Hi guys and thank you in advance for helping me with my new "project" bike, a 1988 Hurricane not used since 2008!.(82kms on the clock). I am new to this forum and hope as time goes on I am able to help other members as my knowledge increases (and it will need to if you saw the bike!).
I am not totally unfamiliar with brake & clutch bleeding, but before I strip the bike down for the refurb job, I would like to know if the clutch is ok or will it be part of my job. (We got the engine running last weekend...) Currently I have no handlebar pressure (the reservoir was dry) and I have removed the slave and cleaned it up/refitted. Fluid is not going down to the slave when trying to bleed, and I am getting an initial bleed at the master banjo bolt, but it does not hold the pressure (if I release the lever slightly and reapply) ..should it hold the pressure doing this?..if so I guess I need a rebuild kit (which realistically I am looking at for them all in due course anyway) or am I on the "wrong track" completely?
many thanks in advance,
Peter
Tauranga
New Zealand.

Hi guys, just an update re,. my clutch lever issue, I have got it working, just by re-tightening all bolts and filling the slave cylinder before trying to re-bleed...it worked..!!..took awhile and don't yet know it the clutch itself works but hey..progress!! YEEHAAR!!..( attached piccy of my latest "project")

 

She looks pretty clean from the picture, I'm sure you'll have fun once she's finished

Both the breaks and clutch can be a bit fiddly to get started, but once you start to get a little pressure it's OK, just getting them started takes a while.

 

Hi Groutby, this question comes up once in a while so don't worry you're not the first to have been stumped by this problem.
As Hawk said, the hydraulic clutch is a pain to get started if bleeding under gravity. It can be done but takes patience.
I had this exact same problem a few years ago. Our venerable friend Shadow posted up a brilliant tip to get all the air out of the line but it does assume that the line is full:

Turn the handlebars to the right so that the clutch master is at its highest point, pull in the clutch lever and tie the lever to the bar. Leave for a few hours or over night.

And that's it. When you untie the lever and pull it in you'll find you've got a perfectly working clutch again. Any trapped air rises up to the reservoir and bubbles out of the fluid. I do this once or twice a year for good measure.
Simple but very effective. Thanks Pete. Best tip I ever got. I still don't know how it works.

Another way is to fill the system from the bleed nipple at the clutch slave using a syringe. That way you're pushing the air out of the lines as you fill it.

Rebuild kits aren't expensive. Rebuilding sooner rather than later is good piece of mind.
I've got to do my clutch master soon. There's a nasty stain on my fairing top cover where it's dripped fluid. Tsk!