Nothing Clutch Lever

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R

Ruger

Joined
Aug 10, 2011
Messages
532
Location
Northern Nevada
Gang,

I've got a new 2011 FE570S with no more than 60 miles on it. On the last ride I thought I noticed that the clutch lever needed to be pulled a little farther than before to disengage the clutch, but it was subtle and I thought maybe I was imagining it. On the next ride I had no clutch at all - the lever will not disengage the clutch. No leaks are evident, all connections seem sufficiently snug, and there is enough fluid in the reservoir. With the reservoir cover off, when I pull the lever a series of bubbles comes out of the little orifice in the middle.

What's going on, does anybody know?
 
I have had this happen to me after ridining in some rought terrain....must have forced some air into the line.

Sounds like an air bubble in the clutch line somewhere. Bleed the system and I bet it solves the problem.

pete
 
Thanks, Pete, that's my plan. The manual advises to bleed the system with a syringe and with the slave cylinder off the bike (with appropriate cautions to not pull the lever with the slave cylinder dismounted). But I'm going to try a conventional on-the-bike bleed first. Can't figure why it's necessary dismount the slave cylinder to bleed a simple hydraulic clutch, but then this bike was designed by Swiss watch makers!

What puzzles me is the cause and how to prevent it from happening again in the future. The oddness here is that I haven't ridden any rough terrain on it yet (so it shouldn't have happened at all), and it got dramatically worse while it wasn't being ridden (just sitting idle in the garage). Mystery causes leave little avenue for prevention, you know?

Thanks for responding, Pete.
 
it's the slave piston 'ring' which is still "just" an 'O' ring. replace this and reverse bleed it.

regards

Taffy
 
Taffy said:
it's the slave piston 'ring' which is still "just" an 'O' ring. replace this and reverse bleed it.

regards

Taffy
Click to expand...

Gonna try just a regular bleed first - I love a cheap experiment. But your diagnosis makes a lot of sense to me. I've called the dealer and he's sending me the o-ring. I am wondering if some casting imperfections or casting flash on the inside of the slave cylinder has damaged the original o-ring, and will inspect carefully when I have it apart to install the replacement o-ring. Thanks very much, Taffy.
 
it's a combo of 'who's phuqin idea was it to not only use sun cream in a motorcycle but who is the knob that still thinks this is a good idea?' and 'let's use an 'O' ring when everything else needs a pukka seal. we know it makes (no) sense!'.

they are as stupid as each other. don't waste your time bleeding down - bleed up.

regards

Taffy
 
I have a Mighty Vac unit but it only "sucks" and doesn't "blow." How do you bleed up?
 
fit a spanner first (ring spanner) put a full syringe (no air) and 15cm of piping onto the bleed nipple. take the cap off the master cylinder, undo spanner, push syringe until exhausted, close nipple.

regards

Taffy
 
I don't understand the spanner. Not sure what it is, what you do with it, or what it does.
 
Oh, how funny! In the US we call that an "end wrench."

Yeah, I have a box of those. My wife is less, um, rusty. :)

Thanks for the hints, Taffy. I am going to see if my local motorcycle shop has a syringe designed for bleeding brakes. I have several old medical syringes, several of them quiet large, but can't get a good enough seal between the business end and the hose ("piping") for them to be effecive for this purpose.

Sure appreciate the help!
 
this one is really good.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wrench

we use the word wrench only once for torque wrench - isn't that Odd? I've only just noticed.....

notice we say 'open ended' not 'open end'.

we also say anti clockwise you say counter clockwise.

you say triple clamps or triple trees and we say yokes

the list is endless.

remember, it's the influence that snap-on have that has made such a difference. any old kit will have a british name but the later stuff is far more likely to have an american english name.

but until you have discovered a 'toffee hammer' you haven't lived. old Ned37 now has a full tool kit!

ALTHOUGH i ALWAYS THOUGHT HE WAS ONE SPANNER SHORT OF A TOOLKIT MYSELF.... (OOPS, HERE WE GO AGAIN!)

regards

Taffy

regards

Taffy
 
Of course, "Can I borrow your rubber," gets you entirely different reactions depending on geography.

