clutch issues

Joined Nov 2016
9 Posts | 6+
sunnyvale ca
i've posted here a while ago bout crashing my beloved 1299 because of the engine turning off but now it's the clutch lever. I've been fighting it since my 600 mile service and just accepted it as a daily thing to bleed the master and slave. But at 6300 miles it's becoming a problem. I bled the system because of a spongy feel and now the friction zone is way to far out. Let me try to explain. When driving a car you push the clutch in and slowly release until you find a friction zone. Normally it's about half way for a comfortable feel. With my 1299 when you release the clutch to find the friction zone it's pretty much all the way at the end before it grabs and that's after bleeding the system. Slave first then master. I've spent about 8 hours researching trying to figure out how to fix it without throwing tons of money at it and the only thing i've come up with is to replace the slave with an Oberon. Anyone else have this issue? Any recommendations for fixing it and is the fix replacing the slave with an oberon slave? Is there an adjustment i don't know about somewhere? It feels like i'm almost out of clutch lever before it grabs and it's almost unrideable. Any help would be appreciated since my dealership just charged me 100$ to look at it under warranty :mad:
 
Mine doesnt need bleeding that often, but I carry the required spanner with me when I ride. I had the master cylinder changed under warranty and the problem went away for a while, but its back now.
When there is no air in the system the bite point on mine is also quite far away from the bar. I like it like that. What I strive for is consistency regarding the bite point. Once you achieve that (by stopping air getting in) you can then adjust the lever so that it is in the right place for the size of your hand.
If I keep the bike for another year I will probably fit a better quality master cylinder.
 
i'm throwing on a new slave today.. i'm hoping it'll fix my issues. surprised no one else has mentioned anything about their clutch lever feel also.
When i adjust the lever nothing happens to the friction zone. It stays in the same place no matter where the lever is.
 
So in the process of taking off my clutch slave there was a ton of dirt and grime around the o-ring that looks like it came from the chain. All of that dirt seemed to have gotten passed the o-ring and into the slave. I'm sure the slave leaked passed the o-ring and then dirt from the chain was being slung into the slave. The last time i had gave the slave a good flushing a lot of black substance came with the clean fluid. I flushed until it was gone but friction zone got worse over 500 miles or so.
Good news is the oberon changed the friction zone and back to the middle of the lever.
Weird thing is it feels a bit wide but still 100% better than what it was before.