Clutch Fluid Issue- 2003 Valkyrie Standard - Updated With Issue.
sandy:
If you do another rebuild, get some OOOO steel wool. Tear off a strip as deep as the open cylinder. Put a small drill in your drill motor and wrap the wool around the drill. Lube the wool with brake fluid and run it in and out the cylinder to hone the bore. This will help the new seal to seat itself.
carolinarider09:
Quote from: mello dude on July 25, 2025, 02:26:27 PM
Turn the bars all the way to the right, fill it and do a clutch circuit bleed job.
I would do this before another clutch master rebuild.
Yes I did that the first time but......
Yesterday afternoon, I raised the handlebars to a higher level, meaning the fluid "angle" was more flat.
It did not seem to make a difference. Went out this AM and checked it seemed to be "corrected". There was "pressure" and the clutch handle when I pulled it in and it seemed to be operational. I will let it sit a few more days (suppose to have higher in the high 90's to 100 plus the next three days). Then I will take it out for a ride and see if it holds up.
That is the only real issue. I have no idea what I would do if the clutch failed to disengage and I wanted to stop the bike while in gear. I have never, to my memory, shifted gears on the bike without using the clutch.
I did, however, back in the late nineties, drive my 1996 Ford Ranger four speed stick shift, from somewhere in Florida to back home (in SC) with a failed clutch. Just got lucky.
Chrisj CMA:
I had a clutch like that. I removed most of the fluid from the master cylinder then forced fresh fluid up from the bleeder to the master cylinder. That restored the function.
h13man:
I would do a gravity bleed and/or lever assist pumping but never let the fluid get to low while doing this. Do a quick snap bleed or two w/o bottoming out the lever @ the clutch slave cylinder bleeder.
I recently done the front brake system on front and the difference between the old MC parts and new was noticeable but no pressure loss thus your issue is probably at the slave cylinder end.
On a note, using a VTX 1800 MC is much easier on older and/or shorter reach hands thus allowing easier holding of the clutch engaged at stops.
Another possibility is the slave cylinder itself finally said no more. $51 rebuild parts or $104 complete.
carolinarider09:
Just an update. I have been monitoring the status of the system. Over the weekend, when I checked for operation, the system work. That is the clutch lever met resistance (by feel) and I think it worked.
I checked it the next day and the same positive results. I did nothing more, after I raised the handle bars and did a bleed on the clutch slave cylinder (using a pump system). I have some concern but..... only time will tell.
We have a couple of cool days coming up so, I will take her out for a ride.
The clutch is once the few things I don't relish having fail. I think it happened once before (which is why I rebuilt the master cylinder) and I remember the feeling when I found that I could not operate the clutch and there was no safe way to stop the bike. Not cool.
But will keep working to ensure it is working reliably .
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page