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After riding my 2001 falco for a short period of time on the m/way I went to turn off and found the clutch lever had gone very light, the gears where difficult to select and with the clutch lever fully compressed the bike was still able to creep forward!

I noticed the span adjuster was on setting 4 (the shortests span between bar and lever), so I changed it to setting 1 the furthest setting and on the way home it was better!

However upon bleeding the system on setting 4 I found it's not much better in setting 4 although it doesn't creep forward!

Is it possible as the fluid heats up it causes the clutch to require more travel at the lever to get smooth gear changes?

I would always bleed the system with the span adjuster set to maximum, so that you are using the full stroke of the master cylinder. And I'd also consider fitting a bleed nipple banjo bolt to the master cylinder, so you can get all the air out of the system. It also makes bleeding much easier and less of a chore.

I know that there may be other reasons but I wonder whether you are loosing fluid - slave cylinder seals are far from unknown to leak.
If it does, you can replace the seal or replace the slave with an upgraded one.

D-Rider wrote:I know that there may be other reasons but I wonder whether you are loosing fluid - slave cylinder seals are far from unknown to leak.
If it does, you can replace the seal or replace the slave with an upgraded one.

Totally agree andy. The oasis was the same. Yellowperril check for loads of fluid at the back of your sprocket cover.

Yep, mine was exactly the same and even though it didn't look on the reservoir that I was losing fluid, it was. It was only the tiniest of amounts, but new slave seal and problem is gone.

Thanks for your responses, I rebleed the clutch yesterday on setting 4 and it now works well still a little clunk from neutral to first but it's always done that and does my triumph and honda, so I take that as normal!
I am looking in to the clutch jet mod though as it sounds like its worth a look at to aid the neutral selection!

Yellowperil wrote:Thanks for your responses, I rebleed the clutch yesterday on setting 4 and it now works well still a little clunk from neutral to first but it's always done that and does my triumph and honda, so I take that as normal!
I am looking in to the clutch jet mod though as it sounds like its worth a look at to aid the neutral selection!

The clutch jet mod is a good idea if you can't get neutral easily. Do your homework on how to fit this with out catastrophic problems though

I had my clutch jet changed when I had the slave cylinder replaced, it is certainly better, but the difficulty in finding neutral is still there. I have got into the habit of knocking it into neutral before I completely stop now.

When I got my bike neutral was all but impossible to get. Bleeding the clutch helped for a while, but only marginally. Since replacing the seal and the jet it has been relatively easy to do even whilst stationary. But as already stated it isn't easy, it's a pain to get it out. Undoing it is one thing but withdrawing it is another. You also can't use to much force as you risk damaging the screw slot.