5th Gen clutch question.

This is the first bike I've owned with a hydraulic clutch and I have a question about free travel.

My clutch grabs right at the end of the lever travel. There is no free play there at all and no way to adjust this. I have changed the fluid and bled the system. I took out the push rod, cleaned and lubed it and even took out this small tab inside the reservoir and cleaned out the small hole in there as I read somewhere. No difference. The clutch doesn't seem to slip but is this a sign of it needing a replacement? I can't think of anything else to do and I would like to have the clutch friction point moved closer to the bar (which is I thinkn where it's supposed to be?). Could it be the springs?

Any tips would be appreciated. Oh, the bike has roughly 50,000 kms. May be the original clutch, not sure.

 

Hey 1stVFR. My bike now has about 65,000 km's and the clutch feels the same way. The clutch engages a fair way out on the lever travel, but it also does not appear to slip or cause any problems. Hopefully someone with a bit more knowledge will chime in and offer a suggestion.

 

Unfortunately there is no adjustment, but there should be a slight free-play in the lever. It does sound as though the tiny return orifice may be clogged and holding pressure in the lines if it engages right at the bleeding edge of the lever stroke., OR if the clutch lines are getting old they can shed debris internally that blocks and clogs up the lines to make them behave as a one-way valve. This would give you the same symptoms in the lever. May have to drain and clean the master cylinder to get any sludge out from between the return port and the banjo bolt.

 

I'll try taking the cylinder off today and cleaning it out. When you mentioned the return line, that's the part I had read about. I took off the tab inside the cylinder and used a small needle to try to clean out the orifice. The author of that post said that this line being clogged would result in the symptom I'm having.

With it all removed from the bike is it fairly easy to get at and clean out?

 

There is just one line and the fluid has to flow both directions. The return port lets the pressure bleed back to the master out of the slave cylinder, which is pressing the clutch rod against the throw-out plate to disengage the clutch friction plates. If the pressure doesn't bleed down the clutch will slip.

The piston rod in the master cylinder is held by a circlip. Rebuild kits are available to replace the rubber seals, etc. Not sure if the procedure is in the manual but someone has likely done it and put a video of how-to.

 

It sounds like you just need to adjust your lever. I was never happy with the position of the friction point being so far out and actually drilled out the actuation rod recess in the clutch lever, plus removed the lever, heated it up and bent it so it was closer to the grip. I eventually ended up getting some Chinese pazzo knockoffs from flea bay that have a much greater adjustment to them. No problem setting them where I felt comfortable as I have small hands. I did have to build up the clutch switch activation surface to make the switch activate normally.