Hers one for the smarty pants in the crowd.... CLUTCH

[chiz]

Hello all
  How come when I block up my clutch slave with a socket and screw the slave back on I now have a rock hard unmoving clutch lever which becomes hard at about 1/4 stroke of the lever.....OK i KNOW THE ANSWER TO THIS  I THINK.
     What I don't know the answer to is when I remove the socket from the slave and bolt up as normal I have a clutch that will not allow me to select neutral when engine is running??? As of my question about a week ago ...did I mess up clutch basket assembly? did I leave something out or reverse it? Did I cut the push rod in half when I was drinking and don't remember doing so??
Thanks Chiz

[FJmonkey]

Describe the most recent changes/work you have done...

[chiz]

New master EBAY KNOCK OFF new slave kit, new heavy selector spring and roller arm from Randy..
That's it

[ribbert]

Hello all
 How come when I block up my clutch slave with a socket and screw the slave back on I now have a rock hard unmoving clutch lever which becomes hard at about 1/4 stroke of the lever.....OK i KNOW THE ANSWER TO THIS  I THINK.
    What I don't know the answer to is when I remove the socket from the slave and bolt up as normal I have a clutch that will not allow me to select neutral when engine is running??? As of my question about a week ago ...did I mess up clutch basket assembly? did I leave something out or reverse it? Did I cut the push rod in half when I was drinking and don't remember doing so??
Thanks Chiz

Many people seem to have trouble bleeding the clutch.  There have been more theories put forward on this task than just about any other subject. Given this is a likely scenario, if the bike is rideable (even if the take up point is closer to the bar than normal and neutral is hard to select while stationary) ride it around for a day.

They have a habit of self bleeding with use.

If the only issue is it is difficult to get into neutral, it is unlikely that you assembled anything incorrectly and very likely that the bleeding is not complete. Try riding it around for a bit and see what happens.
I'm not speculating on this, I'm talking from experience. If I can get enough clutch to engage a gear, even if the take up point is just off the bar, that's good enough to stop splashing brake fluid around and ride it. I've never found one that doesn't come good with a bit of use, assuming of course that poor bleeding is the issue.
Simple as the process is, there are still plenty of traps.

The clutch line is all uphill from the slave to the master.


Noel

[fjfool]

when i did my slave and line replacement, i attempted to bleed the system conventionally- with no luck
so i busted out the "mighty vac" bleeding kit, boom, done in 30 seconds
i ment to start a thread about this
is that because of the (lack of a better term) "recoil spring"  that pushes the piston out to the clutch push rod?
my feeling was that when the bleed nipple on the slave was opened, the loss of pressure in the system caused by the piston being instantly pushed out by the spring, drew air into the system thru the nipple
the spring over powers any pressure you can create with the handle because the system is still airlocked (not blead yet)
so, if you do not have access to a mighy vac ($35@auto zone), i would suggest raising your bleed catch cup abouve the slave cylinder  and keep the hose from cup to cylinder full of fluid so that when you crack that bleed nipple and the spring inside pushed that piston out- there is fluid and not air waiting to be sucked into the bleed nipple
this all makes perfect sense to me, might have turned to jibberish when i typed it
the mighty vac is a very handy tool

[mark1969]

In my experience the standard FJ clutch master bleeds very very easily, but the ZZR one is a pain to bleed properly. Also, people (previous owners) fiddle and not all to a high standard. That's why I replaced pretty much my whole clutch from master to clutch plates with original parts.

The clutch can be a strange beast if parts are replaced with odd ones or non standard ones. When everything is standard it is a dream to bleed and use, but if something is not right you get problems like the OP is talking about...

I would certainly measure the pushrod and compare with spec, and then you are looking at clutch stack measurements. My stack with all new original plates and steels is 38mm which is bang in the middle of the minimum and maximum if you add all the plates and steel min/max specs together. Any variations can and will cause strange problems with the clutch, so knowing where you are now can be useful. Other than that it is research and specific questions on here.