Intruders-Alert

So I was on my way from San Diego to Vegas on my 2003 VS 1400 Intruder. I was lane splitting most of the way, riding my clutch probably a little too hard. When around halfway my clutch went "soft"-- no back pressure. I went to pull my throttle to accelerate and my engine revved up but nothing engaged, my bike was slowing down as if in neutral.

I thought at first maybe I wore the teeth off of first or second gear, so I geared up and same issue, gears 1-5 all the same problem... so I slowed to a stop with no clutch in 5th gear to see if my engine would stall... nothing, my engine idled fine in 1-5th gear in a parked position with no stalling. The only time it stalled/shut off was when I put the kickstand down....

I have not tried anything yet to fix this, as this happened only 2 days ago and I am currently in the middle of winter in Canada, so Ive got some time to figure it out. I bled the clutch maybe 1000km/600miles before this happened... but other than that I have not tinkered.

Anyone have any suggestions or every have anything happen like this?-- Im not the most mechanically inclined, but always like to learn, this is my 2nd intruder.

Broken clutch springs? I cant see any way to diagnose this without some serious surgery!

If the clutch lever has gone "soft" and the clutch is slipping I'd say the return port in the MC is blocked.

Standard hoses? Over time they have been known to "flake" on the inside and gunk can easily block the return port.

hillsy wrote:If the clutch lever has gone "soft" and the clutch is slipping I'd say the return port in the MC is blocked.

Standard hoses? Over time they have been known to "flake" on the inside and gunk can easily block the return port.

Yea, crack the bleeder on the slave cylinder and see if the clutch comes back...hose in a jar of course.

navigator wrote:

hillsy wrote:If the clutch lever has gone "soft" and the clutch is slipping I'd say the return port in the MC is blocked.

Standard hoses? Over time they have been known to "flake" on the inside and gunk can easily block the return port.

Yea, crack the bleeder on the slave cylinder and see if the clutch comes back...hose in a jar of course.

So you guys are saying, bleed the clutch and if that doesnt work then potentially replace the hoses?---or will bleeding the clutch pass the thing blocking it?

talkischeap wrote:

navigator wrote:

hillsy wrote:If the clutch lever has gone "soft" and the clutch is slipping I'd say the return port in the MC is blocked.

Standard hoses? Over time they have been known to "flake" on the inside and gunk can easily block the return port.

Yea, crack the bleeder on the slave cylinder and see if the clutch comes back...hose in a jar of course.

So you guys are saying, bleed the clutch and if that doesnt work then potentially replace the hoses?---or will bleeding the clutch pass the thing blocking it?

If you bleed the clutch and push a lot of fluid through it....it might flush out the crap.

First off, crack the bleed nipple at the slave. If it is a blocked return port the clutch should re-engage when the fluid is bled off. Which means you need to flush the system / pull it apart and clean / replace the hose. Not necessarily all of those.