Funky clutch

[Fastman71]

Brace yourselves, this is a long story.

Last year I took a week (I'm retired) and did a major servicing and cleaning of my Valkyrie.  It went well and she looked prettier than ever.  I rode her back to my mancave, ran the carbs dry and put her on the battery tender.

In March i noticed I had no lights lit on the tender but didn't have time to investigate.  Last week I finally got around to checking the battery only to find it was stone dead, no voltage at all according to my meter.  The battery was only 2 years old.  Hmmm...

So I spent the money to put in a new battery.  After 10 seconds of cranking, she lit off beautifully.   Humming happily on all 6 cylinders.

I took her out for a ride as I wanted to get her fully warmed up, run some fuel through the carbs and empty the tank a bit so I could put in fresh fuel.  I also wanted to remind myself of the joy of riding this beautiful machine once again.

While out on my ride I noticed something funky with the clutch handle:  I couldn't pull it all the way to the grip.  It would go halfway and come to a hard stop.  Now the clutch itself seems to be working fine as I'm having no problems up or down shifting.  When I stopped to get gas, I pulled in the clutch as I normally do, but the bike wouldn't turn over.  I kicked her into neutral and got her started again.

Now what in the world might cause this problem???  Could a popped rivet on the clutch jam it???  Bad master cylinders, slave cylinders, the safety switch or even a worn handle???

I'm asking all you Valkyrie Whisperers out there so I cover the basics here and don't end up chasing my tail.  Let the answers begin and thanks for your help.

My Valkyrie, a 1998 Standard, has about 60,000 miles on her.

[98valk]

the rivets of the clutch damper plate has failed, very common '98 models. my '98 did it at 42k miles.

u will have to replace the damper plate and the clutch plate on either side of it which is what I did.   GL1500 clutches last 300k+ miles so no need to replace all of them. In fact I brought a used clutch basket came with the plates from ebay which made alignment of the plates and re-install much easier. the used set had over 250k miles on them and the plates were still within spec.

search the tech board many threads on replacement of clutch.

[Willow]

It likely is the clutch plate rivets.  Usually you will notice a failure in the clutch as that happens but, I guess, not always.

As to the second part of requiring you to go to neutral, the clutch switch doesn't work until the clutch handle is fully depressed.  The switch activator is on the clutch handle mechanism.

[Pluggy]

Before you take the clutch apart, take a few minutes to test the master cylinder.

Honda and many other motorcycles use Nissin brake and clutch components.  The piston of a Nissin master cylinder can sometimes "bind in the bore".  

Test for this by loosening the clutch slave cylinder nipple and slowly squeezing the clutch handle.  (You might want to attach a hose.)  If the lever does not give full travel, the piston is likely "bound up".  If you get full lever travel and some fluid flowing out the clutch end, the piston is working correctly.   Try the clutch again and then you can move on to the next step.

The Nissin "bound in the bore" problem can also happen on Yamaha, Suzuki, and Kawasaki.  These obviously don't have a Valkyrie clutch.

[Fastman71]

Well, you're not going to believe this new development with my funky clutch.

While I was transferring some gear to the mancave, I thought I would check the clutch for operation, just for grins and giggles.

When I pulled the clutch in, it went all the way to the handle like it should.  The operation was normal.

I squeezed it several times,  moved some more gear around, then checked it again. Normal operation..

I've got a ride coming up in two weeks and I'm thinking I am going to take her out for another test ride before then. 

Opinions????

Thanks for the assist...

Fast Eddie Leuter
Perplexed Valkyrie owner

Never follow Godzilla on Taco Tuesday....

[hubcapsc]

Opinions????

If it is the rivet thing, it is still busted and you'll know it as soon as you
get six states away :-) ...

Anywho... ride it as much as you can before then and get it to seem
busted while you're near the house...

Daniel Meyer always says something like "Valkyries are reliable motorcycles
that don't just leave you stranded in the middle of nowhere - they warn you
first..."

-Mike

[Pluggy]

Consider doing the easy (and cheap) stuff first. Run half a new bottle of DOT 4 brake fluid through the clutch hydraulics. There may be something that didn't come out in the last flush.  

The diagram below shows push rod #1.  Make sure that is moving freely when the lever is pulled in.  Lubricate item #2.  

https://www.partzilla.com/catalog/honda/motorcycle/1999/gl1500c-a-valkyrie/clutch-master-cylinder

Is everything really clean in the fluid reservoir?  And, sometimes the rubber components in shown in item #3 can wear and become ineffective.  That's another reason the master cylinder can "stick".  It makes sense to check these things before going after the clutch cylinder or friction clutch.  

 

[-mike-]

Fastman, you have been describing the failing clutch plate rivets issue at its best.
At least one rivet has been sheared off and temporarily was stuck between the clutch plates.
These parts will now tumble happily in the clutch case.
Every mile more will increase the risk of a damaged clutch basket, too...

Forget any cheap "maybe trying this or that first".

-mike-

[Fastman71]

Here's my next question:  where are these rivets located???  I've looked at a couple of videos showing the clutch taken apart and I'll be darned if I can find them.

Also, should I replace the part with the busted rivets, can / will this happen again???

Fast Eddie

Wondering where the lions are....

[-mike-]

Here you are:

http://www.valkyrieforum.com/bbs/index.php/topic,20870.0.html

The damper plate has been reinforced since, so no, if you get a new one, this won't happen again.

-mike-

[Timbo1]

If it were mine I'd do the easy stuff first. Remove the master cylinder and slave cylinder and clean and rebuild if needed.  Flush the lines and see if the problem is resolved.  If it doesn't help at least you know those aren't the problem.  I've seen some badly corroded master & slave cylinders that prevented full clutch action. Bike is 25 years old and probably due anyway.

This was on a bike with 35k or so miles.

[The emperor has no clothes]

Fastman, you have been describing the failing clutch plate rivets issue at its best.
At least one rivet has been sheared off and temporarily was stuck between the clutch plates.
These parts will now tumble happily in the clutch case.
Every mile more will increase the risk of a damaged clutch basket, too...

Forget any cheap "maybe trying this or that first".

-mike-

+1

[Fastman71]

Ok, I read the other article regarding rivet failures.  Looks I'm going to be replacing a clutch in the very near future.  Thanks to those of you who helped out here.  I'm not looking forward to this job, as it seems to have it's quirks, but I've been involved with painful jobs before and managed to get the job done.

I will keep you posted on how the job goes, amount of creative cussing used and any ideas I may have about making the job easy (although i think that's pretty much been covered already).

I'm also glad to know that the new damper plate has been modified so this won't happen again.  The only thing worse than doing a cranky job is doing it again.

Thanks for all the help.

Fast Eddie ( oh yea, I found out where the lions are too)

[PSUbag]

I'd check/replace the brass bushing at the end of the lever. Sometimes it's the simple stuff.