trying to bleed the clutch and...

[shrike]

The oil was a bit dirty so I tried bleeding the clutch manually.  I attached a  piece of clear tube and put some oil in a jar.  I pumped the lever until the whole tube was filled with oil.  I bled it a few times until the oil was clear.  Now the problem is if the bleed valve is shut and even if I don't touch anything air bubbles will start filling the clear tube after a while. There is no oil leaking though so the tube must be tight on the valve. The bike was bought last year and has 13000 km. There is some dirt in the clutch oil reservoir and if I remember correctly it must have been there since last year, maybe even when I got it (it was a 2005 leftover). So I am thinnking there might be something wrong. I also opened the cover where the master cylinder is  next to the gearshif lever and I looked at the end of the rod that goes in the transmission and there are a few drops of oil at that end. Is this normal?

Also if the bike is on the centerstand and I shift from neutral to 1st and I DO NOT let the clutch out the wheel will start spinning. I can stop it with my foot though so it does not take much. is this normal also or the rod does not push completely on the plates? Or given that it's a wet clutch it's supposed to do that because of the oil friction between the plates? If I changed to an upper gear sometimes the wheel would spin a bit sometimes it won't.

Also my clutch lever touches the handlebars when I squeeze it. It always did that but now I am thinking if it shouldn't stop before touching the handlebars just like the brake lever.

[txbanditrydr]

 

Also my clutch lever touches the handlebars when I squeeze it. It always did that but now I am thinking if it shouldn't stop before touching the handlebars just like the brake lever.

It should come to the bars..... no worries there.

[txbanditrydr]

I also opened the cover where the master cylinder is  next to the gearshif lever and I looked at the end of the rod that goes in the transmission and there are a few drops of oil at that end. Is this normal?

Factory service manual will have you put some grease on each end of the rod when re-assembling....  that and whatever chainlube you've been using are the likely culprits - I wouldn't worry about that either.

[shrike]

thanks for the answer.  I use PJ1 chainwax so the oil I was talking about seems to be really motor oil. I was just wondering if there could be a defective seal in that area. There is not a lot of oil, just a small drop or two on the tip of the rod when I take it out. It's not leaking though.

[Red01]

Also if the bike is on the centerstand and I shift from neutral to 1st and I DO NOT let the clutch out the wheel will start spinning. I can stop it with my foot though so it does not take much. is this normal also or the rod does not push completely on the plates? Or given that it's a wet clutch it's supposed to do that because of the oil friction between the plates? If I changed to an upper gear sometimes the wheel would spin a bit sometimes it won't.

This is normal, too... in fact, it's pretty common for the wheel to rotate a little even in neutral.

[Red01]

Now the problem is if the bleed valve is shut and even if I don't touch anything air bubbles will start filling the clear tube after a while. There is no oil leaking though so the tube must be tight on the valve.

If the bleed valve is shut and air is coming into the fluid at the bleeder end of the hose, it doesn't have a tight seal on the bleeder's nipple.  Shouldn't be a big deal as long as you close the bleeder quickly at the end of each stroke.

[shrike]

I thought it would be caused by the hose not being tight but it seemed the air bubbles were coming from inside the nipple.
But it was probably just an illusion, I bled it again afterwards and there was no more air coming out. So I think everything is fine now.

Cheers!