Stranded - clutch?

[Ponitail]

A couple of nights ago I stopped for gas in town coming home from a 50 mile ride. Pulled out of the gas station, hit second gear and shortly after engagement I heard a loud grinding sound. Pulled in the clutch lever and let out slowly again, got the same noise, so I coasted into the local NAPA store. The two guys that run it are both bikers so I let them listen to it.


When parked I could shift into neutral or first but not any other gears. When you let out the clutch lever, it starts to pull then starts making that grinding noise again. They said the clutch is not engaging all the way in and they think the clutch spring is broken.


Wondering if anyone has had a problem with their clutch on the Voyager. Bought mine new, has 67,000+ miles on it. Been using full synthetic oil since break-in at 1000 miles. To be honest I don't baby it, but I don't beat the shit out of it either.


If this is the case, I'm thinking I might as well replace the clutch and spring. Just looking for input from you all.


Thanks in advance.

[plumber63]

I don't know about the noise. But I do know you When sitting still you can only shift between neutral and first. Has to do with the neutral finder. Thats why you want to make sure you down shift to first before you stop. You will have to work to get it back to first if in a higher gear at a stand still.

[Pilot747]

Originally Posted by Ponitail

A couple of nights ago I stopped for gas in town coming home from a 50 mile ride. Pulled out of the gas station, hit second gear and shortly after engagement I heard a loud grinding sound. Pulled in the clutch lever and let out slowly again, got the same noise, so I coasted into the local NAPA store. The two guys that run it are both bikers so I let them listen to it.


When parked I could shift into neutral or first but not any other gears. When you let out the clutch lever, it starts to pull then starts making that grinding noise again. They said the clutch is not engaging all the way in and they think the clutch spring is broken.


Wondering if anyone has had a problem with their clutch on the Voyager. Bought mine new, has 67,000+ miles on it. Been using full synthetic oil since break-in at 1000 miles. To be honest I don't baby it, but I don't beat the shit out of it either.


If this is the case, I'm thinking I might as well replace the clutch and spring. Just looking for input from you all.


Thanks in advance.

I have the same bike. I changed my clutch at 72k, not that I had to but more of a preventive maintenance. The friction disks were still within limits.There are five springs and as a guess I would think that it would be highly unusual if one was broken. Possibly one of the bolts that hold the springs in could be broken. Otherwise a broken spring could not dislodge. I have to confess that when I was reinstalling new springs, I did break a bolt. Doesn't seem like those bolts have a high sheer strength. Bottom line is that you should pull the cover and see if things look normal. It's not a difficult job. Could have completed mine easily is 2-3 hours had I not broken that bolt. You'll need the cover gasket and two crush gaskets for the exhaust.

[Ponitail]

Thanks for your response. I'll watch for more input, it'll probably be a week before I can work on it anyway.

[vulcanscott]

There's been some nuts come loose on the pulleys . see if it stripped the splines in the frt pulley . it will give you a chance to clean behind the slave cylinder and does not cost anything to check .

[Ponitail]

Will do. Thanks again for the responses. Hopefully can get to it next weekend, but will see. Got my 11th grandchild coming on Friday. In the meantime got some wind therapy yesterday in the Mustang convertible.

[duffy]

I do remember something about the driveline front knuckle stripping teeth on the earlier Nomads.....might be something to look at if the clutch is good.

[gv550]

Usually when a clutch fails it just slips, no rattle. It could be a broken primary drive chain rattling around but I've never heard of one breaking. If a clutch bolt broke it would rattle in neutral the same as it does in gear so not likely that. Since it rattled in both second and first gear it is unlikely a problem inside the transmission. A much more common problem is stripped splines on the front drive pully, sadly a very expensive repair if you have no warranty remaining. It could also be a slipping drive belt, maybe stretched way too far and jumping the teeth (not likely) or maybe the teeth are stripped off the belt or pulley.

[DragonLady58]

Originally Posted by gv550

Usually when a clutch fails it just slips, no rattle. It could be a broken primary drive chain rattling around but I've never heard of one breaking. If a clutch bolt broke it would rattle in neutral the same as it does in gear so not likely that. Since it rattled in both second and first gear it is unlikely a problem inside the transmission. A much more common problem is stripped splines on the front drive pully, sadly a very expensive repair if you have no warranty remaining. It could also be a slipping drive belt, maybe stretched way too far and jumping the teeth (not likely) or maybe the teeth are stripped off the belt or pulley.

If splines are stripped, just get another engine/trans., can be had for $1200/$1500 ranges, probably for alot less miles than what your replacing with....Often with a warranty to boot....

[Ponitail]

Once again, thanks for all of your input. Will post what I find when I have time to look into it.

[Ponitail]

Well, finally got to tear into the bike yesterday. Splines on shaft and pulley are completely stripped. Working around machinery over 40 years, I've never seen a spline strip out like this. In my mind something wasn't right the day I rode it home. There is no way a spline should strip out if it is properly torqued and the clearances are tight. From what some of you are telling me, this is a re-occuring problem. Seems to me that ma kaw should be looking into their manufacturing practices. I think this is total bullshit and I plan on raising hell with Kawasaki. This may make or break my relationship with these bikes.

[gv550]

I’m really disappointed to see this.... again. Happened to my bike in 2011 but repaired under warranty. It is caused by the tab washer compressing and the loss of preload which results in the pulley wobbling on the spline.
As you said, it is a recurring issue and Kawasaki ‘should’ fix it and I know of a few owners that have been successful with out of warranty repair. When you take your bike to the dealer make sure it is as stock as possible, no trailer hitch, stock ECU, etc so they have no excuse for denying your claim.

[redjay]

This problem has also happened on a few V Star 1300's.

[ballbreaker]

Please let us know Ponitail how you make out with Kawasaki. It will be interesting to see if they actually acknowledge that this is a common recurring problem or just deny it.

[mbarr10]

Sorry to see Ponitail.

Damn the belt tension again. Isn't this the tension issue?? From what I have seen it is the bearing usually? or is this something different. I just like to know.