Bonneville America Forums Forums Off Topic Discussion Forums Lounge I think my clutch failed today...

I'll keep this simple because I am so damn mad I can't type.

Off for a long ride today (230 miles). Absolutely no problems. I just went over everything last weekend & mechanically she's in great shape, or was.

4 miles from the house, I can't pull in the clutch & am stuck. The cable moves free, but it barely moves down at the tranny. Everthing on the outside looks fine & the tranny will shift thru the gears. I got it rolling, started it up and limped home after pushing it into first, there are no crazy sounds coming from the bike.

Who has this happened too? I don't have any prior experience with this sort of thing. Bike is one year old & just ready to turn 6K, so I have warranty..... How long could repairs take?

Sounds like your cable vs the clutch plates the way you are describing the symptoms. Check that first after you cool off a bit. sux to ruin your ride, it was gorgeous this weekend. good luck

Kurt,

Take a suitably sized open-end wrench (or an adjustable wrench) and see if you can move the clutch arm on the tranny case. If it moves forward freely, your cable/lever is the problem.

When I remove the cable, how far backward (clockwise) should the lifter arm move to? With the cable off, mine goes back to about the 2 O'clock position.
I cannot move the lever forward (12 O'clock) at all.
Without the engine running, I can shift through all the gears regardless of the clutch lifter's position. When the engine was running, it was nearly impossible to down-shift, but I was able to match revs and shift into second okay.

Man, if you can get it in gear and the machine goes, there may be something wrong with the actuating system, but the clutch works. The lifter arm doesn't move much (I was surprised how little it moves). Do a good inspection of the system from lever to the actuator arm. If either cable end cap has failed/split, it may allow the cable sheath to move and not actuate the lever. Check it out closely and let us know what you come up with.

2 oclock is fine. That's the spring tension easing.

Without the cable on there, you should be able to move the arm to about 10:30-11 oclock but definitely past 12!

FYI you can ride the bike without a clutch (if you get stuck while out on the road). Push the bike to get it moving then with the engine idling put it in first gear. Then ride as per normal while shifting up, and give it a bit of a rev when shifting down. Try to avoid red lights etc that'll make you came to a complete stop.

Since your bike is only a year old, it is still under warranty. Can you get it to a dealer you can trust?

Soren

Just an update for everyone on the cause of my clutch problem. I'll explain the best I can. The lifter arm shaft has a cam type thing that moves another rod that runs into the cluch basket. The lifter are shaft rotated back too far when I pulled the clutch in the prior shift and the cam rotated too far.. The rod going to the clutch basket slipped past the cam; engaging the clutch, but the lifter arm could not return to position.

I hope that makes sense. In the end, do damage to anything, the dealer said they had never seen it before. The also found my entire clutch basket was loose, so they tightened it up. That may have been a contributing factor, but they couldn't confirm it.
Bike runs great now though.