VN1500L Clutch issue

[gotdurt]

So first, a little back story... I was given a low mileage (5700) '04 Nomad by a friend of my dad's; he said it always had a weak clutch that slipped more and more over the years, then one day 6 years ago he just lost all clutch and the bike wouldn't propel. He got distracted and so it sat... A little Google digging revealed that the diaphragm clutch spring was a weak point in these, and a likely culprit.

I brought the bike home and got it running again (very sweet running bike)... got on and pulled the clutch, popped it in gear and let out... nothing.
Revved it, nothing.
Put it back in neutral, popped it in first without the clutch and got a slight bump, so at least the shifter is doing something.

I ordered the Barnett spring, as it was all I could find; it was out for delivery on Wednesday, then I got a notification from UPS that it was "undeliverable" and returned to the sender. Still not sure what is going on with it; can't call the seller, because-Amazon. Pfft. Guess I won't be fixing it this weekend.

Now... while waiting, I've been digging some more and getting a lot of conflicting and confusing info on seemingly countless forum threads across the web, and now I wonder if I should cancel the Barnett spring and look for a Mean Streak spring with "Judge" washers... problem is I see a lot of talk about what's best, etc, but absolutely nothing on where to get them, or the part numbers. I don't have a convenient Kaw dealer (probably "non-essentially" closed right now anyway), so I'd like to find them online, if possible.

Can someone steer me in the right direction, or should I just continue waiting for the Barnett spring?

[recumbentbob]

The first thing I would do is change the brake fluid in the clutch and clean out the master cylinder and the slave unit.

[TrapperAH1G]

What Bob said! Check the master cylinder for crud in the bottom, if it's there, clean it out. Cover your tank and VERY gently squeeze the lever and see if the fluid moves at all. If it doesn't, the pin hole in the bottom is clogged. Clear it and change the fluid. I just did all of this when I changed my clutch out last summer.

[gotdurt]

Thanks, I'll take a look once the slave cyl is accessible. I'm going to do the spring anyway since the symptoms he described sounded like that was at least part of the problem... I wouldn't be surprised if I find some broken or collapsed tangs that would explain the final failure. I did do a visual check of the hydraulic fluid reservoirs and everything is clean and clear, and since I did get a bump when shifting without pulling the clutch, but not when pulled, that tells me that there is at least movement when the lever is pulled. I get the feeling that once I open it up, the story will unfold.

I went ahead and stuck with the Barnett spring since I knew exactly what to get and where to get it. I couldn't seem to find an OEM Mean Streak spring online, everything kept taking me to the Barnett spring.

[TrapperAH1G]

Keep us posted on what you do and how it works. Barnett spring is fine, my son used that on his. I'm just older and don't have the hand strength for that anymore. Good luck on the project.

[gotdurt]

Originally Posted by TrapperAH1G

Keep us posted on what you do and how it works. Barnett spring is fine, my son used that on his. I'm just older and don't have the hand strength for that anymore. Good luck on the project.

Will do, thanks. The spring came in today, hope to dive in this weekend.

[pjandbee]

While your at it clean and lubricate the lever pivot points. I had collected the parts to do the spring. The reason was it would slip in 3rd gear (and up) under normal acceleration.



Just for kicks I decided to check my clutch lever. The years of neglect I found that white crud, lots of crud. Checked the other two levers (brake) with same result's, in fact the foot brake was so bad it was a pain to get it off the pads were shot. Cleaned and lubricated with Anti-Zeeze.



I'm sure I'll use the parts some day......

[gotdurt]

Got the spring swapped yesterday, that's all it was. I was worried when I opened it up though, because visually the spring appeared fine, with no obvious evidence that would seem to cause total failure... I was expecting to find broken tangs, spring broke in 1/2, or something. I pulled it out and compared it to the Barnett spring, which had a significantly deeper "dish", and all of the fiber disks were well within spec, so I crossed my fingers and reassembled with the Barnett spring... BAM, clutch like new. Now for state inspection so I can get title and registration...

[gotdurt]

So an update... after a couple hundred miles, I noticed that the clutch engagement was moving further and further out the lever stroke, then the clutch started to slip a little under heavy load... I purged and bled the system with new fluid and everything went back to normal. After another couple hundred miles, the same thing happened, and it gets worse the longer you ride it (clutch engagement feels normal cold). Another quick bleed and everything feels good again, so something isn't right in one of the cylinders... suggestions on where to start?


Edit: It does look like I do have a clog in the pinhole in the master; no obvious fluid movement. That's a tiny orifice, what do you use to clear it?

[BrokeAss]

Carburetor orifice cleaning tool, or buy a new/used one.

[ringadingh]

You may have to replace te rubber hoses from the master cylinder as well, it may be breaking down inside and small particles of the inner hose are plugging the orifices. Or the hose may be collapsing internally, or you may have a tiny crack or leak that is suckingin air.

[gotdurt]

Originally Posted by ringadingh

...or you may have a tiny crack or leak that is suckingin air.

This is what I'm afraid of, it would be near impossible to find a small leak without replacing the entire system. But, that wouldn't explain why it would return to "normal" after the bike sits for a few hours; the first time you get on for the day, the clutch feels fine; engagement is where it needs to be with no slippage, then it starts to degrade.

I guess I'll have to start with a kit in the master and go from there.

[MrMikey]

A lot of times when the hoses go bad they'll act like a check valve, they'll let the fluid flow one way and block or partially block it the other. That could explain why it'll work good after sitting for awhile. You see it a lot on the front flex lines on the front brakes of a car. Actually just happened to my daughters Dodge Journey.........Mike