Lighter Clutch Pull Wanted
 

We have an '08 DE 300 we bought this summer to replace an '05 DE 200.

One thing about the 300 we miss from the 200 is the clutch pull effort.
The '05 was a one finger pull (about like a trials bike) and was one of the things we loved about the bike. The '08 has a lever effort about like a KTM, not bad at all, but nowhere near as nice as the wonderful '05.

My question is how can we get to that one finger clutch action on the '08.
My understanding of clutch lever pull effort is that it is a direct function of the size of the piston / fluid orifice in the master cylinder - smaller orifice equal easier lever pull. Correct?

If that's true, what are the benefits / problems associated with a smaller v. larger fluid orifice in the master cylinder?

Also, does anyone know whether the hydraulic hose on my '08 will connect to an '05 master cylinder? Does anyone have a good '05 clutch master cylinder/lever assembly for sale . . .cheap?

Comments? Suggestions?

Something is not right. They all should have light pulls. I'd go through the system and check everything. Cruiser fought something like this for a long time on his '03.

What is the difference between DE and EC?

The best result I had was rebuilding the slave cylinder,, The O-ring was effed up and caused most of the binding.. that and my clutch housing was a little warped.. due to a Knight brand slave cylinder guard.. Changed out the slave and did not reuse the guard and it was much better.. I also rebuilt the MC,, swapped it out to the old 97's MC and tried one from a 2001.. also changed over to a braided hose from EE for a KTM 200,, not sure on year but it fit well.. And even had the entire clutch basket out at least a dozen times..
Good luck and it should be in your hydraulics.. they are super easy to rebuild too,, just messy..

Thanks for the input everyone. This bike has about 100 hours on it, but everything in the clutch actuation system appears to be in pristine condition
(at least externally). The bike has a braided stainless hose on it.
Other than the pull effort, everything seems to perform as normal.
I'll double check the brand of the master cylinder, but I think it may be a Domino unit. Is this stock eqpt. on the '08's (I seem to recall the '05 used a Magura master cylinder). The unit i have calls for mineral oil as the hydraulic fluid, whereas the '05 unit called for DOT 4. Can't imagine that the type of fluid would have any effect on my issue.

As far as I know AJP is the OEM manufacturer for GasGas hydraulic clutches on all enduro models since they started building their own engines in the latter part of the 1990's.

Make sure that the clutch master cylinder plunger, where it comes in contact with the lever, has a little free play.

Just under an 1/8th of an inch is necessary to allow the clutch hydraulic circuit to work properly.

Yep, the free play in the lever is just about right. We have no complaints with the operation of the system. The entire clutch system, both the hydraulic and mechanical components, function perfectly. The feel and function of the system is very consistent, hot or cold, abusing the clutch or not, we've got no issues with the functional aspects of the system
Our only complaint is with the lever effort. Frankly, if it were any bike but a GG, I'd consider it perfect.

My bike has the Magura clutch master cylinder, and the lever effort is much like a KTM. The AJP stock one is much lighter, however, this was swapped out to get the clutch to completely disengage and not creep in gear. This was done by our webmaster, so I'd have to ask him if the fluid is different. I love the light pull of the AJP, but I wouldn't trade it back to have it drag in gear again.

I'm curious why the mc was changed out to fix the drag,, the drag issue is a mechanical clearance issue in the clutch basket,, is the volume of that master different? I used a very thin shim in my 07 to fix the drag issue(from steve@motowest) which was a valve adj shim I believe? Which if I remember correctly basically lengthened the pushrod .020" allowing the basket to fully release the plates.. Worked great.. no extra effort..

Bondo,, what Berkey was getting at is if the lever does not have free play the piston/plunger will not come out enough to clear one of the internal ports and this has been a cause of stiff lever feel in the past.. Probably not the issue you have but may be.. Does you MC have any #'s? The Domino I believe is for the trials bikes.. might not be the right diam piston/plunger you need..