Clutch won't disengage

[SuzukiJoeDirt]

Howdy again folks,

My clutch won't fully disengage in my '91 Kat 1100F. When ever I pull up to a stop in first gear the bike wants to keep walking away and if I don't let it, it dies. Now if I give it throttle while the bike is standing still I can feel it stop pulling and I can rest easy for a couple seconds until it happens again.

Now I was running ams motorcycle oil 20w50 synthetic the first time this occured. I drained the oil, and pulled apart the clutch basket. All the plates and fibers were sticky and the steel plates were burnt but didn't seem bad enough to worry about. I cleaned everything down with somebrake cleaner and made sure that it was dry and everything and reassembled it all, and put on a new oil filter and used mobil1 motorcycle oil 10w40 (stock weight) synthetic.

Is the synthetic my mistake or do I need to replace the clutch? Or both? As usual any help is very much appreciated,

Thank ya much, SuzukiJoeDirt.

[kat_kitten]

... is your clutch cable too tight?

hrmm.. on second thought, that wouldn't make too much sense...
but it might be worth it to take a boo, just in case *shrug*

[SuzukiJoeDirt]

hydrolic clutch

Should have mentioned it before. It's a hydrolic clutch and it has been thoroughly bled.

... is your clutch cable too tight?

hrmm.. on second thought, that wouldn't make too much sense...
but it might be worth it to take a boo, just in case *shrug*

[meanstrk]

Hydro clutch? On what kind of bike?

[SuzukiJoeDirt]

A 1991 Suzuki Katana GSX1100F

[ThAzKat]

Yes, the 1100's do have hydro, the clutch needs adjusted!

[SuzukiJoeDirt]

How do you adjust it? I looked and looked for a mechanical adjustment screw and found nothing. Is there something that I missed?

[ThAzKat]

BLEEDING AIR FROM THE CLUTCH FLUID CIRCUIT The clutch fluid circuit may be purged of air in the following manner.

• Fill up the master cylinder reservoir to the upper end of the inspection window. Replace the reservoir cap to prevent entry of dirt.
• Attach a pipe to the bleeder valve and insert the free end of the pipe into a receptacle.
• Squeeze and release the clutch lever several times in rapid succession, and squeeze the lever fully without releasing it. Loosen the bleeder valve by turning it a quarter of a turn so that the fluid runs into the receptacle; this will remove the tension of the clutch lever causing it to touch the handlebar grip. Then, close the valve, pump and sqeeze the lever, and open the valve. Repeat this process until the fluid flowing into the receptacle no longer contains air bubbles

NOTE: Replenish the clutch fluid reservoir as necessary while bleeding the clutch system. Make sure that there is always some fluid visible in the reservoir.
• Close the bleeder valve, and disconnect the pipe. Fill the reservoir to the upper end of the inspection window.
Bleeder valve tightening torque: 6 -9 N·m
(0.6 -0.9kg-m. 4.5 -6.5 Ib-ft)
CAUTION: Handle brake fluid with care: the fluid reacts chemically with paint. plastics. rubber materials, etc.
As long as you followed that it can be one of 2 things, to much fluid in reservoir or bad clutch pads and plates

[SuzukiJoeDirt]

I have done the bleeding and there can be too much fluid in the resevoir? I just filled it until it said full so I don't think that's the problem anyhow. But I haver pulled apart the clutch before and the clutch paltes did seem to stick together very badly when pulling them out. After I cleaned them and changed the oil it started to do it again gradually. It jsut started doing it badly on Tuesday and Wednesday.

BLEEDING AIR FROM THE CLUTCH FLUID CIRCUIT The clutch fluid circuit may be purged of air in the following manner.

• Fill up the master cylinder reservoir to the upper end of the inspection window. Replace the reservoir cap to prevent entry of dirt.
• Attach a pipe to the bleeder valve and insert the free end of the pipe into a receptacle.
• Squeeze and release the clutch lever several times in rapid succession, and squeeze the lever fully without releasing it. Loosen the bleeder valve by turning it a quarter of a turn so that the fluid runs into the receptacle; this will remove the tension of the clutch lever causing it to touch the handlebar grip. Then, close the valve, pump and sqeeze the lever, and open the valve. Repeat this process until the fluid flowing into the receptacle no longer contains air bubbles

NOTE: Replenish the clutch fluid reservoir as necessary while bleeding the clutch system. Make sure that there is always some fluid visible in the reservoir.
• Close the bleeder valve, and disconnect the pipe. Fill the reservoir to the upper end of the inspection window.
Bleeder valve tightening torque: 6 -9 N·m
(0.6 -0.9kg-m. 4.5 -6.5 Ib-ft)
CAUTION: Handle brake fluid with care: the fluid reacts chemically with paint. plastics. rubber materials, etc.
As long as you followed that it can be one of 2 things, to much fluid in reservoir or bad clutch pads and plates

[joseph2027]

change the fibers and plates there burnt

[ThAzKat]

Yes definitely the clutches and plates could be warped to

[SuzukiJoeDirt]

Alirght. Also somebody else had mentioned something about the mastercylinder lettting fluid past and not pushing out the clutch basket all of the way... sound familiar to anybody??? Either way I'm still replacing the clutch plates and fibers

Yes definitely the clutches and plates could be warped to

[suzy1052]

You really REALLY have to bleed the hell out of these clutches to the point where you think something is wrong because its taking too long.Try this:Pump the lever and while keeping it in put a bungie strap around it then crack the bleeder screw and leave it open all night.The new fibers will help too.

[SuzukiJoeDirt]

Kool beans thank you

You really REALLY have to bleed the hell out of these clutches to the point where you think something is wrong because its taking too long.Try this:Pump the lever and while keeping it in put a bungie strap around it then crack the bleeder screw and leave it open all night.The new fibers will help too.

[wfrpalm]

Make sure it is bled before you replace plates or the master cylinder or do anything else it is probably just air in the line. Good luck.