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[porkypig]

My 2012 is not engaging the clutch very well from a standstill.  once you hit 1st gear, shifting to other gears is fine as you accellerate upwards.  However, starting from a dead stop, it seems to bog the engine down and not engage well as you go into 1st gear.  I have had other bikes that did this well.  so, going slow getting into 1st gear is a real challenge.  the dealership initially said it may need to be bled.  anybody else encountered this?  this has done this since it was new.  has 3500 miles now.  Plus, they said I have to pay 1 hour labor up front to "diagnose" it and if there are broken parts or it is a warranty item, it then will be covered.  is this standard??   Pork.

[Henrycm]

I have not had any problems with my clutch, so sorry I can't help there.

But when it comes to the dealer, mine has never charged me upfront for something that could be under warranty.  They just diagnosed it and then let me know if it was going to be covered or not.

Henry

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

[Twolanerider]

 Plus, they said I have to pay 1 hour labor up front to "diagnose" it and if there are broken parts or it is a warranty item, it then will be covered.  is this standard??   Pork.

No, it's not; and you should complain to Mother Harley (corporate) about the dealer's extortion of labor presumptive to the manufacturer's warranty.

[dflanagan2012]

I have a 2012 also and I had to have my clutch bled at 800 miles, the clutch would not disengage at all, they flushed the fluid out of the clutch system and bled all the air out of it. they said it could have boiled the fluid causing the clutch to get air in it. (The slave cylinder is close to the exhaust) but that is still up for debate...I have 1600 miles on it now and the clutch works fine yet. As far as paying up front 1 hr to diagnose the issue, it is a warranty item and the customer should not have to pay diagnosis for a warrantable item. These bikes have a 2 year unlimited mileage, bumper to bumper warranty. (or should I say Fender to Fender warranty?) that includes verifing a complaint and repairing it, IF they verify there is a defect in their product or workmanship.
I guess it is possible the customer could be charged diagnosis time if they could not verify the customers complaint. but I wouldn't be back to that dealer if they charged me for looking at it.

[Midnight Rider]

My 2012 is not engaging the clutch very well from a standstill.  once you hit 1st gear, shifting to other gears is fine as you accellerate upwards.  However, starting from a dead stop, it seems to bog the engine down and not engage well as you go into 1st gear.  I have had other bikes that did this well.  so, going slow getting into 1st gear is a real challenge.  the dealership initially said it may need to be bled.  anybody else encountered this?  this has done this since it was new.  has 3500 miles now.  Plus, they said I have to pay 1 hour labor up front to "diagnose" it and if there are broken parts or it is a warranty item, it then will be covered.  is this standard??   Pork.

I'd say there's a good chance there is air in the hydraulic system...that would be the first thing to check, at least.  DOT 4 fluid will not just "boil" on it's own, to my knowledge, at least not at normal operating temps.  DOT 4 fluid has a "dry" boiling point of 446 degrees F (no water present) and a boiling point of only 311 degrees F if there is about 3% water in the fluid. If there is H2O in the line, then it will certainly boil, at 212 degrees F, and that makes steam.  Synthetic brake fluids, like Valvoline (I read they quit making it though) will mix with DOT 3 or 4, and raises the dry boiling point by about 40 degrees.  While it is virtually impossible to keep ALL the moisture out of the system, using fresh, unopened fluid is an absolute necessity, and closing the system up as quickly as possible is as well.  Over time, the heating and cooling of the fluid will cause condensation...that's why it's a good idea to flush it all out at least every two years.

Whatever dealer you are using is full of it.  I am quite certain that if you called the MOCO and said your clutch is not fully disengaging but that the dealer is trying to charge you to diagnose a problem clearly under warranty, they would take action to ensure you are taken care of.  This could be a serious safety issue, partiularly if it suddenly become worse.

Also, make sure you don't have too much fluid in the reservoir...as the clutch wears, MORE fluid gets pushed into the master cylinder reservoir.

[Craigisdad]

I have a 2011 but similar problem when new. Dealer bled the system twice with no luck, then put on new clutch master cylinder. 4000 miles later and no problems. Not only did my dealer fix everything at no cost, they came 50 miles to my house and picked up my bike and returned it to me at no charge! Also over the next two months they called 3 times just to make sure everything was ok, good customer service goes a long way!!! Good luck!