Could not find the mineral oil hydraulic clutch fluid at any auto parts store (checked at 3) or motorcycle shop (checked at two) in my town. It's damned inconvenient, but I'm going to have to order it.

So I've got a brand new $10,000 motorcycle in my garage with less than 60 miles of easy, flat land riding on it, and it's suffered a mechanical failure for which neither parts nor fluids are available except by ordering them from a remote firm. Perfect.
 
You can get a nice syringe from a feed store for a few dollars, and a some clear tubing from the hardware store. You'll need a 2" piece of the thin (1/8" I think) to fit on the end of the syringe. And a thicker (3/16"?) to slip over the thinner one nice and tight. A foot of the thicker hose should suffice.

I've used shimano hydraulic mineral oil from a bicycle shop.
$4.99 for a small bottle. Drug store mineral oil is very thick and may hold air bubbles, but would work in a pinch. Take care not to agitate it in transit.

Have a helper pull the oil out of the master as you push it through the slave cyl.

Peace uh cake...
 
I bought a syringe for hydraulic fork oil for half-off at Cycle Gear. I'm not sure that the diameter of the tubing will be compatible with the bleed nipple on the slave cylinder, but for half-off it's worth a try. I think there might be a feed store in my town, but I'll have to find it again if I need to go that route.

The dealer I bought my FE570S from just two months ago folded, but the outfit that bought the KTM/Husaberg franchise from them (a Victory dealer, of all things) seems responsive. They're 150 miles away and are going to send me an o-ring and a quart of clutch fluid. It'll be interesting to see what they charge me for the clutch fluid, because Bike Bandit has it for $3.15 per liter.
 
Interesting development. I ordered the Husaberg hydraulic clutch oil from Bike Bandit ($3.15), and they came back with the information that the product has been discontinued and no longer available. I quickly ordered the KTM hydraulic clutch oil (also $3.15), in hopes that KTM is simply consolidating part numbers. I don't know yet whether the order for the KTM oil will be filled.

In separate corresponcence with Warren Oil Corporation (you may be familiar with their Coastal lubricants), the Corporate Vice President for Quality & Technology informed me that the Coastal hydraulic clutch oil is NOT compatible with the Husaberg/KTM ISO VG(15) specification. He told me that Husaberg specifies Motorex Hydraulic Fluid 75. Can anybody verify that, please?
 
Did you ever get this resolved. I just bought a slightly used FE 570 and am having the same issue. Please let me know if bleeding helped.
 
I don't know if Ruger fixed his issue, but I have a brand new FE390 that had extreme clutch dragging, even with the lever fully depressed. I used Motorex fluid (as specified) but you can also use the Magura "blood" from a bicycle shop - I bought some of that too.

Loosen the bleed valve a bit before you take the slave off the bike - mine was cinched down pretty tight and I needed the leverage. Then bleed from the bottom - mine had quite a bit of air in it. Works great now - about a 10 minute job (probably less if I have to do it again, now that I'm familiar with it.)
 
Yes, I fixed my problem.

Here's how it happened. I had a low speed get-off, and the engine was still running with the bike on its side. Instead of hitting the kill switch to stand the bike up, I pulled the clutch lever. BIG MISTAKE. There is so little clutch fluid in the master cylinder and reservoir that if you do that you will pump air into the line if you pull the clutch lever with the bike on its side. Use the kill switch.

On the 570 the system cannot be bled with the slave cylinder on the bike. There's nothing magic about taking it off, you just can't put a bleeder hose on the nipple with the slave cylinder on the bike. Gently push fluid in from the bottom, and be careful to suck some of the fluid out of the master before and while you do it. Wrapping a rag around the master helps confine spills and limits cleanup.

The Magura clutches require mineral oil, which is very different from brake fluid and from the special clutch fluids you might be tempted to buy at an auto parts store. Mineral oil comes in several weights. I don't know what weight the right fluid is, but the stuff you find at the pharmacy is marked "heavy." As long as you're doing it, you might as well use the right stuff. You wouldn't hazard using the wrong motor oil.
 

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