Do I need to bleed the clutch?

rashad

rashad

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I finally got around among my hundreds of winter mods(thats a post all in itself in due time..) to replace the small 16 tooth sprocket with a 17 to make it a bit smoother down low and less twitchy. The job went pretty easily, but now the clutch has barely any pressure until the lever is almost to the bar.

I dont remember having this problem when just pulling the sprocket cover the last few times? I will tell you my buddy, while holding the bike upright for me, did pull in the clutch with the pushrod out.. would that have added any air to it?

Im going to get a mityvac (will need it for the front brakes anyway) so I can bleed it. Just wondering if I have a bigger problem. Oh and I have a sprocket cover reinforcer thingy, and there is no flex there, so its not because of that.

Thanks!
 
lol thanks guys, anyone have any experience with this? I did search first and found a few posts but not a lot of info...
 
as far as I can tell it is.. I may pull it off and see whats going on in there before I try bleeding.
 
If you don't hold the clutch lever down while the slave cylinder is removed, then yes, you need to bleed. I use a tie-wrap around the grip to hold the lever in when I do the front sprocket swap. Works like a charm, no bleeding needed. Also don't use the Harbor Frieght bleeder tool, it's a POS, your just throwing your money away. These are lessons I learned the hard way.
 
The bleeder valve on my 07 got corroded somehow and was leaking air back in to the system. Used a wire brush to get the junk off rebeld the line and all was good. Something you may want to check since your going to be rebleeding it anyways. Goodluck :beerchug:
 
Am I missing something? If you did not open anthing in your hydraulic clutch system, how would the air get in? Maybe all you need is to pump your lever a few times because more fluid went into the reservoir.

It's the same as with brakes - if you push the pistons in (this pushes the fluid back into the reservoir), and then try to squeeze the lever - it goes down to the handlebar with no resistance. Pump it a few times, and you are back in business.
 
IG, thats what I thought too..but I pumped it several times, granted the bike wasnt running, but It feels just like when the sprocket cover broke and was flexing...yet there is no flex down there.
 
if you did not open the system....there is no way for air to get into it. make sure it is back together correctly. is the rod correctly installed?
 
Every bike with hydraulic clutch that I've ever owned has this issue. I'm not sure of the exact fluid dynamics at play here, but I've learned through trial and error. If you take the cover off without squeezing in the lever, air sucks in somehow. Maybe someone can provide a more technical explanation. All I know is cable tie the lever to the grip and no worries.
 
it does not allow air in.....it empties the fluid from the piston, it takes multiple squeeze's of the lever to fill it.

the system is sealed.
 
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