Clutch Doesn't Disengage When Hot

[Eric LA]

Hey everybody,

I have a 2013 V7 Racer, and I've had issues with the clutch ever since I bought it new. I've had repairs done, I've installed a new clutch cable, I've re-routed the cable, etc. At this point my most recent clutch issue is this: When I start the bike up in the morning the clutch is normal, still more sloppy than any other clutch of any other vehicle I've ever had, but functional in all its clunkiness. After about 20-25 minutes of city riding (stop and go) I have to pull the clutch lever in further and it becomes progressively more difficult to get the bike into neutral or first gear. By the time I get home, after about a 40 minute ride, It won't go into neutral at all. But the next morning when everything is cool, it's normal again. Has anyone experienced this? I feel like my options are replacing the clutch entirely or attacking the bike with a baseball bat, which I've wanted to do pretty much the entire time I've owned it. I appreciate any advice I can get. Thanks!

 

[john zibell]

I suggest you contact Todd direct and get the bike to his shop since you are in the LA area. The sloppy clutch when cold is a clue that adjustment isn't correct. With the heat generated issue there may be more going on. Todd<at>guzzitech.com

 

[Eric LA]

I suggest you contact Todd direct and get the bike to his shop since you are in the LA area. The sloppy clutch when cold is a clue that adjustment isn't correct. With the heat generated issue there may be more going on. Todd<at>guzzitech.com

Thanks John. Todd has worked on this bike/clutch for me before. I sent him an email directly. Hopefully I'll hear back soon. Thanks for the quick reply.

 

[Wisconsin v7 Racer]

Sounds like it might need a slight adjustment. But why don't you fully engage the clutch lever all the time not just when it's hot, I have the same bike, ease it into neutral and sometimes move it a little to get first. No big deal. A big part of the problem might be rider error.

 

[Eric LA]

Sounds like it might need a slight adjustment. But why don't you fully engage the clutch lever all the time not just when it's hot, I have the same bike, ease it into neutral and sometimes move it a little to get first. No big deal. A big part of the problem might be rider error.

I may not have explained myself effectively. I do always fully engage the clutch lever all the time. I just have to pull the lever significantly further when it's hot than I do when it's not hot. This is a bigger issue than just easing it into neutral and moving it a little. I've already had other issues with the clutch that Todd has worked on in the past. This is just the newest issue. I've spoken to Todd about it again and I'm deciding if I want to sink more money into this thing or just buy something else and keep this as a really pretty paper weight.

 

[drawnverybadly]

I have the same issue as you when the bike gets stuck in rush hour traffic, the theory a few of us came up with was that the heat generated during slow city riding combined with the cable being under constant tension from city maneuvering, causes heat to bleeds into the clutch cable causing it to expand and stretch ever so slightly to the point that it won't fully disengage. What I do when this happens to me is I'll tighten up the clutch adjustment knob while at a red light and loosen it back up when I'm done with the bike.

Do you get this issue while highway riding?

 

[Eric LA]

I have the same issue as you when the bike gets stuck in rush hour traffic, the theory a few of us came up with was that the heat generated during slow city riding combined with the cable being under constant tension from city maneuvering, causes heat to bleeds into the clutch cable causing it to expand and stretch ever so slightly to the point that it won't fully disengage. What I do when this happens to me is I'll tighten up the clutch adjustment knob while at a red light and loosen it back up when I'm done with the bike.

Do you get this issue while highway riding?

Thanks for the response. I don't have this problem when highway riding. Only in stop and go situations through the city. I'll try your workaround on my way home from work this afternoon. I appreciate the suggestion. BTW I've had many bikes over the years that I've ridden through stop and go commuter traffic and I've never had to have a workaround like this. I find it unacceptable on a modern bike, but there's nothing I can do about it now, except ride my other bikes and not buy another one of these. Thanks again!

 

[GTM®]

What I do when this happens to me is I'll tighten up the clutch adjustment knob while at a red light and loosen it back up when I'm done with the bike.

