Karl Von Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 I am trying to get some infor for my dad. He has a 02 Lemans that the previous owner installed a RAM clutch. He had some issues with his clutch at bike week. He was riding the bike all day and everything was fine. He parked the bike for a few hours to see the sites and when he went to leave the bike would hardley move on its own power. It felt like the clutch was slipping bad. He could help the bike along with his feet to get it moving and the clutch would pull as long as he did not acell hard. He ran the interstate all the way back to the camp ground with no stops. Half way back he had to pass a slow pack of Hardleys and the clutch seem to be working fine. He nailed it and it shot off like a rocket. He got back to the camp ground it was working perfect. The next morning he fired up the bike and it would barly move again. The clutch lever feels of and it does not act as if it has lost pressue. Does anyone have any ideas to where to start looking ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom M Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 I'm no mechanic but I'll take a wild guess here and suggest that maybe the return circuit in his clutch master cylinder is clogging and not letting all of the fluid back into the reservoir when he releases the lever. If it does it again he may want to crack the banjo bolt at the MC to see if there's pressure there when the lever is relaxed. If so the MC needs to be cleaned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richard100t Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 I am trying to get some infor for my dad. He has a 02 Lemans that the previous owner installed a RAM clutch. He had some issues with his clutch at bike week. He was riding the bike all day and everything was fine. He parked the bike for a few hours to see the sites and when he went to leave the bike would hardley move on its own power. It felt like the clutch was slipping bad. He could help the bike along with his feet to get it moving and the clutch would pull as long as he did not acell hard. He ran the interstate all the way back to the camp ground with no stops. Half way back he had to pass a slow pack of Hardleys and the clutch seem to be working fine. He nailed it and it shot off like a rocket. He got back to the camp ground it was working perfect. The next morning he fired up the bike and it would barly move again. The clutch lever feels of and it does not act as if it has lost pressue. Does anyone have any ideas to where to start looking ? CHeck the adjustment on the clutch lever? I always look for the most simple things first. After that maybe the next most simple thing to try is bleeding the clutch line. After that I think it starts to get more "interesting". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gstallons Posted March 16, 2009 Share Posted March 16, 2009 First thing. Remove the rear tire hugger. This will give you access to the bleeder screw. Remove the dust cap and crack the bleeder. If there is much pressure you are building up fluid pressure in the hydraulic circuit. Check clutch lever freeplay between the lever and actuator piston. You have to have clearance to allow fluid to return to the reservior.TRIPLE check your work on this to be absolutly sure this is working correctly. If there is another V11 there to check against, use it as a standard. If these are ok it's time to look inside the clutch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Field Posted March 16, 2009 Share Posted March 16, 2009 Is the m/c reservoir full or nearly full? If so, suck out some fluid. I've seen that be the culprit once, on a Ballabio (not mine). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moscowphil Posted March 16, 2009 Share Posted March 16, 2009 It's hard to see how the fault could lie with the RAM clutch itself , which is very simple. The fact that it sometimes works OK must mean the clutch plates are OK and that the spring is OK, and there's nothing else that would cause the clutch to slip that I can think of. So I agree with all the other comments - it's most likely a problem in the hydraulics. Before you start pulling the clutch apart, check and double check this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karl Von Posted March 16, 2009 Author Share Posted March 16, 2009 It's hard to see how the fault could lie with the RAM clutch itself , which is very simple. The fact that it sometimes works OK must mean the clutch plates are OK and that the spring is OK, and there's nothing else that would cause the clutch to slip that I can think of. So I agree with all the other comments - it's most likely a problem in the hydraulics. Before you start pulling the clutch apart, check and double check this. Well we bleed off the system and you could still rotate the rear tire with the bike in gear, We then removed the slave and the clutch grabbed. Using a old master cyl we bench tested the slave. It seemed to be working. We checked the master and there was plenty of free play and it seemed ok. Does anyone have any other ideas. That slave was a pain to get off and I really dont want to put it back on unless I know what is going on. I guess I can order a new slave just to cover that possibility Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karl Von Posted March 22, 2009 Author Share Posted March 22, 2009 Well we bleed off the system and you could still rotate the rear tire with the bike in gear, We then removed the slave and the clutch grabbed. Using a old master cyl we bench tested the slave. It seemed to be working. We checked the master and there was plenty of free play and it seemed ok. Does anyone have any other ideas. That slave was a pain to get off and I really dont want to put it back on unless I know what is going on. I guess I can order a new slave just to cover that possibility After further review we have discovered that the clutch push rod is sticking out to far causing the clutch to disengage when you bolt on the slave cyl ? Any ideas on what on a Ram clutch would cause this ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Field Posted March 22, 2009 Share Posted March 22, 2009 Plate's most likely worn out. As the plate wears, the rod walks backward. How many miles on the RAM? Many wear out in the 6,000-8,000-mile range. Did it have a bronze plate? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fotoguzzi Posted March 22, 2009 Share Posted March 22, 2009 Plate's most likely worn out. As the plate wears, the rod walks backward. How many miles on the RAM? Many wear out in the 6,000-8,000-mile range. Did it have a bronze plate? why would anyone want a clutch that wears out in 6,000 miles? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richard100t Posted March 22, 2009 Share Posted March 22, 2009 Is there a better aftermarket alternative to the bronze plate? Another thing I'm interested in is, how much more oomph would I get out of a lightened flywheel? I have a new clutch kit just sitting here in a box that I will use someday if I keep my bike long enough. The stock flywheel weighs about 7lbs in case anyone was curious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karl Von Posted March 22, 2009 Author Share Posted March 22, 2009 Is there a better aftermarket alternative to the bronze plate? Another thing I'm interested in is, how much more oomph would I get out of a lightened flywheel? I have a new clutch kit just sitting here in a box that I will use someday if I keep my bike long enough.The stock flywheel weighs about 7lbs in case anyone was curious. Dont know much on the clutch, it was put in there when we got the bike. I am hearing more cons then pros on the ram clutches. I talked to one guy who races a big guzzi and at one point he was going through 5 a season. I have also heard by a few guys that 15,000 miles is the typical milege on a ram set up. Looks like time to tear the bike the rest of the way down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Field Posted March 22, 2009 Share Posted March 22, 2009 It's pretty easy to get to the clutch on a V11. Put a jack under the motor, remove the front subframe. Unbolt the trans from the engine, and pull the engine forward and turn sideways. The clutch is right there. There are fiber plates for the RAM that last longer. I've had one in my Eldo (but not on a RAM assembly) for 3.5 years and a bazillion hard miles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muddy1100 Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 It's pretty easy to get to the clutch on a V11. Put a jack under the motor, remove the front subframe. Unbolt the trans from the engine, and pull the engine forward and turn sideways. The clutch is right there. There are fiber plates for the RAM that last longer. I've had one in my Eldo (but not on a RAM assembly) for 3.5 years and a bazillion hard miles. Gday all, Ummm Greg - would it be possible to get a few pix of the above procedure and post them next time you do one please mate? Could save a few of us a heap of time and grief in the future... Cheers, mud Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Field Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 Sure. I'm not sure when I'll be doing it again, though. We haven't seen many problems with V11 clutches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now