'07 clutch issues

The clutch issue on my new '07 (1,800 mi) is getting progressively worse. Now, even when warm, it takes beyond the count of "onethousandone" before the clutch disengages. This only happens when decelerating & attempting to downshift. Day before yesterday, I was in 2nd, gently decelerating for a stop sign, 3 bars on the temp gauge, pulled in the clutch (which I've adjusted to the longest throw), and it would not come out of gear. I hit the brakes & the bike stalled...because it was still in gear & providing power to the rear tire even though the clutch lever was pulled in as tightly as I could squeeze it (given the cross traffic I was headed for). If I blip the throttle to match the speeds of dogs & teeth when this is happening (decelerating, clutch pulled in but still in gear), a "bad noise" occurs & I can feel as well as hear something nasty happening in the drivetrain when it breaks loose. (You know, the kind of noise that when you hear it you think, "****, that cannot be good for my machinery.")

Something ain't cricket. Taking it to my dealership for an I/R ride on Tuesday to document. I know this topic has been mentioned before, but I would like to know exactly what is happening when this occurs. Would sticky/vacuumed clutch plates make it do this? Pressure plate spring too stiff? Something wonky in the clutch cylinders?

-Andrew

You might first verify the clutch master cylinder fluid reservoir is adequately filled (Owner's Manual page 6-26) with brake fluid.

With the engine off, the bike on a level surface and in 1st gear can you:

Easily push the bike with the clutch lever pulled in?

If so, then the clutch is releasing properly. If not, further investigation is warranted.

Wow. This is not good. I am NO expert on clutches, but I am guessing this is a clutch activation issue rather than something wrong with the internal parts. As CM stated, low fluid? Something wrong with the slave cylinder, or on the other side? Perhaps a bad clutch line that is expanding like a baloon somewhere? (I know, not likely)

Air in the lines? Perhaps you said already, but have you bled the system? Does the lever and pull 'feel' any different when this happens?

I would get it in to the dealer ASAP if fluid level is ok and you have done a bleed.

SkooterG said:

Wow. This is not good. I am NO expert on clutches, but I am guessing this is a clutch activation issue rather than something wrong with the internal parts. As CM stated, low fluid? Something wrong with the slave cylinder, or on the other side? Perhaps a bad clutch line that is expanding like a baloon somewhere? (I know, not likely)
Air in the lines? Perhaps you said already, but have you bled the system? Does the lever and pull 'feel' any different when this happens?

I would get it in to the dealer ASAP if fluid level is ok and you have done a bleed.

Click to expand...

Fluid level is fine & I haven't felt any sponginess/uneven pressure in the clutch so I haven't done the bleed. Visual of the slave didn't reveal anything weird. This weekend is pull the pumpkin for paste & I'll bleed the clutch then. I'll check the line for balloons tomorrow. Thanks for the input, CM & Skooter.

Before you bleed the clutch, check the weep hole near the bottom of the clutch slave cylinder. If there is any sign of fluid leakage then perhaps you have a faulty slave cylinder.

But definitely bleed the clutch system completely with fresh fluid. The OEM fluid is junk anyway.

otrfjr:

I had exactly the same problem with my '06A and posted about it back in September. Here is my original post. https://www.fjrforum.com/forum//index.php?s...wnshift+problem

Dave

dhalen32 said:

otrfjr:I had exactly the same problem with my '06A and posted about it back in September. Here is my original post. https://www.fjrforum.com/forum//index.php?s...wnshift+problem

Dave

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Thanks Dave. I read the thread & this sounds exactly like what my bike is doing. However, I'm still at a loss: was it the sticky plates or the cylinder rebuild? Combination of the two?

otrfjr said:

dhalen32 said:

otrfjr:I had exactly the same problem with my '06A and posted about it back in September. Here is my original post. https://www.fjrforum.com/forum//index.php?s...wnshift+problem

Dave

Click to expand...

Thanks Dave. I read the thread & this sounds exactly like what my bike is doing. However, I'm still at a loss: was it the sticky plates or the cylinder rebuild? Combination of the two?

I know I'm going to bring down the thunder of the oil gods, but I know someone else who is experiencing this problem & he (as well as I) changed to Rotella 15w-40 early on. I changed to Rotella at 200 & then back to Yamalube at 600. Still have that batch of oil in it & will change again at 2k. Since the problem didn't start showing itself until after 1,000 mi, I'm pretty sure oil isn't the primary issue, but it's a slightly weird coincidence.

