Hi all,
I just finished putting in a new engine in my Hawk.
It fires up great! I bled the clutch because the fluid was nasty dark.
I dont think I got any air in the lines. Now the clutch wont engage and I am at a total loss. Someone said I needed to reset the clutch but could not tell me what that takes. Also, I could not find any good info in the manual. Please help!
Thanks,
Ken

 

Paso Robles?? Wow that takes me back a few years……

Anyway.. The hydraulic clutch can be a bit finicky on the SH. If you had nasty fluid in the line, I’d be there is stuff in the slave cylinder growing as well. Take the time to disassembly the master and slave cylinder clean, clean , clean.. dirt and lint free is the required standard. Once it is clean, all needed parts replaced,, When bleeding the MC, Slave and lines,, You have to get the bars at the right angle,, so that trapped air can escape the MC at that little port in the reservoir.. that port needs to be the highest point. Takes some work to get the bike, bars, and the MC all at the right angle and position for that to happen.

As for “resetting” the clutch,, no idea what your friend is talking about.. There is nothing to reset.. It’s a hydraulic master cylinder attached to a hydraulic line, to a hydraulic slave cylinder.. There is no adjustment to be made. Just have to get the internals clean, fresh fluid and all the air out. The last thing being the hardest.

 

Does the clutch lever have any tension to it at all???

I swapped my old fluid for clean fluid and bled my clutch last night. First time bleeding a hydraulic clutch, so I gave myself an OH **** moment, when I depleted the reservoir, and sucked a ton of air into my master cylinder.. After that, my clutch lever had absolutely ZERO resistance.. I had to turn my handle bars to full right stop, and then lean my bike wayyyyy over, to the point I could barely hold it up. Just so the hole in the reservoir was as high as possible, then pumped my clutch lever about 200 times until the air bubbles quit coming out of the master cylinder. Then I had to rebleed the system to get the rest of the air out.. Turned a 10 min job into a 2 hour job..
That clutch reservoir holds very little reserve fluid, and 5 clutch pumps drains it when bleeding the lines.. very annoying to have to add fluid every 4 pumps... More annoying when you push it to 5 pumps, and give yourself 2 hours extra work....

 

for $20 you could buy a handheld vacuum pump and keep it a 5 minute job...

tim

 

One more tip...worked for me. If you still have none or very little clutch lever...crack the banjo bolt where the line bolts onto the master cylinder so any air that can be trapped at that location can escape. Just keep a rag over your hands, wrench, and cylinder or fluid will definitely get on your windshield, gauges, etc. I worked the lever as you did for quite awhile the first time I did this on my 01 Hawk and then figured it out. I do this when I change the front brake fluid, also.

 

i had the same problem when i bled the clutch on my 'hawk. You need to bleed the master cylinder up on the handlebars, cuz air will bubble all the way up to that and no matter how much you bleed the slave cylinder down on the clutch, you wont get that air out. grab and hold the clutch lever, loosen the bolt on the back of the cylinder, watch it bubble, tighten the bolt, release the lever, rinse and repeat until you just get fluid out of the bolt. Hope that helps!

 

Thanks for the help all. I am a retard was the problem, actually its an on going problem! A buddy bled the system real good, had to tip the bige waay over to get all the air out.
Thanks again all you fellas

 

I didnt know they made those.. Couldve used that info a couple days ago.. lol..

 

Even with a VAC pump, you still have to set up the components so the trapped air will move to the highest point. The quickly moving fluid will most times move the air bubbles along,, But not always. Take a few minutes to get the parts right, then use the Mity Vac or like tool. Quick and simple.