If you do this, make sure that you don't have a constant load on the clutch. This will do damage in short order. How to test this is to make sure there is some slack of the cable at the adjuster arm on the transmission side. Leaving a slight bit of slack at the lever may not allow this.

 

[Eric LA]

If you do this, make sure that you don't have a constant load on the clutch. This will do damage in short order. How to test this is to make sure there is some slack of the cable at the adjuster arm on the transmission side. Leaving a slight bit of slack at the lever may not allow this.

Thanks very much, I appreciate the info.

 

[joejacobi]

I as well have had the same issue, for a short period it seemed eratic and only once in a while - I switched oils and now happens all the time after heating up. I'll check my oils in my garage tomorrow and let you know what to avoid. Any ideas on why/if the oil change makes the difference?

 

[Vagrant]

being a jury rigging type and owning a 2015 that is in Az. and does this a bit i would, make sure the routing is as far from any form of heat especially the cylinder heads as possible. next i would take either a piece of fuel line (good stuff not plastic) slice it down the middle and cover the whole outer cable. if the hardware store can get foam pipe insulation small enough like 1/4" that might be better. then set free play to the minimum cold and you should be good to go. again watch the routing.
as for the type of oil in the gearbox maybe one type does run hotter than the next.
my next step would be to source a bigger diameter cable from another Guzzi like an EV and see if it would fit. this whole BS might just be too small of wire and too poor quality.

 

[Eric LA]

I as well have had the same issue, for a short period it seemed eratic and only once in a while - I switched oils and now happens all the time after heating up. I'll check my oils in my garage tomorrow and let you know what to avoid. Any ideas on why/if the oil change makes the difference?

Thanks for the response. I'd be curious to know if this is what causes the problem for you.

 

[Eric LA]

being a jury rigging type and owning a 2015 that is in Az. and does this a bit i would, make sure the routing is as far from any form of heat especially the cylinder heads as possible. next i would take either a piece of fuel line (good stuff not plastic) slice it down the middle and cover the whole outer cable. if the hardware store can get foam pipe insulation small enough like 1/4" that might be better. then set free play to the minimum cold and you should be good to go. again watch the routing.
as for the type of oil in the gearbox maybe one type does run hotter than the next.
my next step would be to source a bigger diameter cable from another Guzzi like an EV and see if it would fit. this whole BS might just be too small of wire and too poor quality.

Thanks Vagrant, this is a good idea. I'll give it a try this weekend.

 

[NorthernProducer]

If a decision is made that the clutch cable is the issue and a suitable substitute cannot be found, then consider having a cable made which has the spec's needed to address stretching under heat. I've had to do that on one of my wife's bikes (not a Guzzi) and a heavier and higher quality cable solved a similar issue. Not sure if Todd can provide a custom cable or not, but I'll let him respond to that. Good luck and I'm sure the problem can be resolved if the cable is the culprit.

 

[Eric LA]

If a decision is made that the clutch cable is the issue and a suitable substitute cannot be found, then consider having a cable made which has the spec's needed to address stretching under heat. I've had to do that on one of my wife's bikes (not a Guzzi) and a heavier and higher quality cable solved a similar issue. Not sure if Todd can provide a custom cable or not, but I'll let him respond to that. Good luck and I'm sure the problem can be resolved if the cable is the culprit.

Thanks very much. I ordered some foam pipe insulation to cover the cable. If that makes a difference I'll know that the cable is the issue. I'll post my findings after I test it out. Have a good weekend!

 

[Vagrant]

I also suspect the cable has a nylon liner so it doesn't need lubrication. It too could be melted giving some binding and possibly a false free play setting. If you have Dri Slide I would remove the cable at the handlebar and lube it.
Dri Slide also works well on Ign and other locks. Just shake it for a while to get the graphite mixed well.

