Issue with my clutch or gears.

This issue happen from one day to another (or one season to another). The last time I had my machine out was last season. During my riding hiatuses, the machine was stationed in my garage on a rear stand.

With that said, I took her out today to find out she's acting up. She starts up fine, revs find, sounds fine, but she's a bitch to find any gear.

If I put her in 1st, with substantial force, clutch engaged, it's challenging. Then, she pulls away - with clutch engaged! Luckily, I have the front break locked.

Now, I try, while stopped, finding neutral and that's a pain. I have to muscle each and every gear. I literally have to force up and down gears. I have no idea why.

I took her out thinking maybe it'll go away. I get her in gear and she rides fine. Normal. Now, I attempt to change gears and again, I have to muscle it. Not a good feeling. All the while I need to make sure I completely pull back that clutch.

After a couple of minutes, she doesn't change. Same bullsh*t! I can't make any sense of it. If it's a clutch issue, what are the symptoms? If it's a gear issue, what should I look for?

Now, the only thing I can imagine - and it's a far fetched idea - a screw. Yes, a screw. See, while attaching the terminals for my battery tender, I unscrewed the batter bracket and - dumb-*** me - dropped - not one, but two screws into the center of the bike. I never heard, nor could locate, the screws anywhere. So, my questions is - could there be a screw lodged in a linkage of sorts somewhere in the gear area causing this.

Please note that I have a mechanic, MIA at the moment, that has taken care of my girl since I purchased her. I would run to him for a quick look, but he's not around. My option is posting this for help from you guys or the local Honda dealer (last resort). And I pretty much only know how to ride and add fuel.

Any advice, suggestions and or comments would help alleviate the pain I'm having right now.

Thanks folks!

 

Does it go into gear smoothly with the bike OFF, and rolling it forward or backward slightly? Cuz it sounds to me like your clutch is locked, possibly from sitting. Is the clutch release lever (on the trans, the part the cable attaches to) moving all the way as you pull the clutch lever in? Sounds to me though like a few of your friction discs and steels are stuck together

 

No...not smooth at all. With the machine on or off. Rolling it forward might of work on one occasion but I can't be certain. No, what does it mean when the clutch is locked? If so, how do I remedy this situation? Regarding the release lever - not sure what you mean - but I took a look at the handle bar clutch lever and it appears. to me at least, fine. And at the bottom, but the shift, I really don't notice anything when I engage the clutch.

 

I agree with thirdgenlxi, sounds like you need to pop your clutches out and dress your steels and install new frictions

 

silentknight_turbo - thanks! Before I get into friction discs and steels, what about air in the clutch line? It was recommended to me that I bleed the line to get any possible air out. What do you folks think?

 

^^^ That's definitely a good possibility! Always good to start with the small easy things first. I forgot you had a 1kRR, so you got a hydro clutch not cable like the 600's. Definitely try bleeding it and see if it helps, it could be just that

 

if your only trouble is finding a gear, and not slippage, or abnorbal accelerationthen the clutch would not be your issue.also if the bike is fine once you jam it into gear, the transmission gears themselves are fine. it sounds like a problem somewhere leading to the transmission, your selector forks, or maybe even the dogs on them. you'd definetely want a mechanic to look at it if that's the case.

 

my buddy "onewreckedRR" has a 04 1krr and he wrecked it. let the bike sit for a few months. then when he finally started to rebuild it , everytime he would drop it into 1st gear it would die. all the sensors (kickstand, tip over etc) were fine. it turned out that he needed to bleed the air in the line, after that bike rode fine. now before he did this it would go into other gears and run but he would have to get the bike moving and throw it into 2nd . idk if telling you this will help at all but i say it because he thought too he might have a clutch/gear problem , maybe his disks or whatever were messed up but it was a simple problemand a simple fix

 

I did it. –and- it worked! I bled the clutch line this Saturday. I hesitated… I was a real amateur, but I did it.

It was messy… … I took towels and placed them all around the diaphragm and reservoir cover & the value at the bottom. Wow, a whole lot of air was caught up in the line. The first clutch pump poured fluid everywhere. I did it a couple of times and & believe it worked. Actually, it did. I immediately felt a different. She feels just like new. I’m grateful it was that and nothing more involved. Thanks to everyone for their help!

 

glad it worked