Intruder 1500 clutch issues (never ending story)

[Dano98]

Hi. Im in desperate need of help. I have recently bought a Intruder 1500 (year 2000). Everything was fine but suddenly clutch start to slips after 50km of ride. It was slipping for apx 5 mins and after that it was good and another 180km was without any issues. Next day I went for a ride and boom, clutch start to slipps after 5 mins of ride. I went home, cleaned the master cylinder (it was full of nasty gunk), changed the fluid, bleed it precisely (the system was full of that nasty gunk too). Not helped. That little tiny hole in master is good, it isn't blocked, because when I do reverse bleeding, the fluid sprays out of it. I changed the clutch springs for EBC which are 15% stronger that OEM. Not helped (clutch plates are good I measured them). Then I take out the slave cylinder from engine, put the cover down from it and man! The place was full of dirt and nasty shit. I cleaned it out, then i pushed the piston all the way in, cleaned surroundings of piston, put it all together. ET voila, no slipping at all! I made 120km that day without single issue. BUT. Two days later I went for a ride and after 20km I noticed, when I was turning into gas station, that my clutch lever is very soft. It hasn't that resistance as it have to. But no problems, no slipping and gears were going fine. Then I made another 20kms, then i stopped on the side of the road, (motor was on). After few mins I put gear bc I wanted to go and - here we go again - clutch started to slipps!! Fu**!! After that I stopped on the parking lot, turned off the engine, made some call, during which I pumped clutch lever several times. After 5 mins I started motor, and suddenly bike was going fine, no clutch slipping at all. After few kms I went to the shop for something, turned off the bike and after another few minutes when I came back from the shop the clutch again started to slipps. Oil and filter is new - Motul 5100, 10W40.

Where the f… can be the problem??? I cannot figure it out and Im going out of the options. One day it is good, no issues and another day everything is fuc*ed again…

[stinkwheel]

Did you change the seals in the slave cylinder? Might be worth popping it apart, giving it a good clean and reassembling with new seals. There's a return spring in there too on a lot of bikes and that can get corroded and sticky

Not sure of your exact setup but how's the pushrod? I know on other bikes, the clutch pushrod can get a lot of corrosion on it which makes it stick against the seals.
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[Nobby the Bastard]

I would assume the action is at fault (lever, cylinders etc.) but it could be a notchy basket.

Stinky's suggestion about the pushrod is a goodun' is a worthwile one to check as well, but as it runs through the gearbox unlikely.
____________________
trevor saxe-coburg-gotha:"Remember this simple rule - scooters are for men who like to feel the breeze on their huge, flapping cunt lips."
Sprint ST 1050

[Dano98]

Pushrod cleaned, no corrosion on it, slave cylinder cleaned too. Spring is OK. When I took apart the slave cylinder, it looks horrible inside - there was something like mud in there. I cleaned it thoroughly, put it back and the funny thing is that from that time clutch is slipping from first seconds from start. So I suspect, that this is hydraulic system issue, no clutch itself. But I cannot figure it out.

[stinkwheel]

When you say the slave cylinder was cleaned, do you mean you pumped the piston out and removed it for cleaning and inspection, removed the seals, cleaned the inside of the cylinder including groove behind the seals, fitted new seals then re-bled the system with new fluid?

So there was mud-like material contaminating the hydraulic fluid?
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[Dano98]

Exactly. Except new seal, because I dont had one, so I used old one (but it was good, no cracks or damage. I will buy repair kits for master and slave but yesterday I didnt have them.

And yes there was something like mud on the bottom of the cylinder.

And maybe not very important but Ive noticed something weird(?) when I was cleaning the slave cylinder. As it was disconected from the hose I was expecting, that fluid from the master reservoir will instantly leak out as the reservoir was opened. But the fluid was only dripping occasionally from the hose. And after 5 mins it suddenly started to leaking from the hose and all of the fluid from reservoir came out at once.

[stinkwheel]

You do have to wonder if there's something up with the hose. The only mud-like stuff that could be there is damaged seals in one of the cylinders or damaged hose lining.