Click to expand...

Since they did both things within a day of one another it could be a combination of the two. I did not ride the bike after the plate soak but before the slave cylinder work. However, when discussing the repairs with the mechanic I heard that the plate soak did not fix the problem and the slave cylinder disassembly, clean and reassembly did fix the problem. I did the initial oil/filter change myself and refilled the crankcase with non-syn Rotella. The dealer's first response to my complaint with downshifting had me changing the oil again to motorcycle specific oil purchased from them. It made no difference. I would put my money on the slave cylinder.

My tough downshifting, worse when engine is cold problem ('07) continues also. It seems to have gotten worse when I changed to Shell Rotella at 100 miles then a little better when I went back to Yama lube. Crazy I know and I hate to even say it but true. Maybe its just "braking in"??

I'm now at 3000 miles and get a nice loud clunck and lurch forward when going from neutral to 1st, also you can't push the bike when in gear and clutch pulled in. Don't tell me either or both are normal I've had about 8 new bikes in the last 5 yrs alone and none of them did this. The big problem is downshifting while riding, hard/tough when cold and gets better as engine warms.

I took the bike to dealer last week and told them about the problem and am waiting for their reply/solution.

I love the FJR but am dissappointed that a bike in production for this long has this issue, also the throttle response and buzzy bars suck but is resovled by throwing more $$ at the bike so not too big a deal. Still cheaper/better(lighter, style)/more fun than my ST1300 and RT(never owned a RT just rode a bunch).

I'll post a follow up when I get the bike back.

Steve

I'm missing something.

1. 2007 model

2. 1800 miles

warranty work? glad to see you took it in.

as for dissapointed, i don't understand that either. these are man-made things. in an entire run there are bound to be variations and an occasional unit slip through that is less than perfect. how yammy and its dealer network address these issues is what would make or break the model. it's understandable to be discouraged about your new bike. it's not a logical conclusion to question the entire model line though. these abberrations are common enough across all brands and models that the term "built on friday" has been around for decades.

Try some Motul 5100 ESTER 10W40 oil if you can get it.

https://www.motul.com.au/product_line_up/4s.../4stroke15.html

Bounce said:

I'm missing something.
1. 2007 model

2. 1800 miles

warranty work? glad to see you took it in.

as for dissapointed, i don't understand that either. these are man-made things. in an entire run there are bound to be variations and an occasional unit slip through that is less than perfect. how yammy and its dealer network address these issues is what would make or break the model. it's understandable to be discouraged about your new bike. it's not a logical conclusion to question the entire model line though. these abberrations are common enough across all brands and models that the term "built on friday" has been around for decades.

Click to expand...

I hear yah barking big dog, but some how it's different when it happens to YOU! :angry: Signed,

Mr. 60 and 80 psi of compression in cyl's 3 & 4 due to carbon deposits? Jeesh what a CBA guy I am. Oh, yeah, forgot, I'm the ceo..

Bike went in for I/R this morning for the clutch issue. When I mentioned that several other '07 owners were experiencing the same problems & that the solution so far had been found in either soaking the clutch plates or in the slave cylinder, he asked me if I got my information from an online forum. I said yes. He said, well, that might be, but the clutch is still considered a "wear item" & not usually covered under the factory warranty. I asked how dry clutch plates or a wonky slave cylinder could possibly fall under "wear" at 2k miles. He told me he sympathized, but that they hadn't received any service bulletins from Yamaha on the matter, so he wanted me to leave thinking worst case scenario & not thinking that Yamaha was automatically going to pick up the $250 for the I/R much less the cost of actually fixing the problem.

Not for nothing, but I don't understand the clutch plate soak thing one bit. What do they mean soak the plates? It's a freaking oil bath clutch! If it was assembled dry, it may work funky the first time out, but by then it's covered with oil and should soak itself overnight.

And as far as them telling you to try the factory oil, that too is bull. I think you are dealing with a dealer that don't know nothing about nothing, which is the case with most of them. If you can't pull in the clutch, (engine off in gear), and push the bike, or if the bike clunks and creeps forward when you put it in gear, the clutch is not disengaging. Simple. You must have a problem with the hydraulic system.

But then again, maybe I'm wrong.

