Clutch wont fully disengage?

[Tommet]

Hi everyone,

So my clutch wont fully disengage now. When I roll the bike in neutral it rolls fine, then if i pull the clutch in and put it into gear theres a heap of resistance on it. It feels like the clutch isnt fully disengaging.

Ive tryed fiddling with the clutch lever adjuster screw and that hasnt helped even with it waaay out. Could it be something with that clutch pin under the left side cover? -I had the side covers off a while ago so maybe I put somethign back wrong then...

Thanks in advance,

-Tom

[Soloratov]

Go through the FULL adjustment guide here: http://wiki.gstwins.com/index.php?n=Maintenance.AdjustClutch

Steve has an illustrated version here half way down: http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=59361.0

Doing just the lever is only about 1/3 of what you need to do.

[Tommet]

Thanks Soloratov, Sorry if it was a silly question!

-T

[CrispThat]

A similar thing is currently happening to my bike.

From what i can gather, when it drops below 10F (-12C) in my garage pulling in the clutch lever won't fully disengage the clutch (making my bike impossible to push start. My battery also losses it's kick at cold temps... Yes i know, i need a new battery). When the oil is that cold, it's viscous enough to cause significant drag on each plate, preventing them from sliding past each other freely. After running for a min, my clutch reverts back to normal function.

Since I'm on the subject, does anyone have an oil suggestion that could prevent this from happening? I know that 5W and 0W oils can cause leaks with the GS, but a thinner oil seems like it would help the cold problem....

[Soloratov]

Nothing silly, better to ask and find the right answer than fumble around.

Crisp: At that temp, al you can really do is wait for it to warm up. Let it idle a bit longer. If you drop the oil weight, then yeah, it will do more harm than good once it's hot.

[CrispThat]

Ya, I've been pushing the cold Temps this year. Going 'till there's snow has complications on really cold mornings. Especially in the mountains.... I've had to jump the bike a couple times.

On the battery note, does anyone know of a manufacture that makes a sealed gel battery for the GS? I can't seem to find one that will fit. I'd spend the extra cash over an OEM type if i could find one...... need more cold cranking amps.

[adidasguy]

Dirty, gummy, sticky clutch plates will make the bike jerk when first put into gear.

I removed the clutch cover on one bike and actually looked at that. Clutch was in but wheel extremely hard to turn. I could manually separate the clutch plates and they would be OK until the clutch released. Then they would be stuck again.
When the bike is warm, the goo softens up.

My solution was to remove the clutch plates. Clean in kerosene. Oil them up and put them back. Now everything is smooth as silk and almost no stickiness of the clutch plates.

There will always be some when the motor is cold. after all, you have 7 plates and 6 steel discs which are oily. When clutch held in, that only allows maybe 3/16" at most for space for them to separate. Cold the oil causes stickiness. Hot oil less.
And when gunky and dirty, goo settles in between the pads of the clutch plates and acts like a strong glue.

Warm up the motor a little and maybe clean the clutch plates.

Always start in neutral for this very reason: sticky clutch plates put excessive stress on the starter. If motor is hot, not so much of an issue but still good practice to always start up in neutral.

[Suzuki Stevo]

With an air cooled bike, even used in the winter I wouldn't go any thinner than 10W-40, it's good down to -4F or -20C. If the oil has been in there a while, change it, do the full clutch adjust. After you've changed the oil and done the clutch adjust....

• Get the bike good and warm/hot (at least a 20 minute ride)
• Take all of the play out of the cable at the lever end
• Tie the lever back to the grip and leave it overnight

And yes...I am a Farm Boys Son 

[Tommet]

Okay, so I did all that, there is heaps of clutch lever pressure. very little lever play, and it still is doing the problem... Perhaps its my imagination, but i feel like its worse now... 

-T

[sledge]

Does the clutch basket and/or drum look like this?.........



