EC200 Clutch - or lack of

[Muzungu]

At randomw times the clucth control on my 2011 200 dissappears - the clutch lever can be pulled right back to the bars and still dragging - this is rather unsettling on slow twisties as assists in making bike drive into corners it shouldnt! And then a few seconds later is fine.

I can find no problem with it, bleeding is fine as are fluids.

Is this a common problem?

M

[GGEvo]

Has this fault on my '10 EC300. My clutch was disengaging after about 3-5 secs. Dealer advised there was a fault with the seal in the master cylinder. Easy fix under warranty but frustrating all the same.

[noobi]

If you have no free play in the lever it can result in inconsistent engagement points with the lever. Free play=good.
Otherwise it could be the seal

[stainlesscycle]

either master or slave has a seal problem. both are cheap and relatively easy to rebuild.

[mrkartoom]

I have almost the exact same problem on my less than 1-hour old clutch. When cold the clutch disengages against my fingers on the grip, then after a minute I have to pull it to the bar to get it to disengage. I have torn the slave apart and bled it 2x. Going into the master cylinder is next on my list. I am hoping I will see something in there to indicate the problem (imperfection in seals, scored cylinder wall from leftover machining debris, etc.). Hopefully this is my problem and I can get it sorted.

I noticed my problem only after removing the two rear bolts on the case guard/slave, but I think that was merely coincidental and the problem was there from the start. I've only ridden the bike one good time and may just not have noticed it. However, this may explain the couple times I stalled it in slow corners. I remember being a bit surprised that I stalled it each time.

[GGEvo]

Must admit my problem started and took me a while to notice it was a problem, just thought it was me getting used to a hydraulic clutch. However, it gradually got worse until one ride it became unrideable - just kept disengaging and would re-engage after a few pumps of lever.

As mentioned, the dealer knew exactly what the problem was. Said they had a few returned and thought it was a bad batch of seals in master cylinder. Has been working faultlessly since this was replaced.

[motogroove]

Originally Posted by noobi

If you have no free play in the lever it can result in inconsistent engagement points with the lever. Free play=good.
Otherwise it could be the seal

I have read this in several places here.
Just to clarify:
Are we talking about free play between the adjustable actuator on the lever and the pin-with-bucket? Or are we talking about free play in the sprung range between the pin-with-bucket and the Master Cylinder Plunger?

Asking the same question in a different way:
Should I adjust the lever so that there's a tiny gap between the actuator tip and the bottom of the bucket on the pin-with-bucket?
Or should I adjust so the the pin-with-bucket is compressing its spring a little, but not touching the main plunger yet?

I'm guessing that the practical answer has to do with whether the little spring on the pin-with-bucket is strong enough to move the main plunger.

Thanks in advance for any guidance.

-Dean
waiting for the call - rained like crazy last night. Track is freshly watered.

[noobi]

I set mine so that there is a few mm of distance before the lever starts touching the bucket on the master cylinder, if that makes sense?
I assume thats what is meant by free play, because the slave cylinder isnt really adjustable, however I cant comment on what other people mean, this is just how I interpret it.

[motogroove]

Originally Posted by noobi

I set mine so that there is a few mm of distance before the lever starts touching the bucket on the master cylinder, if that makes sense?
I assume thats what is meant by free play, because the slave cylinder isnt really adjustable, however I cant comment on what other people mean, this is just how I interpret it.

Yes, that make sense. And that's how I did it, except maybe only a skinny 1mm of distance is what I set - just enough so that I was sure it could release all pressure on the bucket.

It does seem like that little sprung range there on the pin-with-bucket uses up a lot of lever travel, but I guess that action adds some feel to the system.

[Muzungu]

Many thanks for the feedback - am please (?) it is not just me! Dealer seemed a biy vague yesterday so now have a way forward.

M