the clutch lever adjusted with that round disk right in between the lever and master cylinder? I used Rotella T conventional, but its been almost 3k miles since my last change.
From Wiki; Though not yet officially announced by Shell, posts in various motorcycle-related forums cite e-mail confirmation from Shell that Rotella 15W-40 CJ-4 has been tested and shown to meet the JASO-MA friction test. This particular certification is important for motorcycles because of the clutch design which is bathed in the engine oil. This is known as a "wet clutch." Oils that have excessive "friction modifiers" tend to make wet clutches slip. Indication that Rotella T Triple Protection passes the JASO-MA friction test offers one more reason to seriously consider Rotella T for motorcycle use. Motorcycle specific oils tend to cost between $8 and $10 per quart. Shell Rotella T 15W-40 costs about $10 per gallon (or about $2.50/quart). The price economy of Shell Rotella T allows a motorcycle owner to change oil more frequently, thus matching the "extended change interval" value of motorcycle specific synthetics. So it would seem, that the oil is OK?
I took my bike down to a shop and one of the service guys told me that my problem was caused by my clutch being slightly disengaged all the time, kind of like holding in the clutch lever a little while riding around. So when I got home I opened up the slave cylinder to see if that was the problem and there was so much pressure that I can see the piston start to come out by its self and I'm not squeezing on the clutch lever either. I figure this might be my problem. The slave cylinder is pushing against the clutch lifter rod to hard and its keeping the clutch semi disengaged. If this sounds right what do I need to do? All this started after changing my clutch fluid so I must have did something wrong.
make sure that the very small hole in the clutch fluid reservoir is clear. the hole allows fluid to travel back into reservoir and can become clogged, causing the problem you describe......
Your changing the clutch fluid may have dislodged a little dirt which stopped up the smaller hole in the bottom of the clutch m/c. When you loosen the bleeder at the slave cyl, does fluid squirt out or just dribble a little? If it squirts, (while lever is not pulled in) the m/c needs attention.
Thanks guys, I just got done cleaning out the M/C and I think that did the trick. When I originally bleed it I remember seeing some flaks of debris sitting at the bottom but I figured they would not bother anything. That must have been it because its working now. Appreciate it everybody.
