Clutch slowly releases even when holding lever in

[justin-branam]

Hey all, still a noob as far as motorcycles are concerned, so bear with me. I have been having issues with my 2001 M750 as far as the clutch goes. If I pull the clutch lever all the way in pop it in gear, it more than often starts catching like the clutch lever is being released, even though I'm still holding it in. I did replace the fluid (emptied and soaked up any debris in the resevoir, then bled the system. That did not fix the issue. Do I need to remove the slave cylinder at this point? I do have an aftermarket slave on the bike (don't know the brand), but I don't feel safe riding the bike as it is, so I need to fix this so I can get back on the road for some weekend rides!! Thanks for any help!

[Slide Panda]

Does the feel change? Like it's 0-1% engaged initially and if you sat with the lever pulled for a time it would increase to 2, 3, 4 etc etc? Or is constant level of drag like you can't quite get the clutch to disengage 100% ever?

[justin-branam]

I can get it to disengage fine which will allow me to put it in gear. But as I sit, it slowly creeps until the gear catches and either pulls me forward, or if I'm holding the brake, causes it to bog down and die. My thought on this is there must be a slow leak somewhere past one of the valves/bearings/seals/flapper/whatever in the clutch lever or slave cylinder, maybe caused by some debris or something in the way, which wont allow the system to close all the way. That make sense?

[Slide Panda]

Ok - that makes sound like there's a leak.

A) Are you losing fluid? It's normal for the reservoir levels to drop very slowly as the clutch plates wear and the plate stack get thinner. It's not noral for the fluid level to drop (relatively) quickly and need a top up once every few days.

B) You're not losing fluid? Hmm well then it sounds like a piston seal in you master might be shot. The system's basically two pistons linked by a fixed volume of fluid in a tube as long as all the seals are in tact. On the slave side, that piston is pressing against the springs of the clutch. If the seal on the master side is done for then the force of the springs acting on that volume of fluid, which is no longer fixed. Instead it's getting pushed past that bad seal back to the reservoir.

[justin-branam]

I'm not losing any fluid, so sounds like it is the slave seal you mentioned. Is this something I can repair/replace easily, or would I be better off just buying a new slave cylinder?

Thanks for your help!

[Slide Panda]

Read more carefully  . I said its probably a seal in the master not slave. If it was the slave you'd be loosing fluid and probably notice a leak running down the engine case

Some masters can be serviced and rebuilt some can't. I suggest you call or email Fred at Yoyodyne. He'll know if it can be and if it can will be able to sell you the needed parts

[justin-branam]

Read more carefully  .

Reading never was my strong area.... neither was following directions, haha. That does make sense, because when I was changing the fluid, whenever I pulled the lever SLOWLY in to bleed the system, it seemed like it would build up pressure and then quickly let off because it would squirt fluid everywhere from the resovoir. Sounds like a good excuse to upgrade to aftermarket parts  

Thanks. I'll give Fred a call.