Clutch problem - I'm thinking rivets

[ThinRedPaste]

Hey all, my clutch started acting up last time I had the valk out.  Two or three times during the ride, while at a stop light, the bike suddenly lurched forward with the clutch lever all the way in, and subsequently had a moderate forward pull.  After that happened, I started to have problems getting the lever pulled in all the way, shifting got harder, neutral became very difficult to find, and the clutch started to engage unevenly as I let the lever out.  I've read some other threads on the issue and it sounds like my pressure plate rivets let go.  Confirm?

Bike is a 98, has nearly 150k miles on it, running pretty fresh rotella oil.  Clutch fluid was lowish, but not so low that I would expect air to get into the system.  I'm going to bleed it anyway, but I don't think that's the issue.

[Hook#3287]

Sounds like you diagnosed it correctly, unfortunately.

The only way to know for sure, is to pull out the clutch basket and check.

Not a hard job, but an impact wrench is helpful.

150k ain't bad for a clutch. One of mine went at 35 k from rider abuse

[Tfrank59]

Well before you tear into it, maybe it would be a good idea to go ahead and change out the fluid and blead it?  From your description the issue is the clutch doesn't want to disengage, and since it's a hydraulic clutch you might want to look first to that, including possibly the slave cylinder?  Just my two cents.

[F6Dave]

Here's from an old post I wrote after my clutch rivets started shearing:

The clutch damper is actually 2 steel drive plates riveted together, with some flat steel springs sandwiched in between.  When the rivets shear, centrifugal force ejects them from the clutch pack.  As they work their way out, the clutch pack briefly becomes thicker, which causes the clutch lever to feel like it hits a stop part way in.  Once the rivet is spit out of the pack, the lever feels normal again.  But since the damper now has less rivets holding it together, it isn't long before the next one shears and repeats the process.

If this is your problem the fix is not too difficult.  I posted pictures of some shortcuts I learned when I replaced mine at about 138K miles.  I'm sure the post is still available via search.

If you decide to replace the damper plate, as mentioned I have an old post with some pics than could save some time.

[dan7uk]

Before I tore into it I would rebuild the slave cylinder with a kit and the clutch master cylinder with a kit and put fresh fluid in it.  Simple things first.   
Just did mine, and made a difference.

[trout dude]

Check the brass barrel and the pin for ware in clutch lever. My interstate did the same thing and the pin had wore clean thru the clutch lever.
 

[Valkpilot]

Check the brass barrel and the pin for ware in clutch lever. Me interstate did the same thing and the pin had wore clean thru the clutch lever.
 

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

[ThinRedPaste]

The barrel and pin in the clutch lever is relatively new, that had worn out and been replaced previously.  The things that have me pretty sure it isn't any of that kind of simple stuff are that it did a clunk and lurch while stopped with the lever pulled in a couple of times before I got it home, and it shudders BAD off the line.

[Tfrank59]

Yeah, those symptoms are indicative of a more serious problem.  Let us know what you learn.

[Mr.BubblesVRCCDS0008]

Same thing mine did at 160K and it was the rivets. Not a bad job to do. Took about 4 hours to fix.