V7 Clutch Replacement at 10k?

[BrooklynGuzzi]

I'd like some advice about a clutch-related issue with my 2010 V7 Classic. My 2010 Guzzi is under warranty because I bought it new last year.  

 

About a month ago, I took it to the local dealer for its 9,600 mi service.  At that point, the clutch lever had become very loose (lots of free play), but the clutch itself had never slipped and the bike shifted well.  When the bike was returned to me after the service, the mechanic had adjusted the clutch cable to the factory-specified tension.  As soon as I accelerated away from the shop, I realized the clutch was slipping. 

 

It was still slipping after the dealer replaced the clutch cable under warranty. 

 

Long story short: with the factory specified free play in the cable, the clutch slips.  When I adjust the lever so that it it has a lot of free-play, the clutch seems to work fine and the bike shifts smoothly, although I can hear it rattling away when it is disengaged.  

 

The dealer says a faulty "clutch release shaft" caused my clutch to remain partly engaged, which, in turn, caused the disc to fail prematurely.  I'm also told Guzzi has approved a repair under warranty.  

 

Despite the warranty approval, I can't get the dealer to do the work. Every time I speak to the owner, he tells me he'll call\email me after he checks out the service department's schedule.  He doesn't call. I call him a few days later. He says he'll call me right back. I never hear from him.  It's been going on for at least two weeks. 

 

Do I have a clutch problem, a dealer problem, or both? Assuming it's both, where should I turn for warranty service in the Greater New York area? With a reasonable expenditure of money and patience, am I going to be able to resolve this issue before July?

 

 

 

 

[GuzziMoto]

It sounds like you have a dealer problem AND a clutch problem. The dealer problem likely needs a new dealer. I don't know about dealers in NY., but there is a good dealer near Harrisburg, Pa.

The clutch issue is odd and seems to not make sense. Normally if you have slack in the cable then that means the clutch actuator mechanism that pushes on the clutch to disengage it would be at its home position applying no pressure on the clutch throwout bearing and the clutch would be fully disengaged. Once at that point the clutch cannot be MORE disengaged. Disengaged is disengaged. I would suspect that something may be amiss in the clutch cable and/or mechanism preventing it from fully disengaging the clutch. Then, someone adjusted the clutch to what seemed to be correct (but resulted in clutch slip when the clutch should have been fully engaged) and the resulting clutch slip excessively wore the clutch. That should have been noticeable before it became this much of an issue. The clutch does not typically wear excessively from a lack of disengagement but rather a lack of engagement. If the clutch does not fully disengage then the resulting clutch drag would be very obvious and make it difficult to find neutral as well as creeping forward. And it still would not cause excessive wear as the amount of time and rpms involved would be low. Lack of engagement is not as obvious but should have still been noticeable before it went so far as to toast the clutch.

I would definitely want a second opinion.

[Baldini]

If there's a problem with clutch actuating mech, it could cause clutch wear. If MG have accepted warranty issue then either he has stripped it to look & found the problem or he's had info from MG re a known problem?

Either way the bike needs fixing & he knows clutch replacement is gearbox or motor out - ie a "big job". MG in the past have been very stingy w funding warranty work so he probably doesn't see much in it for him other than a headache.

Did this dealer supply the bike?

Hopefully someone here will recommend a more enthusiastic shop to look at it for you & fix. Have you tried asking at http://wildguzzi.com/forum/index.php?board=1.0  ? Warranty work should be transferable I think, tho unless MG have changed their attitude, I don't think it's an attractive proposition for any shop esp if they didn't have initial profit as supplying dealer.

 

Good luck.

 

KB

[motowarren]

It sounds like you have a dealer problem AND a clutch problem. The dealer problem likely needs a new dealer. I don't know about dealers in NY., but there is a good dealer near Harrisburg, Pa.

 

What  dealer is that your talking about? Europa Macchina? 

[moto fugazzi]

Check out my problem with my 2009 V7C. http://wildguzzi.com/forum/index.php?topic=58887.0

It took a lot to get my dealer to even look at mine. I did send an email to MGNA, and got a reply about 2 weeks later, and I think they called the dealer to get things moving faster. Maybe your dealer is afraid of slow reimbursement from MG? Maybe they're busy from regular repairs of people that are paying outright? The dealer did have my parts within 3-5 days of ordering.

Ken

[GuzziMoto]

 

It sounds like you have a dealer problem AND a clutch problem. The dealer problem likely needs a new dealer. I don't know about dealers in NY., but there is a good dealer near Harrisburg, Pa.

 

What  dealer is that your talking about? Europa Macchina? 

 

Yes. While I am never a fan of taking one of my bikes to a mechanic I have had Art there at EM do a clutch replacement on the wifes V11 as I did not have time to do it. And he was pretty thorough finding a couple other issues that I had not yet noticed. He also re-built a 5 speed box for me. He is not a clean freak, but he seems to be a good mechanic. And the shop is an interesting mix. They really do Guzzi for fun, their bread and butter is vintage cars (mainly Porsche) and bikes are something of a sideline. The nice thing about that is they do not need to float the business on the bikes. The down side is they are not a true bike shop and don't stock things like accessories.

