1199 clutch lever getting closer to hand grip

Graydon · Mar 14, 2021

I've noticed that my clutch engagement point has been moving closer to the hand grip gradually over the last 6 months and I've actually had to adjust the little lever position adjustment lever to keep the clutch lever at a comfortable position and now it is all the way out so I need to fix this before I can't disengage the clutch.

Have any of you experienced this? Is it the clutch master or slave likely? A leaky seal maybe? I don't have any brake fluid leaking on the ground that I can see but the fluid in the clutch master reservoir does look a little brown. Maybe there's some rust in the master and it is bypassing the seal?

Thanks,

StreetSweeper · Mar 14, 2021

Bleed it and be on your way. Common symptom. Ive had to bleed, mid trip on some overnighters. Usually bleed it 2-3x season.

Don14R · Mar 14, 2021

My 1998 Dodge Cummins had hydraulic clutch. Drove that thing 15 years. 200k miles. Never had to bleed the clutch

Try putting some Teflon tape on both bleeders but first remove and disassemble the slave

Mine had a bunch of muck behind the piston

airjawed · Mar 14, 2021

I get air every so often. Can bleed it and get the lever back to normal. Can also sometimes tilt bike and operate the lever. Sometimes that's all that's needed to get the air to burp out.

Graydon · Mar 14, 2021

Thanks for the replies. I wonder if its a bleeding problem because it seems if I ride it all day it gets a little better. I'll try that. Probably wont have much opportunity to ride for a week or two now though. The weather man says we're getting pretty cool weather for the next week or so.

DucatiKev · Mar 14, 2021

just crack it and creep in the lever in to get all air out but no need to expel fluid. Tighten the bleeder and ride

yeah I don’t think it’s a hydraulic clutch action problem but more of a Duc hydraulic clutch action problem

Eventually upgrade clutch master, slave and line

Halo2 · Mar 14, 2021

The clutch slave is known to go bad

melvinakshay · Mar 14, 2021

DucatiKev said:
just crack it and creep in the lever in to get all air out but no need to expel fluid. Tighten the bleeder and ride

yeah I don’t think it’s a hydraulic clutch action problem but more of a Duc hydraulic clutch action problem

Eventually upgrade clutch master, slave and line

I've upgraded the slave to Oberon and still have the same issue. Some day i'll maybe replace the master but idk its cheaper to bleed once in a while.

DucatiKev · Mar 15, 2021

I swapped the slave on my 1299 to Ducabike and the problem still persists. Junk

DCPanni · Mar 15, 2021

Carry and 11 mm wrench with some small plastic tubing and some tissue paper, under the rear cowling. Cause you gonna need to bleed it to get the air bubble out sometimes when your not home. It all fits in there. I’d not just pop it without some tubing to catch it, as brake fluid will eat up and scar plastic and paint.

Don14R · Mar 15, 2021

DucatiKev said:
I swapped the slave on my 1299 to Ducabike and the problem still persists. Junk

Did you wrap the bleeders like we talked about????

DucatiKev · Mar 15, 2021

Don14R said:
Did you wrap the bleeders like we talked about????

Nah I posted it for sale

Zundapp · Mar 15, 2021

melvinakshay said:
I've upgraded the slave to Oberon and still have the same issue. Some day i'll maybe replace the master but idk its cheaper to bleed once in a while.

Even with an RCS Master no improvement on my V4

Don14R · Mar 15, 2021

Try wrapping the bleeders

StreetSweeper · Mar 15, 2021

Don14R said:
Try wrapping the bleeders

Like with Teflon tape?

Paul G · Mar 15, 2021

Dont worry about it, its really such a basic operation that you can do it in 2 minutes. When out and about all you need is 11mm ring spanner and an absorbent cloth. Put the spanner on the nipple and loosen it first, then lightly nip it up (this give more control when bleeding) Next, with the cloth over the nipple and the spanner in place, pump the clutch a few times and pull it into the bars. Holding it in loosen the nipple slowly until you feel the pressure on the lever relax then close the nipple and release the lever. Once is usually enough but if it still feels loose then once more keeping an eye on the reservoir.
Job done, go riding

thomasmryan · Mar 15, 2021

in my experience, the rear brake needs a to be bled every 1000 miles or so and the clutch every 2000.

DucatiKev · Mar 15, 2021

thomasmryan said:
in my experience, the rear brake needs a to be bled every 1000 miles or so and the clutch every 2000.

Yeah brake fluids get renewed every 2,000 miles MAX with rbf 660 or Brembo HTC64

They only made the bikes like this to give us (snobs) something about which to complain

Don14R · Mar 15, 2021

StreetSweeper said:
Like with Teflon tape?

Yep

Herrod · Mar 15, 2021

I just put some Stahlbus bleeders on V4R masters and can tell from their action that it will save bleeding/flushing time.

Have replaced slave on 1199 and v4r with ducabike and CNC respectively but kept master clutch OEM. The 1199 clutch is now great.

V4R clutch still seems to need bleeding a lot, maybe the dry clutch plates are on the way out...I thought about wrapping Teflon around the bleed screw thread but it worried me that Teflon degraded into the system and caused mischief - admittedly I am not a chemist but I want the brake internals to be the one area of the bike free from any contamination!

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1199 clutch lever getting closer to hand grip

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