Motorbike seemingly having clutch always engaged after heating up advice??

[dalethedino]

hey I bought a 1988 big kat (1127) a few weeks ago and around a week ago I started having some issues,

what happens is seemingly after my bike heats up a bit the clutch becomes permanently engaged,

what happens: basically if I am on the highway for about 15 minutes if I rev past say 6000 revs the bike will merely rev up really fast and supply me with no more power, over time this point at which it gives me no more power decreases to about 1000 revs before cutting out entirely, downshifting doesn't seem to help, and if I stop at this point the engine will idle as if the clutch is engaged even if it is not.

first time it happened I pumped through the clutch fluid (DOT4) and replaced it with clean stuff

then i could ride it home

second time it happened topped up my oil, because it was a bit low, but that didn't seem to help either as it happened a third time, so the way it seems to me is that when the bike heats up something in the clutch stops working properly and engages automatically, because if i leave it for a while it cools down and i can ride it again

I have no worries about finding a new clutch system and replacing it as i am certain i can do that I just want to make sure that is the consensus on what i need to do before i start tearing my bike apart as I am not a lifetime rider and i feel I should defer to the wisdom and experience of others on this matter

any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated, also if this thread gets a little old you can still help if you give advice because i will be going to England soon and I will not be doing any major repair or replacement work until i get back

Edit: this is my first post so please be understanding if i left out any information you think would be important

[NiteMare]

sounds like you still have air in your clutch hydraulic system, there's been 2 or 3 that have had this problem recently ...

just the tiniest bubble trapped gives this problem as the engine heats up

btw..

i believe you mean your clutch "dis-engages" rather than engaged

[dalethedino]

ohh yeah that's right, i mean dis engages, it just seems like you are engaging it when you pull it on

so do you think i need to pump through my clutch fluid again to try to get rid of this?

[TheHayabusa]

If I am reading this right, it sounds like you need a new clutch. Once the clutch disk heats up it starts to slip, hence the engine revving up but not going faster and it does not grab enough to stall your bike a t a stop. If that is the stock 20 yr old clutch and you have a lot of miles it is probably time to get a new one.

[dalethedino]

is there anywhere in particular i should look to buy a new clutch system then? I am in the San Diego area

of course i don't mind buying online either... but shipping for such heavy objects would probably be a bi@#$...