I'd be tempted to throw a new hose on there too while you're doing the rebuild.

Also left of field suggestion, does it have a standard clutch lever? I've seen people fit aftermarket shorty brake levers to bikes which didn't allow the master cylinder piston to return fully which eventually pumped up the hydraulics and cooked their brakes. Also seen (done ) a lever protector doing similar. No reason the same thing couldn't happen with a hydraulic clutch.
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[Dano98]

Clutch lever is stock, no tuning lever or so. The master cylinder has all of the OEM parts so there wasn't done any modifications. I ordered repair kits for master and slave cylinder allready so I will fit them in, I will do good bleeding and will see the result. If it will still slipp, Im done. No more options.

[stinkwheel]

Well, there's the clutch end but given it sometimes slips and sometimes doesn't, that's less likey. It sounds like something is hanging up and not releasing the stack properly from what you describe.
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[Dano98]

Today I completely cleaned the master and slave cylinder and flush the hose. Everything is going smooth in there, no issues. But the clutch now slipps from the start and cold engine. I really dont know what to do. Best way to discern where is the problem would be in demounting slave cylinder, taking out the push rod and trying it. If it slipps, problem is in clutch/basket itself. If it would not slipp it would be clear, that problem is in the hydraulic system.

[Robby]

It's 24 years old. That could be long enough for the hydraulic line to fail internally, and act like a one way valve. Not something I've seen personally, but I keep hearing about it recently.

To test it I wouldn't remove the slave cylinder entirely, just loosen the bolts a bit so it can be pulled away from the engine about 1mm. That should be enough to still have some clutch, but remove or reduce the slip.

Old hydraulic systems are a pain.

[Nobby the Bastard]

[blurredman]

[pdg]

See, these new fangled ideas are more trouble than they're worth.

Cables and rods never suffer from these issues and always work flawlessly except for when they don't, which is actually quite often, but at least they sometimes feel like they're working even if nothing is happening.
____________________
Any and all advice given should not be followed - if you have to ask it means you don't know so get a man in to do it for you.

[Dano98]

Some update. Yesterday I repaired the master and slave cylinders with repair kits with brand new gaskets and so. I flushed the hose and checked its rubber part and its steel part. Hose looks good, I will change it in few days anyway, but now it looks good. I tried to blow in it with my mouth and I cannot feel any resistance or flaws. I put it all together, bleeded it toroughly and I mounted the slave cylinder on the engine with some washers (only for control reason), so that there was a little gap, enough for me to clearly see the pushrod. As I was squeezing the clutch lever, the pushrod go in and out really smoothly, with no issues. And it goes back all the way it goes in, so it looks, that the hydraulic system is 100% functional. I will try it today when I come from work. If it will be still slipping, then it must be the clutch itself.

[Dano98]

Ok so situation is the same, clutch slipping like crazy and instantly from the start. I will change the hose, clutch discs and plates and if it will be still slipping Im done.

[pdg]

If you're removing the clutch pack it'll definitely be worth checking the springs - if they've collapsed or gone weak then temperature variation could cause slippage.

In fact, tor the extra cost and as you're intending to go in anyway, I'd just bung in new springs (actually, given the symptoms and what you've done so far, I'd try new springs before new plates...)
____________________
Any and all advice given should not be followed - if you have to ask it means you don't know so get a man in to do it for you.

[Dano98]

Springs was changed week ago for EBC springs which they declare they are 15% stronger than OEM.

[stinkwheel]

You checked the thickness of the plates but are they straight? Get the plains on a sheet of glass and see if they rock or if you can get a feeler guage under them.
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[pdg]

[Dano98]

Guys, you won't believe me!!! I probably found out the reason, why the clutch was slipping!! Few minutes ago I disassembled the clutch again, and I found out the little washer stuck in the clutch pressure plate, where the springs are! No wonder the clutch was slipping, when the pressure plate cannot fully engage the plates because of that stuck washer!

[Dano98]

https://ibb.co/gRW0vxJ

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