Question about my slipping clutch

[cnc]

Originally Posted by davidhollinger

I posted a thread a week or 2 ago about my clutch slipping. I followed everyone's advice and changed the fluid in the clutch and brakes. Bike ran great around town. I took her for a long hard ride yesterday and after heating up I was coming back into town and at each light the clutch would not engage fully, meaning the bike kept wanting to go forward at each stop light. I was squeezing it against the grip and holding the brake. Is this the spring or the clutch?
Also, I agree with GLWilson...great group of guys to help others out!

Not such a good idea to be sitting there in gear with the brake on if the clutch will not fully disengage.

It may be still air as Mas says. It has seemed to improve though, wasn't your original issue not disengaging enough to shift down?
If you can get it hot enough to start acting up again, maybe you could try shifting into neutral while coasting to the stop, pump the clutch a few times and shift back into gear. If there is a slight temporary improvement over coming to a stop in gear with the clutch lever in, then I'd say you need to bleed again.

[davidhollinger]

Yes, Norm that was the exact issue. I have no issue at all shifting now..very smooth. but yeah after heating up it starts wanting to lurch forward when I want it to stop and idle. I will try this tomorrow depending on the weather...70% of rain in the forecast.

[davidhollinger]

Originally Posted by ringadingh

Also check the small adjustment wheel on the clutch lever, its numbered 1 to 5 try other settings with it because it does make a difference.

Hadnt thought about it...I messed with it when the issue first came up trying to fix it. After bleeding and changing the fluid I never moved it back.

[marcomarks]

Learned something new today. I had a Mean Streak clutch spring and "Judge's washers" installed to fix my slipping problem and picked it up this morning. I only have 17K on my 2001 Nomad so I knew it wasn't likely clutch plates. It cost me $140 for two hours labor to put in the parts I bought online myself for $76 (with shipping). The shop did a nice job, it seemed better when I left but after it warmed up the same problem was there but not quite as bad. The mechanic said he drove it for about 20 minutes as a test but the slippage didn't typically get bad before the fix until about 30 to 40 minutes. Apparently the new Mean Streak spring was helping but not solving the problem.

I had also read somewhere about clutches not DISengaging correctly because of little ports in the bottom of the handlebar hydraulic reservoir being plugged. This would also cause hard lever action. I've owned my bike since it was new so I didn't really remember it's original lever action feel.

So when I got home I opened the reservoir, absorbed all the fluid into a rag, cleaned the inside, got out the sludge in the bottom, and checked out the two ports. I have an old set of musical band instrument tools that are like those used in dental tartar removal but they aren't stainless like that. I suppose a sewing needle would work. I started poking around in one hole with the very sharp pin-type tool and got out some gunk but nothing spectacular. When I squeezed the lever nothing really seemed to happen except the fluid down in there wiggled a little. Then I cleaned the second hole that surrounds the second port, closest to the front of the bike, and looked for the little pinhole port to poke down into. It was hard to see, almost non-existent in fact. But I kept digging around and poked four or five times. Suddenly hydraulic fluid shot a foot in the air and sprayed my glasses and forehead. From then on, when I squeezed the lever a bit, that foot tall spray of fluid would happen every time.

After a refill of brake fluid, I fired it up, put it in gear, and the clutch was so firm and the lever was so different that when I let the lever out about 30% the bike lurched forward and stalled itself. Previously the clutch wasn't engaging until almost 75% of the lever travel. After getting used to that, I went for a ride and my slippage problem is gone completely. Also no more built-in Kawasaki launch slip (because of the Judge's washers). I blew the living hell out of the bike, bang shifting, and accelerating hard with not a sign of slip at all. I'm sure I now have the ability to do hole shots and burn the rear tire off of it - if I was into that. The acceleration is now massive like I can't even remember the Nomad having when it was new. It was always fast enough to blow most any car off the street but launches are much more aggressive now.

I suspect I actually didn't need to replace the clutch spring and could have resolved my problem for FREE myself (now that I know about it, but hindsight doesn't help after the fact) but it was still a good investment of about $215 to know the whole clutch system is working perfect and I'm not burning up the clutch plates.

So my recommendation is to try this free port cleaning problem resolution first (10 minutes at most) before even opening the engine because it may save you some big bucks.

[gillisfire]

If the clutch is not fully engaging, and the fluids have been changed and cleaned, then it maybe an issue with the master cylinder. Just for giggles, give this thread a read.

http://vulcanbagger.com/forums/showthread.php?t=36673

[Silent Sam]

I'm going to investigate the clutch master cyl. as per marcomarks comment..I'm wondering if there might be an issue with "casting slag"/machining bit's, remaining in the passages during factory assembly.. ?

