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| #12  05-Aug-2003, 08:37 | ||||
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| I\'ve got loads of spare neutrals that anyone can have!!! I seem to find them everywhere and all of the time!!!! So if you're looking for a neutral please let me know as I'll gladly let you have one of mine!!! Tim   :ro ll: |
| #14 05-Aug-2003, 14:12 | |||
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| Nigel, with my duke I have noticed that you have to give it a solid, but gentle nudge up from 1st before you find neutral. I jumped on a Blade the other day, and couldn't believe how easy the gear changes was, as well as the comfort level.... a good reason for buying another bike!! II have also noticed that my foot begins to ache after a while due to the gear changes... perhaps it's my boots, or I need to change the positioning of the gear lever... I will investigate at some later stage. Sticky - have the same problem at lights... gets to the stage where apathy kicks in and you find it easier to whack the buggr in first and hold the clutch in. Skidlids - just had a full service on my duke, picked it up last Sat.... £650 notes in total, including replacement clutch plates. My plates must have been slipping for quite some time as I have noticed that the bike now performs extremely well. So much more torque it's unbelievable. Glad I had them replaced. Looking to get a milled clutch cover as I hear this extends the life of the clutch. Flanners - never tried finding neutral when it motion, I know on occasion that the bike goes into Neutral... must give it a go. |
| #18 05-Aug-2003, 17:05 | ||||
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| Elusive Neutral An elusive neutral, really a clutch disengagement problem, is most often caused by air in the hydraulic system. Any air in the system will be compressed and this will prevent the clutch plates from separating enough and allow them to touch and drag. It's this slight dragging that makes it difficult to slip into neutral while stopped. It also causes premature clutch wear. The stock slave cylinder hydraulic ratio is designed to give a lot of leeway when it comes to bleeding, meaning you can have a lot of air trapped in the system and it will still work (at least partially), but that's why the pull effort is so high and why neutral can be hard to find when there's air in the system. If you have not already done so, you can make bleeding much easier if you replace the banjo bolt at the master cylinder line connection with a bleeder-type banjo bolt. The master cylinder is where most of the air rises, gets trapped, and cannot be bled out (easily) using the bleed nipple down by the slave unit.  If you've installed a new clutch pack, drag-free operation requires that the metal plates be the correct thickness and absolutely flat, and that the overall height of the clutch pack not exceed specs. On a bike with an original clutch and slave cylinder, a problem finding neutral will (almost always) be solved by bleeding air from the hydraulics. For the rare case when purging air from the hydraulic system doesn't work, a clutch disengagement problem can be helped by increasing the clutch pushrod stroke distance. The best way to do this is to change the clutch lever pull distance by changing the 4-position adjuster (early models don't have adjustable levers.) This is often necessary either after installing an aftermarket force-reduction clutch slave that (always) reduces clutch plate separation or after installing new clutch plates. There are four lever settings; where position 4 produces the least clutch plate separation, position 1 the most. This adjustment will also change the zone where clutch engagement begins. Adjusting Master Cylinder Stroke Volume Another way is to change the stroke volume (of hydraulic fluid) produced by the clutch master cylinder by adjusting the screw (covered by a hot-melt glue in later years) located between the clutch lever and the handlebar grip. Increasing the stroke volume will increase the clutch pushrod stroke distance and consequently the clutch plate separation.  You can increase the stroke volume by turning this screw IN about a half-turn. Mark its initial position for future reference. If you go too far, the master cylinder will not bleed back properly. So, turn the adjustment screw OUT to move the clutch engagement point closer to the grip, and turn it IN to move it out. Remember to leave some play in the end of the lever after you're done, or you'll wear the clutch out prematurely. A word of caution here. The reason that there is a factory seal over this adjustment screw is that it's not intended to be used as a service point for clutch adjustment. It's used by Brembo during final assembly to locate the clutch master cylinder piston in the proper position relative to a hole that allows the hydraulic fluid to return to the reservoir. Small changes here can make clutch function erratic and remove too much lever free-play. |
| #19 10-Aug-2003, 03:04 | |||
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| Some excellent advice here. I first put the clutch lever at position 1 which did help a bit but not enough. Next i got the Haynes manual out and spent a few quid in Halfords on top quality Castrol Dot 4 and a bleeding kit. Spent a pleasant afternoon sweating in the sun learning how to bleed my clutch. The fluid had been in there about 18 months or so and was a bit grey looking. Ran the new fluid through and gave it a squeeze which was definitely an improvement. Checked externally for any signs of leaks and then went for a quick 20 mile test ride. Had the familiar pain in my left hand from the heavy clutch, actually a good sign! Real test was at a roundabout with lights at every exit which were all red when i got to them. Started with the rolling slip in to neutral which was fine. Next, full stop down into first and snicked into neutral nice and easy! Hasn't been that easy for 2 years! New skill learnt and the bike is better than ever. Happy little biker!  |
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