Dropped bike in garage, now clutch won't full y disengage

[Pete]

Something or someone really doesn't want me to enjoy the last of this years good weather! What with the scraping/grinding/clicking noise I had trouble with in another thread, and later thinking it might be chain alignment I've now gone and tipped my Blackbird over in the garage whilst trying to undo the rear wheel! Silly old me.

No harm to me though and only a broken wing mirror stem on the bike which is currently being fixed on my kitchen table with the help of some epoxy resin. So with that box ticked I thought I'd go and fire the old 'bird up to see if everything's still in order, fully expecting no problems. Went to wheel it out of the garage, in gear with clutch pulled in, and it wouldn't budge! Thought the wheel was caught on the block of wood that I put the centre stand on at first, but no nothing there. Pulled hard on the bike and it rolled but really didn't want to. Like the gear is almost disengaging but not quite.

So I got it up on the centre stand, back into neutral and fired it up. Ran great. Pulled clutch in and can hear the change in pitch from the clutch as it gets pulled in so it's doing something in there. Kicked it into first and the wheel started spinning like crazy, let the clutch out and the wheel carried on at the same speed.

Any ideas? Might I have broken a clutch spring when I dropped the bike? Seems unlikely as it was a really slow drop, as soon as I realised it was falling i grabbed what I could and after realising I wasn't going to save it managed to lower it as gently as possible until it finally dropped the last foot or so. Could oil have gone in somewhere it's not supposed to whilst lying down?

As usual folks, any help much appreciated!

[Pete]

p.s. the oil isn't that old either. Changed it about 4 months ago and have only done about 350 miles on it since.

[Stu]

Clutch spring doesn't affect this of it was a spring it would slip at high revs

It can be pretty normal for a bit of drag try stopping it with the rear brake with the clutch pulled if it stalls or engine revs slow then you have a excessive clutch drag problem

Check out the adjustment first if no luck it might just be coincidence that you have noticed it after the drop

[Pete]

Nice one Stu. Just went out and got it up to temp in neutral. Fettled clutch lever a fair few times then revved it a bit (thought maybe it might be doing something!). Then with the clutch in I popped it into 1st and the back wheel wasn't spinning as much as before (just very slowly, like normal I guess)! Marvellous, so I let the clutch out slightly and it spun up, pulled clutch in and wheel carried on spinning at full speed. Hmm. So I revved it upto 20mph on the speedo whilst still on centre stand then put the rear break on. Heard the clutch 'click', did it a few times and each time the back wheels seemed to spin a little bit slower so must be getting unstuck I guess.

Took it off the centre stand and got on board. Pulled the clutch, popped it into first and thankfully it didn't lunge forward when I released the front brake! Rolled forwards and backwards without any noticeable drag with the engine running. Turned the engine off and rolled it again, there's a bit of drag and I can hear the clutch clunk a little bit but nothing like earlier on.

I'll wait for my metal mirror stem epoxy bodge to cure again (first one fell apart !) and go for a ride tomorrow morning to see if everything's any better. Then I'm off to a nearby bike shop to have them check chain alignment, no doubt I'll be feeling rather silly that I couldn't do it myself but I've had enough of peeing about and just want to get out and enjoy the weather!

[Stu]

if they are an hydraulic clutch on these you might need to bleed it and get new fluid in especially seen as though its been over

[Pete]

It is indeed hydraulic. OK thanks again mate I'll do that.

One other thing, because I know you do a lot with your own bike - the grinding/clunking/scraping noise I've been having and has so far assumed it's chain and sprocket related, do you reckon it could be clutch related? Just wondering not i've had this new issue with the clutch come up.

[Stu]

its hard to say from the description to be honest! its easier to pinpoint when listening but without hearing it I would just be guessing!

It sounds to me like some air got in to the lines on the clutch as pumping it a few times will build a bit of pressure and release it more like it did

bleed it through with new fluid to be sure

let us know how you get on

[Pete]

Fair point mate! I tried uploading a video or two to YouTube but they both failed. Will try again on the other thread.

Will bleed the system like you say and report back. Nice one.