[minst7877]

Another source for Judge's clutch washers.

http://www.ezonmotorcycleaccessories...chWashers.aspx

[ringadingh]

Originally Posted by marcomarks

Learned something new today.
So when I got home I opened the reservoir, absorbed all the fluid into a rag, cleaned the inside, got out the sludge in the bottom, and checked out the two ports. I have an old set of musical band instrument tools that are like those used in dental tartar removal but they aren't stainless like that. I suppose a sewing needle would work. I started poking around in one hole with the very sharp pin-type tool and got out some gunk but nothing spectacular. When I squeezed the lever nothing really seemed to happen except the fluid down in there wiggled a little. Then I cleaned the second hole that surrounds the second port, closest to the front of the bike, and looked for the little pinhole port to poke down into. It was hard to see, almost non-existent in fact. But I kept digging around and poked four or five times. Suddenly hydraulic fluid shot a foot in the air and sprayed my glasses and forehead. From then on, when I squeezed the lever a bit, that foot tall spray of fluid would happen every time.

After a refill of brake fluid, I fired it up, put it in gear, and the clutch was so firm and the lever was so different that when I let the lever out about 30% the bike lurched forward and stalled itself. Previously the clutch wasn't engaging until almost 75% of the lever travel. After getting used to that, I went for a ride and my slippage problem is gone completely. Also no more built-in Kawasaki launch slip (because of the Judge's washers). I blew the living hell out of the bike, bang shifting, and accelerating hard with not a sign of slip at all. I'm sure I now have the ability to do hole shots and burn the rear tire off of it - if I was into that. The acceleration is now massive like I can't even remember the Nomad having when it was new. It was always fast enough to blow most any car off the street but launches are much more aggressive now.

Thats why its important to change the fluid and clean the reservoir out every couple seasons. Most fellas don't bother cleaning and the holes get plugged up as you discovered.

[Jerther]

Hey sorry for reviving an old thread, but this one comes high on google and I thought I'd add a picture of what marcomarks' talking about.

I did the clean, and I think it is well worth the 10 minutes it took me. The holes were not plugged, but the fluid was so dark I couldn't see the bottom of the reservoir.

Cheers



Woah the picture's a little big ;)

[toogun]

Originally Posted by marcomarks

Learned something new today. I had a Mean Streak clutch spring and "Judge's washers" installed to fix my slipping problem and picked it up this morning. I only have 17K on my 2001 Nomad so I knew it wasn't likely clutch plates. It cost me $140 for two hours labor to put in the parts I bought online myself for $76 (with shipping). The shop did a nice job, it seemed better when I left but after it warmed up the same problem was there but not quite as bad. The mechanic said he drove it for about 20 minutes as a test but the slippage didn't typically get bad before the fix until about 30 to 40 minutes. Apparently the new Mean Streak spring was helping but not solving the problem.

I had also read somewhere about clutches not DISengaging correctly because of little ports in the bottom of the handlebar hydraulic reservoir being plugged. This would also cause hard lever action. I've owned my bike since it was new so I didn't really remember it's original lever action feel.

So when I got home I opened the reservoir, absorbed all the fluid into a rag, cleaned the inside, got out the sludge in the bottom, and checked out the two ports. I have an old set of musical band instrument tools that are like those used in dental tartar removal but they aren't stainless like that. I suppose a sewing needle would work. I started poking around in one hole with the very sharp pin-type tool and got out some gunk but nothing spectacular. When I squeezed the lever nothing really seemed to happen except the fluid down in there wiggled a little. Then I cleaned the second hole that surrounds the second port, closest to the front of the bike, and looked for the little pinhole port to poke down into. It was hard to see, almost non-existent in fact. But I kept digging around and poked four or five times. Suddenly hydraulic fluid shot a foot in the air and sprayed my glasses and forehead. From then on, when I squeezed the lever a bit, that foot tall spray of fluid would happen every time.

After a refill of brake fluid, I fired it up, put it in gear, and the clutch was so firm and the lever was so different that when I let the lever out about 30% the bike lurched forward and stalled itself. Previously the clutch wasn't engaging until almost 75% of the lever travel. After getting used to that, I went for a ride and my slippage problem is gone completely. Also no more built-in Kawasaki launch slip (because of the Judge's washers). I blew the living hell out of the bike, bang shifting, and accelerating hard with not a sign of slip at all. I'm sure I now have the ability to do hole shots and burn the rear tire off of it - if I was into that. The acceleration is now massive like I can't even remember the Nomad having when it was new. It was always fast enough to blow most any car off the street but launches are much more aggressive now.

I suspect I actually didn't need to replace the clutch spring and could have resolved my problem for FREE myself (now that I know about it, but hindsight doesn't help after the fact) but it was still a good investment of about $215 to know the whole clutch system is working perfect and I'm not burning up the clutch plates.

So my recommendation is to try this free port cleaning problem resolution first (10 minutes at most) before even opening the engine because it may save you some big bucks.

Sounds like the same issue I had with my clutch. It was fine cold but when the fluid got hot it slipped real bad. Using a 12mm wrench and cracking the banjo bolt on the MC for about 1/2 second until a drip of fluid escaped would release the pressure and it would be fine again for a while. I rebuilt the MC and the slave and made sure that the tiny return hole in the MC was clear...mine was plugged with gunk. Total cost for the 2 kits and some brake fluid around $50 and good as new.