All in all they are the only shop in the mid-atlantic right now that I take my Guzzi's to for work if I can't do it myself.

[gstallons]

I'd like some advice about a clutch-related issue with my 2010 V7 Classic. My 2010 Guzzi is under warranty because I bought it new last year.  

 

About a month ago, I took it to the local dealer for its 9,600 mi service.  At that point, the clutch lever had become very loose (lots of free play), but the clutch itself had never slipped and the bike shifted well.  When the bike was returned to me after the service, the mechanic had adjusted the clutch cable to the factory-specified tension.  As soon as I accelerated away from the shop, I realized the clutch was slipping. 

 

It was still slipping after the dealer replaced the clutch cable under warranty. 

 

Long story short: with the factory specified free play in the cable, the clutch slips.  When I adjust the lever so that it it has a lot of free-play, the clutch seems to work fine and the bike shifts smoothly, although I can hear it rattling away when it is disengaged.  

 

The dealer says a faulty "clutch release shaft" caused my clutch to remain partly engaged, which, in turn, caused the disc to fail prematurely.  I'm also told Guzzi has approved a repair under warranty.  

 

Despite the warranty approval, I can't get the dealer to do the work. Every time I speak to the owner, he tells me he'll call\email me after he checks out the service department's schedule.  He doesn't call. I call him a few days later. He says he'll call me right back. I never hear from him.  It's been going on for at least two weeks. 

 

Do I have a clutch problem, a dealer problem, or both? Assuming it's both, where should I turn for warranty service in the Greater New York area? With a reasonable expenditure of money and patience, am I going to be able to resolve this issue before July?

 

The words "factory specific tension" bother me.  If it is cable operated , then you want clearance not tension.

You say when you adjusted it for too much free play it works o.k. How much free play. IF this dealership is aying what you say he is saying , you do not need him to do anything else to your bike.

[Laurie]

Sorry to hear your Clutch problems. Hope it was resolved.   My 2013 V7 Racer has 20K on the clock and the clutch is slipping. Not happy about that.

 

[pete roper]

Have either of you blokes with clutch problems tried using the adjuster on the arm at the back of the gearbox? If the adjuster is set so that it's too far in the arm will be too far back and may be jamming on either part of the frame or the swingarm and preloading the thrust bearing and pushrod.

 

pete

[GuzziMoto]

Clutches slip typically for two reasons. The first, and most common, is they are worn out. Excessive clutch wear (which would be the case if it was worn out in 20,000 miles) can occur if the clutch system is improperly adjusted / set up. It can also occur if the rider slips the clutch excessively. As Pete mentioned, there is typically an adjuster at the handle bar lever, and that adjuster needs to be adjusted so there is a certain amount of free play at the clutch lever. No free play at the clutch lever would be improperly adjusted and could / would cause excessive clutch wear. There is also an adjuster at the back of the trans, where the other end of the clutch cable is. That needs to be set to maintain proper geometry and if mis-adjusted it could put that clutch arm in a positions where it's full travel is impeded by something, like the frame or the swing arm. That clutch arm should not be up against either the frame or the swing arm, it needs to be free to move in and out.

There was also an issue with some clutches where they had an issue with the throwout bearing. But that probably is not the case here.

[theoneandonly]

so what happened then ? 

[gstallons]

IDK if the bike being discussed id a cable or hydraulic set-up . 

 # 1 if it is cable operated you will want slack / clearance , whatever in the lever . Make this adjustment cold and recheck after the engine is normal operating temp . 

 # 2 if it is hydraulic operated YOU BETTER KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING . If you "fiddle around" with the wrong stuff , you will create a hydraulic  jack . Every time you pull the clutch lever the piston at the clutch release will be extended and not return . You pull the lever more and the piston extends more . This is the way a hydraulic jack works .The difference is there is a bleed screw that allows the pressure to bleed off at the small piston and the jack return to at rest position . If the factory set-up is set correctly , when you pull the lever , the master cylinder will operate the slave cylinder . When you release the master cylinder , the slave cylinder moves back to at rest position and the fluid goes back into the reservoir . If it is misadjusted , the fluid will not go past the piston and keep pressure in the system . This is why NO ONE should be messin' around with the stuff at the lever unless they understand what they are doing . The tech @ the Guzzi dealer , it doesn't sound like he was doing too good. 

 Whew ! I hope I said what I meant ?

[pete roper]

It's a cable system with two adjustment points. One at the handlebar lever. One on the arm on the back of the box.

Your understanding of the workings of the hydraulic system is a bit off too. While it is possible to 'Close' the system causing problems due to heat it won't pump up like a hydraulic jack.

[gstallons]

If someone has screwed the adjuster where the clutch lever pushes the master cylinder piston too far , the clutch will not release after being pumped ?

[pete roper]

Yes it will, but only until the fluid in the now 'Closed' system heats up. Then, not being able to bleed back to the reservoir due to the priming port being blocked by the master cylinder piston the expansion caused by the heat can only make one thing move. That's the piston in the slave cylinder which will preload the release mechanism making the clutch slip and eventually, if the situation isn't rectified, burn out.