1986 vf400 hydraulic clutch adjustment

Hi, I'm having issues with my clutch (um, clearly!)

I'm able to shift gears smoothly and well, However when I first start my bike up (cold) and it's warmed up enough to take the choke off, when I drop it to first my bike pulls away immediately, or stalls. However when i stop for gas later in my ride, and drop it to first (after it's fully warmed up) it won't pull at all. I'm not even entirely sure if this is a clutch issue, since it goes away after being ridden for a while, but I don't want to ride it again untill I have it figured out incase it is wearing down the clutch.

Any ideas how to find out what the issue is? And if it is the clutch, how to adjust a hydraulic clutch?

Thanks alot in advance!!

 

Sounds like you may have air in the line or dirt and crud in the slave cylinder that is causing it not to engage fully. What is the service history on the clutch fluid? Time to drain, flush, refill and bleed the system? May need master and slave rebuild kits, plus may need newer rubber lines (it is fairly old now)...

 

The hydrolic clutch system is Non-adjustable, unluck the cable system.
If it is the clutch, it isn't releasing completely, & the slave cylinder would most likely be the problem. But I would first do an oil & filter change, as someone may have used an oil additive that isn't compatable with a wet clutch system.

 

Thanks for the help! I'm going to bleed the clutch today and see how that goes. Is it ok to use the VF500 manual for my bike, as I cannot find one for a vf400?

 

Yes, not a problem, the only difference I know of is the cc's.

 

So I bled the clutch fluid and brake fluid, and did an oil change. Now the clutch isn't disengaging when I pull the lever.

 

Didn't do something correctly, & got air in the system?
Re-bleed & make sure there is no air, other-wise you will be having to do a rebuild on the MC & Slave.

 

You may have a clogged orifice in the master reservoir. Go look at the photo in the thread following this post to see where it is located and check that yours is open:

http://vfrworld.com/forums/mechanics-garage/39219-1984-vf1000f-clutch-problem.html#post365991

There is a factory NC30/vfr400 manual that you can download off the carlsalter website, honda_nc30.zip

 

Where can I buy master and slave rebuild kits for my bike? Are there similar models I can search for?

Would part #10 here match? its for a VF500 but my bike is a vf400
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Any help is greatly appreciated!

 

And holy smokes! First I wanted to do an 'easy job' and change my spark plugs, and so far I have all my faring off, drained my gas tank, taken apart the air filter and have gone WILD trying to clean my bike! I gotta replace the air intake, as well as the hose, and the fuel line as it was leaking a lot! I now understand how one problem can lead to another, especially when dissembling your bike!

I might not be riding it, but I'm sure learning a lot about motorcycles!!

 

Have you made any progress on this? I am having the same problem and am about to purchase parts for the MC or SC but I'm curious what, if anything, worked for you?

 

I love rezing these old threads..lol (sorry about that).

Hydraulic clutches are a lot less complicated than they appear.

The solutions provide above is exactly whats going on. Air in the system. Proper bleeding will resolve this.

just as FYI.. heres a link about Hydraulic Clutches.

 

Just a couple tips, as I had to drain and bleed mine completely this past weekend....

Get a MityVac. Harbor Freight has them for $40. If you get any air in the line, expect to be there bleeding the line for a long time if you do it by hand. With the MityVac, I was able to drain/flush/fill the entire line in less than a half an hour.

Clean that master cylinder. I unhooked the banjo bolt at the MC and gave the MC a good cleaning, and made sure that when I squeezed the lever, fluid came out the hole where the line connects.

Then I hooked it back up, filled the MC, and used the MityVac to draw the fluid through the system. After a few re-fills, I was able to get nothing but fluid from the bleeder. The lever was a LITTLE spongy, so I cracked the banjo bolts, one at a time, to bleed any air from them (started at the one at the MC).

Topped off the MC, line was as good as new.

Just don't get brake fluid on anything.....

 

Yeah I know not to get brake fluid on anything Evil dot4!!

I actually went online and ordered a couple new parts, including the internal components of the master cylinder, the rubbers for the slave cylinder, and some rubbers that were cracked on the master cylinder.

The big problem is that now my fuel petcock is leaking, and it's stopped being produced, so I'm going to head to the shop tomorrow and drill out the rivets and rebuild it (aka probably just replace the rubbers inside ) so hopefully I will have my bike up and running by next weekend, so I can FINALLY enjoy it before the summer is over!!!

All the parts i got (about 10 including the master cylinder internal kit) was only 120$.

When I get it all together and I still have the clutch problem, then maybe i will buy that pump, but for now good o'l manual labor will have to suffice

 

Wow, I think that thread you wrote just about explains everything. Thanks for pointing me to it.

My issue was clutch did little, after bleeding, clutch does nothing. I am going to dissasemble the MC, clean it, and replace the piston set within. I've seen all this talk about seals in the MC but I cant seem to figure out what internal parts those are.
So I will assume it has to do with the piston. Thanks

 

you can get re-build kits for your massa-cylinder on Ebay if you type it in for the search. You can also take apart your slave cylinder and clean it too. I go the route of buying new though. Slave cylinder for my bike as I recall was around 90 quid, er sorry, dollars...thats dealer though. Clutch, I got the oem stuff from honda. Thats just me though, installed a new braided line a while back as the bike has been in dah family for 16 or more years. So, when all is said and done, I have a new clutch system, its nice and re-assuring knowing that stuff as you pilot your ride-down-dah-road :thumbsup:

Wrenching is fun huh...