Those edges need to be flat and smooth, any ridges or high spots will prevent the tags on the fibre disks from moving and cause the clutch to hang up. No amount of adjustment will remedy it.

[the mole]

Is that the new 'rack and pinion' clutch?

[dinkydonuts]

A similar thing is currently happening to my bike.

From what i can gather, when it drops below 10F (-12C) in my garage pulling in the clutch lever won't fully disengage the clutch (making my bike impossible to push start. My battery also losses it's kick at cold temps... Yes i know, i need a new battery). When the oil is that cold, it's viscous enough to cause significant drag on each plate, preventing them from sliding past each other freely. After running for a min, my clutch reverts back to normal function.

Since I'm on the subject, does anyone have an oil suggestion that could prevent this from happening? I know that 5W and 0W oils can cause leaks with the GS, but a thinner oil seems like it would help the cold problem....

You could stick with the 40W and use an additive like Marvel Mystery Oil. I haven't tried it myself, but it seems like a cheap and safe way to regain some "lubricity" while using heavier weight oils.

[Kiwingenuity]

On the battery note, does anyone know of a manufacture that makes a sealed gel battery for the GS? I can't seem to find one that will fit. I'd spend the extra cash over an OEM type if i could find one...... need more cold cranking amps.

Motobat make a good one - MB10U - about 2 extra Ahr than the standard lead acid.

[ohgood]

cold, good battery
1 put bike in neutral
2 thumb starter
3 wait till warm, ride

cold, bad battery
1 put bike in neutral
2 push to 15 mph, pull clutch, click to third , dump clutch
3 wait till warm, ride

[the mole]

cold, good battery
1 put bike in neutral
2 thumb starter
3 wait till warm, ride

cold, bad battery
1 put bike in neutral
2 push to 15 mph, pull clutch, click to third , dump clutch
3 wait till warm, ride

1.5 Choke on.
4. Choke off.

[cWj]

my clutch seems like it exhibits the same traits you mention...I was thinking it was due to being slightly over full on the dipstick.

[Tommet]

Alright, So I took it for a bit of a high reving fang over the weekend to see if that would loosen it up. It certainly started to disengage ion neutral once the oil was very hot, like hotter than normal driving. Does this just mean that my oil is to thick? My bike has 48000kms on it and im using 15w50. Should I go back to 10w40?

Then next issue was that once I got it all heated up after some sun on the highways, the clutch started slipping at 5500rpm and above. I had to limp home for about an hour before she cooled down and then she was back to normal again? Would this be clutch issues or oil issues?

Thanks,

-Tom

[adidasguy]

So, have you removed the right side cover and cleaned the clutch plates ?

Sticky plates when cold = gummed up plates.
Slipping when really hot probably also is gooey gummed up plates where the goo is now soft and the plates don't grip.

Change oil all you want- that will do little to clean the clutch plates.

If I were doing it, I'd also spend $50 or so for a new set of clutch plates. Might as well after going to the work of opening up a motor with 50k miles.

[ohgood]

Alright, So I took it for a bit of a high reving fang over the weekend to see if that would loosen it up. It certainly started to disengage ion neutral once the oil was very hot, like hotter than normal driving. Does this just mean that my oil is to thick? My bike has 48000kms on it and im using 15w50. Should I go back to 10w40?

Then next issue was that once I got it all heated up after some sun on the highways, the clutch started slipping at 5500rpm and above. I had to limp home for about an hour before she cooled down and then she was back to normal again? Would this be clutch issues or oil issues?

Thanks,

-Tom

0w20 or 20w50 ... there will be very little difference in how it engages at all. the gear shifts feel different but that is about all.

if you ever use "energy conserving /frictionmodifiers" or similar it will take 4-5 changes to clear our out.

order plates and ruin whatever oil but please make sure the free play is right or you'll need it again in the spring

[Tommet]

order plates and ruin whatever oil but please make sure the free play is right or you'll need it again in the spring

Do you mean the freeplay in the clutch lever adjustment?