Clutch lever/actuation problems

The Moto Guzzi Breva clutch jingles loudly when lever pulled in. There is no noise in neutral so presumably gearbox has closer clearances


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My last two bikes with hydraulic clutches needed the fluid changing about every year, for sure at two years. The fluid seems to get very dirty very quickly and this cannot do the cylinders and seals any good. Not a solution, but maybe of interest.
 
The oil in my clutch system was very clean & def not changed since Nov 2012. But mineral should be less prone to contamination. Citroen used to have a very similar hydraulic oil powering brakes and suspension.
Haynes states 36K miles or 3 years hydraulic oil change interval.
They somehow avoided the oil boiling in the brakes and being fully powered ran smaller brakes.


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The oil in my clutch system was very clean & def not changed since Nov 2012. But mineral should be less prone to contamination. Citroen used to have a very similar hydraulic oil powering brakes and suspension.
Haynes states 36K miles or 3 years hydraulic oil change interval.
They somehow avoided the oil boiling in the brakes and being fully powered ran smaller brakes.


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Mine's very dirty, not changed since March 2012, but on my little list of things to do on a rainy day- so should be done very soon!
 
I've just ordered another 250ml from Motorworks. £15 a bottle = £60 a litre!!!! but that is including postage. Someone somewhere has a right old laugh with Beemer spares.
 
Mine's very dirty, not changed since March 2012, but on my little list of things to do on a rainy day- so should be done very soon!

Mines just about 6 years old now and still looks the same to me as always. Have no intention of touching it either.
 
I've just ordered another 250ml from Motorworks. £15 a bottle = £60 a litre!!!! but that is including postage. Someone somewhere has a right old laugh with Beemer spares.

I got the local KTM dealer to do it at MOT, they use this type too, only charged me a couple of quid for the juice
 
I ordered another bottle of genuine. :(
We should make this information more easily found so folks can get the mineral fluid at lower cost


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Ive stripped and rebuilt the master cylinder. There was not much to find, but the action does feel better now its all back together and bled yet again.

Its quite easy to do.
1 - Remove the mater cylinder from bike and remove the lever assembly.
2 - Unscrew the fluid cup - two torx head self tapping screws.
3 - Use an M6 socket cap head screw and small G clamp to push the piston down a few mm.
4 - Use a small screwdriver to carefully extract the dust cover. The sides are thin so carefully pick at the base. There is a little knotch just for that job and no circlip.
5 - The washer inside will now slip out.
6 - Release the clamp, extract the piston and clean everything.
7 - If the seals or cylinder bore are worn, it will need a new master cylinder. BMW do not sell replacement seals.
8 - Mine looked ok so I put it back together.
9 - Use the socket cap screw and G clamp to hold the piston down and refit the washer and dust seal. The seal is enough to keep it together, there is no circlip.
10 - Replace the fluid pot. It fits better one way around, so make sure its sitting flat. They are self tappers so turn the screws back until the threads click then screw up.
11 - Replace leve with a spot of red grease on the ball end.
12 - Refit mater cylinder to bike and bleed the system.
13 - I noticed tiny air bubbles would pop into the reservoir when the lever was moved slowly. Who knows if this was the problem all along

BTW, I never needed that 2nd bottle of hydraulic oil. :mmmm
 
Feel how hot your clutch slave cylinder gets after a ride. Its quite surprising. No wonder its essential to have plenty of room for fluid expansion in the reservoir.
 
Since sorting out my clutch hydraulic leak the problem has improved but the lever still feels like it has too much cable slack. Ive re-bled the system with zero difference. The rattle also happens if I click the box into neutral with the bike moving, so I think it is clutch related.

When the bike was stripped for the frames to be refinished, I checked out the clutch which seemed all ok and the shaft splines are good. I did not strip the clutch as Id already spent more than enough on the FD, drive shaft and powder coat.
 
My clutch feels like air in it too? Coming off the motorway i have to pump the clutch lever but not losing fluid?? Someone suggested overheating? Going to bleed it again. Any ideas?
 
Post No 30, I mentioned that small bubbles escaped when clutch lever moved. Maybe the seals were letting air through but I've lived with it because BMW sell only the whole master cylinder. It's lasted a year so maybe needs bleeding again.

Has anyone sourced replacement seals? Oil compatible of course.
 
Use to have same problem as michaelmy after motorway journeys, no clutch until pumped a few times, new mastercylinder cured the problem after first fitting a slave cylider which did not cure the problem. At no time did I find a fluid leak on the master cylinder.

The problem only happened after a motorway journey when the clutch was not being used and would have to be over a distance of about 40 miles without clutch use before the problem showed up.
 
Use to have same problem as michaelmy after motorway journeys, no clutch until pumped a few times, new mastercylinder cured the problem after first fitting a slave cylider which did not cure the problem. At no time did I find a fluid leak on the master cylinder.

The problem only happened after a motorway journey when the clutch was not being used and would have to be over a distance of about 40 miles without clutch use before the problem showed up.

Looks like mine is likely to be a related issue. Does anyone know of a source os seals. My master cyl is internally as new so I resent having to replace it at £200 when seals would be £20.
 


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