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[rekoch]

I am not satisfied with the adjustment of my clutch, it doesn't have as much freeplay as I am used to. It begins to engage immediately upon release, you have to hold it firmly against the grip to prevent slipping. My v-rod also has a hydrualic clutch, and it acts more like I am used to, that is having a little bit of free play before engagement. My question is, how do you adust this thing!

thanks,

[Coolbreeze]

The short answer is:  You don't.  All you can do for free play is to purge the clutch hydraulics of all air, and that will give you as much freeplay as you're going to get.  This is assuming that the clutch pack itself is adjusted correctly...  

For reference, I only have 3/8" or so freeplay on mine...

There was a thread recently that addressed this in depth, but I can't seem to find it right now...  

I'd be willing to bet that the post after mine has a link to the thread that discussed it. [smiley=confused5.gif]

[Screamin]

http://flhrsei.org/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=CVO_TC;action=display;num=1113483830

I hope this thread helps. Bled it a couple of times and it helped. A little breaking in did as well. Still would like to have a little more freeplay but I've adjusted.

[grc]

I am not satisfied with the adjustment of my clutch, it doesn't have as much freeplay as I am used to. It begins to engage immediately upon release, you have to hold it firmly against the grip to prevent slipping. My v-rod also has a hydrualic clutch, and it acts more like I am used to, that is having a little bit of free play before engagement. My question is, how do you adust this thing!

thanks,

See the following thread   http://flhrsei.org/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=cvo_gen;action=display;num=1118425834;start=3#3  

The quick answer is that the only adjustment is to make sure you have all the air bled out of the system.  I found that I had to bleed mine at both the banjo bolt fitting at the master cylinder and at the bleeder fitting on the clutch release cover.  If you do it yourself, be very careful to not get the fluid on your paint when bleeding at the master cylinder.

[spydglide]

Will both of the hydrolic fluids harm the paint or just the '05?   [smiley=confused5.gif]    spyder

[Twolanerider]

Will both of the hydrolic fluids harm the paint or just the '05?   [smiley=confused5.gif]    spyder

In the 04 bikes you still had DOT5 flued.  It can be a major pain the arse to bleed.  But it's safe for paint.  In the 05 bikes they started using DOT4 fluid.  Much easier to bleed (and required for the possibility of ABS) but harmful to paint if it's left on the surface too long.

[spydglide]

In the 04 bikes you still had DOT5 flued.  It can be a major pain the arse to bleed.  But it's safe for paint.  In the 05 bikes they started using DOT4 fluid.  Much easier to bleed (and required for the possibility of ABS) but harmful to paint if it's left on the surface too long.

TwoLane.......why is it harder to bleed???  Or maybe the better question is 'why is the DOT 4 easier?    [smiley=confused5.gif]  spyder

[Twolanerider]

TwoLane.......why is it harder to bleed???  Or maybe the better question is 'why is the DOT 4 easier?    [smiley=confused5.gif]  spyder

Spyder Dot5 (aka, silicone based) can be a total pain to bleed because the fluid very very easily entrains air suspended in the liquid itself.  You shake that stuff up just a little bit in handling it and there will be air in the liquid itself that simply can't be "bled" out (because it's in the liquid and not a separate bubble that can be purged).

You can cause the problem while you're bleeding a system if you pump the pedal or pull the handle too aggressively.  You have to be careful and not shake up the bottle, pour it easily, pump it slowly, and then still cross your fingers.  In fact with Dot5 on a bike unless I'm in a hurry I won't even bleed the stuff by pumping it anymore.  Will just set it up so the reservoir stays full and then open the bleeders and let it gravity bleed.  It takes awhile but at least your not capturing air by pushing the stuff too hard.

The same issue is why newer cars (or bikes) with anti-lock brakes can not use Dot5 brake fluid.  The pulsing necessary by the pump in the ABS system to stagger braking effect to the various wheels is too much adjutation.  It would fill the fluid with entrained air.  Dot5 may be good stuff in that it doesn't hold moisture in the fluid so brake parts won't rust from the inside out and in that the fluid won't harm painted surfaces.  But it can be a chore to work with and get a really hard pedal with.

[grc]

Once again 2lane is right on the money.  DOT 5 is silicone based, and it does trap air within the molecular structure.  Another less-known problem is that it does not encapsulate water like regular brake fluids, so any water that does get into the system is allowed to collect at one point and cause corrosion.  It is superior for high temperature operation, and if you can eliminate all of the air and water it works great.  I would suggest that those with DOT 5 have their systems bled with a pressure bleeder as opposed to the old manual method.  This should help reduce the amount of entrained air caused by the manual pumping of the lever.

[spydglide]

OK.  Some good info on the DOT 5 fluid.  Thanks guys!    [smiley=xyxthumbs.gif]  spyder

[rekoch]

Thanks for all the info, I had the bike in the shop for a new garage door transmitter, and the shop also stated that there is little to no adjustment, they say it should loosen up with breakin. Good excuse for a few burnouts. I guess the clutch on the V-Rod is bled better. I didn't know that HD has switched to Dot-4, is that model wide, or just on bikes with hydraulic clutches?  I've always carried a little Dot-5 with me on trips, it can be hard to come by on Sunday afernoons. Dot-4 will be much easier to obtain if necessary.

[Twolanerider]

Thanks for all the info, I had the bike in the shop for a new garage door transmitter, and the shop also stated that there is little to no adjustment, they say it should loosen up with breakin. Good excuse for a few burnouts. I guess the clutch on the V-Rod is bled better. I didn't know that HD has switched to Dot-4, is that model wide, or just on bikes with hydraulic clutches?  I've always carried a little Dot-5 with me on trips, it can be hard to come by on Sunday afernoons. Dot-4 will be much easier to obtain if necessary.

All 05 Touring models fell back to Dot 4 with or without hydraulic clutch.  The other families stayed with Dot 5.  The rationale for the change in the touring bikes was that a very very very very very few police bikes were produced with their new (large and clunky) ABS system.  So since those few bikes couldn't use Dot 5 then all touring bikes couldn't use Dot 5 so as to avoid a dual standard.