Clutch related chatter

[black mamba]

When sitting stationary and reving the bike in neutral, with the clutch not engaged, I experience QUITE a bit of vibration that seems to be centered down toward the front of the bike in the engine area. If I pull in the clutch and rev the bike the vibration is not there. I'm not much of a wrench and don't know if this is normal or is something that a mechanic should look at. The issue is obviously clutch related and I don't want to cause any real problem by neglecting to correct something , if I need to. The bike is an '05 with about 22,000 miles on it. It has had this issue for quite some time.

 

[S76]

Your post is a little confusing as you say in neutral with the clutch NOT ENGAGED you get the vibration. And then you say with the clutch PULLED IN you don't. Clutch pulled in, and not engaged is the same thing.

Can you clarify?

When you say vibration, do you actually FEEL the vibration or do you just HEAR a noise.

 

[wallypiper]

SOME additional vibration when you let the lever out (engage the clutch for the nitpicklers) is normal since some additional parts start turning. Its pretty hard to say whether yours is normal or not over the webinets. Can you actually FEEL vibration or is it just a change in the sound? I mean, I wouldn't really say my bike vibrates in either situation but I wouldn't use it as a diamond cutting table either.

 

[black mamba]

Sorry guys, I freely admitted I'm not much of a wrench. To me, when the clutch lever is extended outward ( don't have your hand anywhere near it ) then the clutch is not engaged. When you pull the lever inward, in my mind, you have engaged the clutch. The vibration that exists on reving the engine with the clutch NOT engaged is quite pronounced and VERY MUCH felt through the bars and is also audible. No such vibration is felt or heard when the clutch lever is pulled inward and the engine reved. If I have this " engaged " or " not engaged " situation reversed, please forgive me.

 

[Geezer]

Sorry guys, I freely admitted I'm not much of a wrench. To me, when the clutch lever is extended outward ( don't have your hand anywhere near it ) then the clutch is not engaged. When you pull the lever inward, in my mind, you have engaged the clutch. The vibration that exists on reving the engine with the clutch NOT engaged is quite pronounced and VERY MUCH felt through the bars and is also audible. No such vibration is felt or heard when the clutch lever is pulled inward and the engine reved. If I have this " engaged " or " not engaged " situation reversed, please forgive me.

You do have it reversed. When you pull in on the clutch lever you dis-engage the clutch. The clutch is no longer providing a mechanical connection between the engine and the transmission. When the clutch lever is at rest, fully extended, the clutch is engaged.

So, with the clutch engaged, hand off the lever, the clutch is spinning, the clutch disks are firmly trapped and unable to wiggle so they should be quiet, and some parts in the gearbox are spinning. That would suggest that the noise is coming from the gearbox. I couldn't say if it was a problem or normal without hearing it.

When you pull in on the clutch lever there is no force (actually very little, but not significant) spinning the shaft in the gearbox.

 

[black mamba]

Geezer,

Thanks for your clear explanation. Obviously, the other guys also saw my error. The situation still exist, however, that I'm getting some....or quite a lot.... of vibration depending on the position of the clutch lever. I'm thinking I better go ahead and have the dealer take a look.

 

[markjenn]

It's fairly common/normal for some bikes to "rattle" a bit idle with the clutch engaged and the engine in neutral. The sound will go away if you pull the clutch. This is usually caused by the primary drive gears between the engine and clutch which rattle back and forth as the engine idle varies slightly. A throttle body sync will often reduce the noise by smoothing out the idle and reducing the loping and speed variations that occur at idle.

But my experience is that the noise generally goes away when you rev the engine a bit. If yours continues to make the noise, I'd have the dealer look at it - sounds like there is excessively play in something.

Good luck,

- Mark

 

[black mamba]

markjenn....

You're spot on with your assessment. The vibration I hear and feel does, in fact, go away as the revs climb. Probably nothing to be real concerned with but I think I'll get the dealer's opinion next time I'm in there. Perhaps I have an excessive case they can do something about. Thanks to all who took time to not only offer suggestions, but to also educate me as to the proper " engage " or " not engage " situation.

 

[markjenn]

markjenn....
You're spot on with your assessment. The vibration I hear and feel does, in fact, go away as the revs climb. Probably nothing to be real concerned with but I think I'll get the dealer's opinion next time I'm in there. Perhaps I have an excessive case they can do something about. Thanks to all who took time to not only offer suggestions, but to also educate me as to the proper " engage " or " not engage " situation.

A little idle primary gear rattle with the clutch engaged/out is certainly normal. But have the dealer give you their assessment. My guess is that it will almost go completely away with a good TBS.

BTW, I've also wrestled with the clutch engaged/disengaged terminilogy polarity issue. I've seen it go either way in discussions. While the rationale here is a good one, it does seem weird to talk in terms of pulling the clutch lever to dis-engage something - usually doing something engages it and doing nothing has it dis-engaged. I try use "clutch pulled" vs. "clutch out" as it is less ambigious.

Cheers,

- Mark

 

[S76]

I agree with the above posts about doing a Throttle Body Sync. If the engine is a little erratic at idle it will rattle the gears in the transmission. I would start there and see what happens. Chances are it will be a big improvement. Maybe a new set of plugs would help too depending on how long they have been in there, and checking the air filter can't hurt. In other words a tune up.

Never thought about it before but I can see your logic on the clutch lever thing. When you pull the clutch lever, you are engaging the clutch function, which is to disengage the engine from the transmission. Releasing the lever disengages the clutch function so the engine is now engaged with the gears.

:blink:

It's just a mater of perspective.

 

[black mamba]

S76...

I think you are right. It may well be a matter of perspective. I'm going back to my origainal belief.

If I'm riding down the road, with the clutch lever fully extended outward, the clutch is obviously NOT allowing any slippage and would, I think, be considered as not being engaged. Pull the clutch lever inward and you now allow slippage so you can change gears and would , in my mind, have to consider the clutch to be engaged and fuctioning normally.

It burns me up....my brother is a mechanical genius and I'm about as far away from that as you can be. I'm not about to ask his opinion on this matter and let him show me up again.

 

[v65]

You say the bike has had this issue for quite some time (which is not something I would volunteer if it turns out to be a warranty issue BTW). So has it always been this way, or has something changed?

 

[RoadGlide]

Tom, bring it over to my house and I'll look at it for you. We'll do a TBS and tune up if necessary and go from there. Bring a good bottle of wine.

 

[black mamba]

v65....

It has been this way for some time now. I'm going to take Wade up on his offer...grab my Morgan Carbtune and get him to show me how to do the TBS. I've had the dealer do 2 TBS since new but I want to learn this simple ( as I've been told ) procedure. Just had new plugs put in. If anything, I'm one that is quilty of over-maintaining a bike...it's just that I have to pay a dealer because I'm not too adept at such things.

Wade... I'll be calling you. Got plenty of good wine.