clutch

[art]

I may be having issues with my clutch.I have 160000 miles on my 02 standard and noticed that under extreme acceleration and shifting the clutch will slip and also while just cruising if I just pull the lever maybe  1/4 " it will slip. Now that is not pulling it in very much. I'm thinking that the plates may need to be replaced. Any thoughts out there?

[Ricky-D]

That's not unusual for the clutch lever, especially if the motor is accelerating.

I'd suggest trying a different brand of oil for a start.

***

[bentwrench]

Mine doesn't slip under hard accel,but will slip at a slight tug on the lever.Been that way since 2k miles.
Sounds like it's time for a clutch.
bw

[HayHauler]

I'm with Ricky on this one.  The Valk clutch releases at the very end of the stroke, not up by the bar.  Sounds like normal operation.
if there is no chatter when releasing the clutch, try a different oil and see if it makes a difference.
EDIT
My '07 Wing is just the opposite, it engages very near the bar, so switching bikes is tricky for the first few shifts until my mind switches bikes too.. 
/EDIT

Hay  
Jimmyt

[art]

No burnouts, I use Mobile 1 syn.  I'm just wondering. If I'm running through the gears at wot I some times get some slipping if the rpm are up when I let the clutch out. It seams to be good at just cruising around. BTW I am going to also pull the levers and check the bushing

[Gryphon Rider]

i have a photo of some moron doing a burnout with a valk, you can barely see him for the smoke, that might be a short lived clutch

Don't you think that might be TIRE smoke, not clutch smoke?  And what makes you think doing a burnout is any harder on a clutch than, say, riding a fully loaded Valkyrie with a trailer?

[Mr.BubblesVRCCDS0008]

Mine went out at 158,000 on my interstate. I've ran mobil1 15w50 since the get go in my bikes. My rivets wore out and in a matter of a very short time I had no clutch. Not a bad job to replace stacking the basket is the hardest part.

[F6Dave]

The rivets on mine started shearing aroung 145K.  Actually, the plates were fine and the spring was well within spec.  I could have reused all but the damper plate, but replaced the fiber plates, spring, and big nut anyway, only keeping the old steel plates.  Come to think of it, if I was really cheap I could have just replaced the rivets on the old damper plate!

As for assembling the clutch pack to fit in the basket, I came up with a simple method that worked perfectly on the first try.  I can post a pictures if needed, or just search for my old post.

[Mr.BubblesVRCCDS0008]

I used a spare clutch basket that a very good friend (thanks Eli) loaned me  and stacked it on the work bench before installing it back in the bike. I replaced all fiber dics and re-used the metal plates.

[HayHauler]

When HotGlue, RedDiamond, and I replaced mine at 90k, we eyeballed the disks in the basket and I used a small punch and a 4 oz ball peen hammer to align the disks until the clutch pack fell into place.  Didn't take too long, maybe 15 minutes.
Man, wish I knew Eli had one of those baskets..... 

Hay 
Jimmyt

[Ricky-D]

It's not absolutely necessary to replace the damper plate assembly with another damper plate assembly.

You can substitute two regular plates and a friction disc for the assembly.

***

[Rio Wil]

Ricky is right about the oil.  Ditch the M1 and go to something like Shell Rotell 15-40. Run it a couple of thousand miles and see if it fixes the slippage. If the clutch lever action seems normal, no shuddering at take off or engagement point has not changed, more than likely you can do your clutch job with just a oil change.... This fixed my slipping clutch about 40-50K miles back, noticed it mostly in 4th gear WOT and about 4K rpm.

[art]

Thanks everybody, I'm going to change the oil an see what happens. I'll repost on the results

[Highbinder]

I had this problem not to long ago where the clutch slipped after the bike warmed up and you accelerate hard...turned out to be dirt had blocked the return hole in the master cylinder , when the fluid heated up because it couldn't return to the master cylinder it would expand and put pressure on the clutch spring just enough to make it slip, after several cleanings it started working properly.

[R J]

I agree with Highbinder here.    It has to be Master cylinder is dirty.

I flush my whole system out every 3 years and change fluid when it starts to show darkening.

I've used Mobil 1 ever since MGM was a baby.     He has 243K+ on him now and still on the original clutch, and it has towed a trailer many many miles in his lifetime.     I used to have a trailer that I & my father-in-law built.    It started life behind my Yamaha (forgot the number, it was like S1, F1, X1).    The 1st year out it was a HOT bike,   the 2nd year it was detuned.

This trailer has been in all the lower 48 states & Alaska.    Several of the state’s 2 or more times.

Everything on these bikes has to be checked & fluids changed.     Most areas not maintained properly are radiator fluid and clutch & brake fluids.

