Clutch lever hard to pull

[essixx]

Had the bike out for a cruise today. On the way home I stopped at a stop sign, when I pull in the clutch, it would barely move, like it was sticking. I let off and pulled again, started to pull hard then became easy. Pulled in clutch to shift gears, when I let it out it came out slowly, but finally engaged.
After I babied it home, I tried to pull the clutch in and it was hard but moveing. I just held steady pressure on it and about half way in it starts to make a clicking noise on the right side by the oil sight glass. I let off and shut it off.
Any ideas? An '07 with 10K miles on it. Just got it and have put about 500 miles on it. Dealer serviced it and the fluid levels are topped off.
Thanks for any help.

 

[BlueHaya]

I would check the left side clutch push rod and make sure it is o k. Then you would prolly need to get into the right side and go all the way to the right side clutch push rod and check it.

Did it just start out of the blue or was it a gradual thing you noticed?

Maybe someone with more knowledge will chime in.

 

[essixx]

Just something that happened all at once. At least I was close to home.

 

[tsp]

also curious...

 

[BlueHaya]

you may even start by bleeding your clutch line and squeeze the lever to make sure it is not the lever itself.

I just learned a lesson to start with the easiest and cheapest part first....so that is where I would try.

 

[essixx]

Good advice to look for the easy and inexpensive first. I'll probably give the bleeding a try. If it was not for the clicking or chattering noise by the sight glasss I would feel better.
After looking around some more on the internet I can't find a thread or discussion with a problem like mine. I do wonder if the clutch release cylinder is the problem.
More than likely I'll have the dealership work on it. I don't have the time to do it myself. Just hope they can keep it less than $1000.00 and get it fixed right the first time.

 

[essixx]

Well BlueHaya, I did as you suggested and tried to bleed it. I pulled the clutch lever until it got stiff again. Keeping pressure on the lever I opened the bleeder valve at the slave cylinder. I expected the clutch lever to get soft when I opened the valve. Clutch fluid came out, but the lever did not get soft.
This is the first hydraulic clutch I have ever worked on. I would think that if the slave cylinder was the problem, when I opened the bleeder valve, the lever would have got soft and pulled easy. So, is my master cylinder the problem? I checked my line for kinks and it is good.

 

[BlueHaya]

You may have centralized the problem.

I would completely bleed the clutch system and look into the m/c or the lever itself. Do you have a vacuum bleeder...kind of like a mighty vac? there is a cheaper one at Harbor Freight for like $20, but not sure how good it is. WalMart might even have one.

Does your lever wiggle excessively or seem to get in a bind? Stock levers?

How does the clutch fluid (Dot4 Brake Fluid) look? Being an 07, I couldnt imagine it would be too bad.

Did the dealer touch the clutch? Was it fine when you took it in and then had a problem afterwards?

Hopefully someone will chime in who has more clutch experience.

 

[dadofthree]

I was thinking lever issue, but the first thing I would do is take it back to the dealer if you just bought it.

 

[essixx]

Well, I drained the fluid and it had silver gunk in the bottom of the reservoir. Probably aluminum shavings. Might be what is clogging an orifice. I did call the dealer about parts. $28.75 for master cylinder rebuild kit. Or 193.48 for the complete master cylinder. Found a complete one on e-bay, new, for $60.00. Gonna go the e-bay route.
I did check the levers cause they are after market. Didn't seem to have any abnormal wear,burrs or slop.
I'm pretty sure the dealer would have cut me a break on the cost of the repair, but if $60.00 and a little of my time fixes it, I think I'll still be money ahead. If not, I'll be more familiar with my bike.
I hope I made the right choice to work on it myself. I do hate the hassle of dealing with the any service department. And I know I'll do the job right. Not saying anything bad about the dealers service department, just my experience in general over the years.
I'll try to update this when I get the new parts installed. And I thank you guys for helping me!

 

[dadofthree]

Good luck, I hate messing with the hydraulics. Make sure you keep it off the bike.

 

[essixx]

Had some time on my hands today and had to go try to clean out the master cylinder. While cleaning it I thought I would check the banjo bolts ( the bolts that hold the hydraulic line to the master cylinder and the slave cylinder). The one at the slave cylinder was clear, I could blow air thru it. The one at the master cylinder was plugged. I tried to clear it, but no go.
Does anyone know if that bolt has a different type of passage than the one at the slave cylinder. It should just be hollow, right? The reason I wonder, is they have different threads so you have to put them in their proper place, meaning you can not switch them around.

 

[essixx]

Looks like the Banjo bolt at the master cylinder had something plugging the hole. Cleaned it out and reinstalled, bled the line and it was good to go. Now I'll rebuild the slave cylinder and install the new master cylinder when it gets here.
Thanks again for the help!

 

[BlueHaya]