If I were having this type of problem and the Dealer I took it to said Yamaha isn't going to do anything about it, I would find me another Dealership! These Mechanics (not all by any means) think the sun rises and sets on their opinion and they know every detail in Yamaha's exclusion policy (I seriously doubt that), most of the time this type doesn't have a clue. Mechanics come in all experience and talent levels and they are not all made the same. If you are fortunate enough to find someone who knows their trade, tell everyone on this Forum about them and their Dealership.

Now, I would also give Yamaha Corporate a call. Just like anything else if enough calls come in about a specific problem they will (or should) react accordingly, or they won't be in business much longer. But never just accept someone's short answer, this bike is brand new and has a full warranty of at least one year, make them honor their warranty and fix your bike. State Consumer Laws are on the books to protect us all, use them! Also remember the Lemon Law!

Going to a motorcycle Dealership is just like going to the Doctors office, if there is a Doctor down the street from you who is known as Doctor Death, are you going to go to him? Hell no! You will spend time and look for a Doctor who knows his stuff and go to him. It's the same thing with Mechanics and Dealerships, spend time and find the best in your area, then take your bike there.

We should start a thread to look for and find the best Dealerships and mechanics in each area, this way if we ever need quality work done, we all know where to go. Just the best one's, say nothing about the worst, we already know where most of these are anyway.

clutchless1

Hey folks, I wouldn't let techs mess with the clutch plates; plates 'sticking' is crap IMO. How the hell are they going to stick together? Come on.

And without a leak, the slave cylinder doesn't make any sense: fluid either pushes the rod out, disengaging the clutch, or fluid leaks out of it.

What it sounds like is one of 2 things, in order of probability:

1. You have air in the system, not letting the clutch disengage. And on these stupid bikes, where the clutch engages almost by the grip, ANY air would cause that.

2. INTERNAL MASTER CYLINDER LEAK, which would also fail to disengage the clutch and not have external leaks.

Even if you're a mediocre mechanic, I'd first bleed your clutch real well first; that might solve your problem. If not, check for leaks EVERYWHERE around clutch components, to eliminate a leaky slave. If no leaks, it'll be a bad master cylinder, not slave. A bad slave will ALWAYS leak, since fluid has no other place to go; as simple as that. Hope this helps.

JC

Flushed it twice, bled it three times: no difference. Changed the slave cylinder and switched to synthetic oil: priceless. The more miles with the synthetic, the better it gets.

ELP_JC said:

Hey folks, I wouldn't let techs mess with the clutch plates; plates 'sticking' is crap IMO. How the hell are they going to stick together? Come on. And without a leak, the slave cylinder doesn't make any sense: fluid either pushes the rod out, disengaging the clutch, or fluid leaks out of it.

What it sounds like is one of 2 things, in order of probability:

1. You have air in the system, not letting the clutch disengage. And on these stupid bikes, where the clutch engages almost by the grip, ANY air would cause that.

2. INTERNAL MASTER CYLINDER LEAK, which would also fail to disengage the clutch and not have external leaks.

Even if you're a mediocre mechanic, I'd first bleed your clutch real well first; that might solve your problem. If not, check for leaks EVERYWHERE around clutch components, to eliminate a leaky slave. If no leaks, it'll be a bad master cylinder, not slave. A bad slave will ALWAYS leak, since fluid has no other place to go; as simple as that. Hope this helps.

JC

Click to expand...

I must say I've had clutch issues on different bikes over the years but at this stage I've not had any issues with the FJR.

The previous issues were generally cluch not disengaging fully or slipage and on one bike both at the same time. In the vast magjority of cases if the solution wasn't an obvious adjustment or hydralic issue it was solved by finding the correct oil for that particular bike.

My old XT when running a 20W60 Pentite would both not disengage and would drag at idle and would slip over 5000RPM, I think the oil was simply too heavy, where as with 15W50 5100 Motil it was fine. I aslso tried 10W50 Castol Synth the clutch disengaged fine but would slip at high RPM in 4th and 5th gears, maybe it also had a friction modifyer in it??.

The FJR is running 15W50 5100 Motul, it fine, not problems to report.

I have a new 2007 and am having the same issues and it seems to be getting worse. I used the Y-lube at the first oil change and that is when it started happening. It lurks forward when you stick it in 1st and from 5th to 4th, it takes an act of God to get it to go in.

I hope the new oil helps. Other than that, the bike is awesome.