Very Strange Clutch/Gear Problem

[df2]

HI, Last night I took the bike for a ride and after pulling out of the driveway my clutch started making a horrendous noise when letting it out. I immediately put it in neutral. When I'd try to dissengage the clutch to put it in gear again very loud grinding and the headlight started going out, flickering. I turned off the bike and restarted it and the problem didn't come back. I went for about a 15 minute ride, not wanting to stray to far from home, no problems. Strange. Only half an hour earlier I had ridden the bike home from work and didn't have any issues.

 

There is no binding and lock to lock steering doesn't pull on the clutch cable. The really strange part is the headlight wanting to go out while this was happening. I've had no previous clutch issues of any kind.

 

Anyone ever experience anything like this?

 

David

[gstallons]

Pick the bike upside down and shake it to see if anything falls out?

[Guest ratchethack]

There is no binding and lock to lock steering doesn't pull on the clutch cable.

No clutch cable, David. It's hydraulic. How many miles?

[df2]

No clutch cable, David. It's hydraulic. How many miles?

 

Geez that's right, hydrolic, sorry just spent so much time re-routing the throttle cable I have it stuck in my mind.

 

The bike has 9,300 miles. (of course no idea if the previous owner rode long on the old odometer before replacing the vegela with the MPH)

[df2]

Pick the bike upside down and shake it to see if anything falls out?

 

Tried that, didn't work.

[Guest ratchethack]

The bike has 9,300 miles. (of course no idea if the previous owner rode long on the old odometer before replacing the vegela with the MPH)

Hm. The dual plate clutches have proven to be fairly bulletproof and durable, but there's always a chance a chunk of friction material has let go. . .

 

If you didn't notice any excess vibration after the "event" you describe, there's not much of a probability of this. . .

 

Strange, alright. Let's see if the consummate wisdom hereabouts can unravel this one.

[df2]

Hm. The dual plate clutches have proven to be fairly bulletproof and durable, but there's always a chance a chunk of friction material has let go. . .

 

If you didn't notice any excess vibration after the "event" you describe, there's not much of a probability of this. . .

 

Strange, alright. Let's see if the consummate wisdom hereabouts can unravel this one.

 

 

Nope, no extra vibration, everything went back to right as rain. bike pulls strong, no slipping and runs like a top. But before it was like it was stuck between gears. I'm of the mind that I'll try and forget it ever happened. Unless someone here has ever experienced the same thing and has some kind of answer.

[gstallons]

Don't get too far from home.

Do you have a shop stand you can put the bike on? If so, remove the plugs, put the bike in gear and have someone rotate the rear wheel to see if you hear ANYTHING. Pull the clutch lever in slowly while your friend rotates the rear wheel. If something is loose you might hear it. I would also try it with the starter cranking it over (this might be too loud for you to hear anything) to mimic the engine running.

[luhbo]

You pressed the starter button? Don't know why someone should do so, but for that the description would match.

 

Hubert

[raz]

You pressed the starter button? Don't know why someone should do so, but for that the description would match.

That crossed my mind too. If the starter was engaged for one reason or the other (electrical fault, relay or whatever), it may have been interlocked out by the clutch switch until you pulled the clutch handle.

 

If it happens again, try pulling the clutch lever just enough to activate the switch.

[Baldini]

My first thought too - is something causing the starter motor to engage? It makes a horrible sound as you describe, & could be an intermitent fault.

 

KB

[emry]

Perhaps the starter solenoid got stuck.

[df2]

The starter may be it. Ever since I reattached the starter control to the handlebar I had some intermitten button sticking. I loosened up the screws and that I thought fixed it. I had a feeling it may be the starter but was thrown how it was related to the clutch being pulled and released.

 

DAvid

[motoguzznix]

The starter may be it. Ever since I reattached the starter control to the handlebar I had some intermitten button sticking. I loosened up the screws and that I thought fixed it. I had a feeling it may be the starter but was thrown how it was related to the clutch being pulled and released.

 

DAvid

David

 

The start/kilswitch housíng is likely to deform when the screws are tightened too much. I reworked the starter button hole with a small cutter knife to get it square again. Since then the button nerver sticked again.

[moscowphil]

Given that you have just fitted new bars (if I remember correctly) I would suspect that an electrical fault somewhere, probably caused by the fitting of the bars, is causing the starter to engage when it shouldn't. This would explain the horrible noise and also the headlamp dimming when it happened. If this is the problem, it will almost certainly happen again at some point, and could do some serious damage - so check over everything that might have been disturbed by the bar swap.