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Any one had any clutch problems? For the last few days the clutch bites even if I let it up a fraction! Resulting in a few embarrassing stalls or some near wheelies (not funny at 7.30 am in Tooting high street on a wet road!) Is there any way of adjusting it? I'M feeling the cable needs tightening/loosening

i cant believe the clutch is on its way out as some cheerful sod suggested at work! the bikes only done 6k.

ibicker wrote:Any one had any clutch problems? For the last few days the clutch bites even if I let it up a fraction! Resulting in a few embarrassing stalls or some near wheelies (not funny at 7.30 am in Tooting high street on a wet road!) Is there any way of adjusting it? I'M feeling the cable needs tightening/loosening

i cant believe the clutch is on its way out as some cheerful sod suggested at work! the bikes only done 6k.

The Falco has a Hydraulic clutch. I would look at the master or slave cylinder.

http://www.geocities.com/sl_mille/slave.html Should help

ibicker wrote:Any one had any clutch problems? For the last few days the clutch bites even if I let it up a fraction! Resulting in a few embarrassing stalls or some near wheelies (not funny at 7.30 am in Tooting high street on a wet road!) Is there any way of adjusting it? I'M feeling the cable needs tightening/loosening

i cant believe the clutch is on its way out as some cheerful sod suggested at work! the bikes only done 6k.

Nah - won't be the cable ..... it doesn't have one (hydraulic clutch).

Usual problems are:
1) clutch slip (often associated with older bikes - pre improved clutch and fully synth oil ... which is fine to use on later bikes)

2) clutch drag - associated with poor bleeding (they're a bit of a b~##er to bleed - KZmillie's guide on AF1 forum is a big help for this)

3) clutch drag - associated with seal failure - usually in the slave cylinder.

Another clutch issue can that gets reported from time to time is poor performance of the slipper clutch due to vacuum leakage.

..... none of which helps very much as you seem to have an on/off grabby clutch.
Just guessing but I'd check my clutch plates - make sure they are in tolerance and not warped at all ..... but at only 6k on a Falco clutch .... sounds unlikely.

Hopefully someone else will remember something about this .....

Check the fluid level and bleed the clutch slave cylinder fully. Sounds as if some air has got in there and the clutch isn't fully disengaging when the lever is pulled in. The slave cylinder isn't the best feature on the Aprilia engine (although I've never had a problem) it's worth also pulling the slave cylinder off and ensuring the push rod is clean and moves freely

If this doesn't work than the plates and clutch basket are your next port of call. The good news is to check the clutch basket and plates you don't need to drain the oil. Just put the bike on the side stand and remove the cover plate (take great care you remove it carefully & slowly to ensure you don't split the rubber diaphram) you'll be able to see if you have a problem, although a 6k miles I doubt it

Personally I'd be amazed if it isn't the slave cylinder

F9

I have a loose fitting cable-tie that i hang over my reservoir and when I park it up i slip it over the lever and bar to hold lever in to stop any air entering.

Had an embarressing moment at a trackday with tyre warmers on, snicked it into gear to check angle of gear lever and fuck me if the wheel didnt fly round complete with warmer and mains lead There was no travel before the clutch bit and i put it down to standing it for 2 months without the tie-wrap on

Thanks Pierre. Just pissed myself laughing. Brilliant!

As with others, best guess is the slave cylinder seal (mine went twice on the previous bike). Cheapest route is to change the seal, best route is to replace the slave cylinder with an MPL version (probably get into a bidding war on ebay though!)

Thanks guys.

I refilled and bled the system not that easy I must have used pints of clutch fluid. Cant see any obvious leaks so have cleaned everything up and just gonna keep an eye on it. The fluid level seemed to go down very quickly fingers crossed this will be the end of it.

My first attempt at bleeding it was great I thought that must be it lets fire her up . I pulled back the (floppy) clutch knocked it into first (with full choke) and bang she shot forward about two metres locked the back tyre creating a skid mark on both the drive and my pants

Still havent found that clutch cable lol

ibicker wrote: The fluid level seemed to go down very quickly fingers crossed this will be the end of it.

If the fluid's going down in use, then it is leaking - almost certainly at the slave ..... a number of people have taken a bit of persuasion that theirs has been leaking due to the location being one where a lot of chain oil crap collects and not realising that there's clutch fluid there too.

I can back d-rider on that one. No fluid on the garage floor at all. It was the slave cylinder seal, the original seems to get degraded over time. Some on this forum thought that could be the possible cause of the black fluid in the reservoir we all seem to have? I tried a new seal but it would not seal back correctly so I ended up buying a new complete standard reservoir as an emergency (24 hours before Europe trip!).There are a couple of good aftermarket versions talked about on the forums but more costly than standard. Tight, me?