Clutch slippage!

[Busa Bandit]

Rode the 97 B12 for about 50 miles today, the clutch started slipping pretty bad, almost that it wouldn't sustain a cruising speed with any sort of incline in the road. Does this sound like the clutch needs replaced? It's just my luck I get this thing running good and now the clutch is going out with only 8300 miles. I'm going through the search and manual now to see if I can adjust something out, I just wanted to throw this out there in case some one had some words of wisdom to throw my way.

I have fresh 10-40 dino oil in it & new filter.
 

[txbanditrydr]

Nothing much to adjust since the clutch is hydraulic.  You might double check the clutch fluid and re-bleed if necessary.

One relatively cheap option is to replace one (of the two, I believe) clutch springs with a heavy duty Barnett spring - the 1st gen clutches aren't as robust as the 2nd gen.

[pmackie]

You could remove the left countershaft sprocket cover and:
1. Clean and lube the ramp assembly that operates the clutch push rod
2. Slide the pushrod out and make sure the push rod is clean and not bent

[Busa Bandit]

You could remove the left countershaft sprocket cover and:
1. Clean and lube the ramp assembly that operates the clutch push rod
2. Slide the pushrod out and make sure the push rod is clean and not bent

Does the oil need drained to just remove the cover? I was going to do exploratory surgery and just tear it all down, but if I can find something simple to fix first, that would be nice....Thanx!

[pmackie]

Does the oil need drained

No...the sprocket cover doubles as the clutch release mechanism, no oil there.

[Busa Bandit]

Well I removed the left countershaft sprocket cover and cleaned the ramp assembly that operates the clutch push rod. The push rod was not bent but it was caked with years of chain gunk. I cleaned it  real good in there. Then I noticed the fluid reservoir for the clutch was just just nasty in there with all kinds of crap. Had to disassemble it to get it all cleaned. Slapped it back together with clean fluid, bled it. I rode it for about 10 minutes and it didn't slip at all, I dont know if that was a sufficient amount of time to warm up the oil enough to see if it will slip again. I'll ride it tomorrow for a good spell to see how it does. The clutch did feel noticeable stronger than before although.

 It may of fixed it but for the life of me I cant see how the operation of that assembly could affect the clutch to the point it would slip. Isn't its function to disengage the clutch? So if it was all dirty with bad fluid; that to me would only affect how it would disengage the clutch, not cause it to slip when your not even using the clutch at all. Can some one splain that to me?

[B6mick]

Ok it can be from a couple of things, one I found on my FJ12, was all that chain muck and crap can carry all sorts of nasty hard materials that can bind between the piston and the rod, thus removing the free play that should be there. The second one could well be really really crappie fluid can as it picks up contaminates, expand more than new clean stuff when it heats up again, removing the free play and ever so slightly putting pressure on the clutch push rod.

Just 2 off the top of my head, hope it helps.

[Busa Bandit]

Ok it can be from a couple of things, one I found on my FJ12, was all that chain muck and crap can carry all sorts of nasty hard materials that can bind between the piston and the rod, thus removing the free play that should be there. The second one could well be really really crappie fluid can as it picks up contaminates, expand more than new clean stuff when it heats up again, removing the free play and ever so slightly putting pressure on the clutch push rod.

Just 2 off the top of my head, hope it helps.

That actually makes good sense, I rode it yesterday for about 50 miles and it never slipped at all. Before, even before it was completely warmed up it would slip under a hard load of the throttle, and it clanked into gear hard. Now it's smoother with no slip. Thanks everyone for the inputs!