 

[Eric LA]

I also suspect the cable has a nylon liner so it doesn't need lubrication. It too could be melted giving some binding and possibly a false free play setting. If you have Dri Slide I would remove the cable at the handlebar and lube it.
Dri Slide also works well on Ign and other locks. Just shake it for a while to get the graphite mixed well.

Thanks very much, I'll give that a try.

 

[Eric LA]

On Sunday I tried Vagrant's suggestion and wrapped foam pipe insulation around the clutch cable. I rode to work through Los Angeles three times this week. I think it made a small difference, but it's still very difficult to fully disengage the clutch by the time I get home. This bike has been four years of complete frustration for me and I can't stand the site of it anymore. I can't put any more time into it It's going to be relegated to the back of the garage, where I can flip it off every time I get on one of my other bikes that function properly, even though they're all at least ten years older than this one. Thanks for all the suggestions and stay safe on the roads.

 

[Michael P.]

So I've been having the same exact issues as you Eric. The bike was great for the first year of owning it. In the second year, the clutch adjustment was totally wrong overnight. I put on a new clutch cable and still couldn't get it dialed in just right. I took it to the dealership and they did the adjustment, but it never felt as good as it did in the first year.

Now for the last few months, the bike (2015 V7 Stone) has been doing the same thing as yours. When it heats up, clutch goes further and further out of alignment until I can barely change gears or get it into neutral. I had the dealer do another adjustment and then went on a long camping trip. It was the best my clutch has felt in years. Then, on the last day of the trip, after about 400 miles, the clutch is suddenly acting up again. It was really bad, bad enough that once I got back into the city I had to ride in 2nd the whole time because there was no way I was going to be able to get into first without screwing up the transmission.

I've been reading up on this issue for weeks now and haven't found anything that helped until I made a post on the Wildguzzi forums and someone there said that the problem sounded like the clutch rod going bad. They said they had the same problem and gave me a link that shows how to fix the issue.

This sounds exactly like what is going on with my bike and it sounds a lot like what's going on with yours. I think I'm going to try to do the clutch rod replacement myself as I don't trust the dealer by me anymore to do it correctly.

apriliaforum.com/forums/showthread.php?326857-V7-Clutch-Rod-and-Throw-Out-Bearing-Replacement

 

[Eric LA]

So I've been having the same exact issues as you Eric. The bike was great for the first year of owning it. In the second year, the clutch adjustment was totally wrong overnight. I put on a new clutch cable and still couldn't get it dialed in just right. I took it to the dealership and they did the adjustment, but it never felt as good as it did in the first year.

Now for the last few months, the bike (2015 V7 Stone) has been doing the same thing as yours. When it heats up, clutch goes further and further out of alignment until I can barely change gears or get it into neutral. I had the dealer do another adjustment and then went on a long camping trip. It was the best my clutch has felt in years. Then, on the last day of the trip, after about 400 miles, the clutch is suddenly acting up again. It was really bad, bad enough that once I got back into the city I had to ride in 2nd the whole time because there was no way I was going to be able to get into first without screwing up the transmission.

I've been reading up on this issue for weeks now and haven't found anything that helped until I made a post on the Wildguzzi forums and someone there said that the problem sounded like the clutch rod going bad. They said they had the same problem and gave me a link that shows how to fix the issue.

This sounds exactly like what is going on with my bike and it sounds a lot like what's going on with yours. I think I'm going to try to do the clutch rod replacement myself as I don't trust the dealer by me anymore to do it correctly.

apriliaforum.com/forums/showthread.php?326857-V7-Clutch-Rod-and-Throw-Out-Bearing-Replacement

Thanks for the reply, MIchael P. I actually took mine to Todd from Guzzitech and I believe he replaced the clutch rod for me. I know he replaced the throw out bearing. After that it was good for a couple of months but then it all started again. It's pretty time consuming to get to the rod/bearing but if you can do it yourself that's awesome. Let me know how it goes for you. I'm still giving up on mine. I'm riding my older bikes and planning on buying a new, better quality bike next month. Good luck!