[Gryphon Rider]

Before you do that check the #2 brass thingy and see if it is worn.

Checking it is fine, but that bushing being worn isn't a potential cause of clutch slippage.  It might, however, prevent completely disengaging the clutch.

[art]

I am planning on checking the bushing in the clutch and brake handles. If they are worn I'll make new ones since I have the tools and a lathe.

[art]

I am planning on checking the bushing in the clutch and brake handles. If they are worn I'll make new ones since I have the tools and a lathe.

Let us all know what the problem is when you find it.

Oh I will but there's no rush. I have a lot of projects this winter like pulling the engine oil pump out from the kia and putting a new floor in my motorhome.

[art]

Update on the clutch lever. I removed the lever today and it was like new ,no wear in the bushing or the plunger and pin. It had plenty of grease. I cleaned it up and reinstalled it. I changed the oil, This time I used dino oil , Pennsoil.  10-30. When I get the valk out between snow storms I'll see if the clutch is acting the same.

[Ricky-D]

With the oil change, I wouldn't expect to see any positive results right away.

I would also expect things to not get worse.

***

[art]

I'm not going to see results any too soon, lots of snow and ice around here   I probably will not be on the valk for a few weeks anyway.

[bentwrench]

Don't put 10-30 car oil in there,big nono.Friction modifyers don't agree with wet clutches at all.I've run mobil1 15-50 car oil in the valk and it didn't seem to bother it,put it in my kaw ZL1000 this and got a mean clutch shudder.
I put m/c oil oil back in it and the shudder is going away slowly.from now on I'm sticking with rotella or m/c specific oil

[art]

I looked all over the container and nowhere did it say anything about friction modifiers. Its just standard motor oil.

[Denny47]

You may be a fan of Pennzoil but I am not. Pennzoil will sludge up the inside of your engine in a big way. About 40 years ago I used Penn  and when I removed the intake manifold at about 50K it was so sludged up it was pitiful.

[Gryphon Rider]

You may be a fan of Pennzoil but I am not. Pennzoil will sludge up the inside of your engine in a big way. About 40 years ago I used Penn  and when I removed the intake manifold at about 50K it was so sludged up it was pitiful.

How could it get in the intake manifold, unless you poured it in the gas tank?

[R J]

You may be a fan of Pennzoil but I am not. Pennzoil will sludge up the inside of your engine in a big way. About 40 years ago I used Penn  and when I removed the intake manifold at about 50K it was so sludged up it was pitiful.

How could it get in the intake manifold, unless you poured it in the gas tank?

I would say he is refering to like a Chevy, Ford or Plymouth engine.

[Ricky-D]

Well, to stay on topic and continue this thread, Art posts:

I looked all over the container and nowhere did it say anything about friction modifiers. Its just standard motor oil.

I doubt the oil container would be so direct as to indicate "friction modifiers", but if you look in the bottom of the circle there is something like "fuel conserving" that is the tip-off that the oil does indeed contain those compounds.

The easiest way to pick a oil would be to choose "motorcycle oil". These oils don't contain the "friction modifiers" and they do usually contain the better additives used in the oils from years ago. The EPA has put the skids on automobile oils but relented with the motorcycle specific oils.

***

[F6Dave]

There have been tests showing some motorcycle specific oils (including a few from Honda) contain moly.  Mobil 1 15-50 auto oil contains a bit of it, and in my experience (260,000 miles on 2 Valks) it hasn't caused any clutch issues.

[HayHauler]

Make sure the bottom of the circle on the back of the bottle is empty.  Make sure it does not say ENERGY CONSERVING.




Hay 
Jimmyt

[art]

I finally got a chance to take the Valk out for a ride and it ran good. I got on a deserted road and revd up the engine and let the clutch out .It grabbed and off I went pulling a wheelie and quick shifting up to about 80 mph. No slipping. I do think I'm just worried about all the hard miles are going to be taking a toll on the old lady. I want to keep her until I wear out first. So far so good.

[Bone]

Sometimes I think I'm looking for a problem that doesn't exist.
Ride and enjoy.

Merry Christmas

[R J]

Sometimes I think I'm looking for a problem that doesn't exist.
Ride and enjoy.

Merry Christmas

You sound like my mother, RIP mom, I had a pasttime shop in California, and I don't think there was a day go by that her damn car wasn't in the shop taking up space.

When I was on duty and just the 3 techs working, she'd take the car in and they would check it, road test it, recheck it again and make up some damn thing they fixed and send her down the road.    She was as happy as a lark.   They left me a note on my desk, and when I got off duty I'd drop by to make sure we were not out of something, and then I'd call her and ask how the car was running.

She'd go into this huge explanation as to what the guys did, I'd just say glad they got you fixed up.

Cheers.