Clutch noise, low oil pressure
 

Please help, I used the search function, and couldn't find anything similar.

My bike started making a noise like ball bearings rattling around under the clutch cover. The noise goes away when sitting at a stop light in gear with the clutch in. Shift into neutral and release the clutch, or start moving, and the noise starts back up. It seems to be tied to engine rpm rather than speed.

At the same time that the noise started, the clutch started not releasing fully, like the clutch fluid needs a good bleeding. Not sure if this is related or an independent issue

Also, my oil light started flickering on and off, doesn't seem to be correlated to rpm or speed. Oil level is not low.

Any ideas what this might be? I haven't pulled the clutch cover yet as I don't have a garage, so I need to head over to a friends house to do any work.

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

CCT issue? Maybe the low power is the result of a cylinder not compresing due to a stuck open valve somewhere?

How old is your motor oil?

personally, I'd pull the engine cover off that side and see what's going on in there. it's possible something like a clutch spring broke or something.

The engine has plenty of power, noise is definitely coming from inside the clutch cover. After reading about all the CCT issues I've been listening for the noises described.

I changed the oil with Yamalube 10-40 less than 1000 miles ago, within the last month.

As soon as I finish all my homework for the week I'll see if I can hole up in my buddy's garage for a while. Could a broken clutch spring be causing my oil light to flicker on?

I highly doubt it's CCT related. that noise would come more from the top end.

don't know for sure about the oil light, but if you are hearing bad noises from the clutch location, that would be the place to start. When you drain the oil (before pulling the cover), see if you can run it through a screen (even an old t-shirt or something) to see if there are any metal pieces that come out. Taking the cover off is relatively easy to do and you can see better what's going on.

you can use hi temp form-a-gasket to seal it back up when you put it back together. it's cheap and easy, and I've had good results over the years doing that. just lightly snug the screws and leave it set overnight to cure. Then tighten down the next day.

Thanks for the tips I'll be tearing into it Saturday morning. I'll post what I find and probably ask more questions.

Oil light flicker could be a loose or corroded electrical connection. Check the wiring to the oil pressure switch up to & into the dial cluster & clean all connections.

I finally got the clutch cover off yesterday morning. You weren't very far off with the broken clutch spring, Old Yeller. One of the clutch spring bolts had backed itself out and started grinding on the cover shield. Most of the shield was either in the bottom of the oil pan, or clogging up the oil pickup screen, hence the low oil pressure.

New parts are ordered and hopefully I'll have it up and running next weekend.

My bike has over 41k and I was impressed at how clean everything looked as far as I could see into the engine, aside from the description above. It seems to be really well designed. I'm looking forward to many years with the beast, doing as much of the work as I can myself.