Clutch issues '09 V7 Classic

[motofiala]

Friends...new to this forum and MG. Been riding a BMW R bike for the past 10 years...I guess I have a thing for air-cooled , twin shafties...my gf says the V7 sounds like a sex-up kitten when it idles...

anyway, I bought the bike used last October from a dealer. 'idiosyncratic' seems a good adjective for these bikes. besides the 'start the bike, hope it doesn't stall, go for a sandwich and come back and ride after a good 5+ minute warm-up'...I have had an issues with the clutch as well.

couple months ago the had these issues...bike still in gear in 1st with clutch lever pulled all they way in when stopped, couldn't find neutral, really hard time getting bike back into first and upshifting. Limped it to mechanic and he found a piece of plastic had wedged itself into the slide at the end of the clutch cable preventing it from fully engaging...even took a video to show me what happened. Bike ran fine after that and all was well.

Then, yesterday, same thing...can't get it into neutral, I can tell it is in gear with the clutch lever pulled in all the way, really hard time getting it into gear. Inspected cable, didn't see anything.

Is this a common known issue? I'm not the handiest person but I can understand the basics and I have both the owners and shop manual [not a lot of help BTW].

Thanks in advance to my new MG friends...

 

[john zibell]

This is not common. With these gear boxes it is easier to find neutral with the bike rolling. Since your clutch is failing to disengage, have you measure your free play at the clutch (hand) lever? You should have 3 to 4mm of play.

 

[motofiala]

This is not common. With these gear boxes it is easier to find neutral with the bike rolling. Since your clutch is failing to disengage, have you measure your free play at the clutch (hand) lever? You should have 3 to 4mm of play.

Thanks for the response....I'm a bit of a noob....to measure free play from what to what do I measure...distance cable goes when the lever is pulled?

 

[john zibell]

See PDF page 27 of this manual. http://guzzitek.org/utilisation/pb/V35_V65Florida_1991Util(GB).pdf That is the distance before you feel resistance from the clutch springs.

 

[motofiala]

See PDF page 27 of this manual. http://guzzitek.org/utilisation/pb/V35_V65Florida_1991Util(GB).pdf That is the distance before you feel resistance from the clutch springs.

Thanks. I played around with the adjustment. Not sure if that is making a difference. The thing is it acts up like this when the bike has been running for a while or a hot day. Yesterday when this happened we were stopped for about 10 min because of road work in the middle of a group ride and o could barely get the clutch to function. Wonder if this has anything to do with it.

 

[john zibell]

Was the free play over 4mm? Also make sure your clutch cable isn't too close to a cylinder. The heat from the cylinder may damage the cable.

 

[GTM®]

Congrats on the V7 purchase, and welcome to the Famiglia and Forum. Hope you'll add your info the the Registry here in this section. Warm up time and correct fueling along with more enjoyable throttle response and cooler running can be had with my ECU re-flash shown >HERE<.
For the clutch, best place to set the free play is at the back of the transmission. Close the adjuster at the bar completely, and set the free-play at the trans, noted on p.63 of the Service Manual (as to location). Take up any additional slack at the lever. Repeat as necessary as you enjoy the miles.

 

[motofiala]

Was the free play over 4mm? Also make sure your clutch cable isn't too close to a cylinder. The heat from the cylinder may damage the cable.

I seem to be hearing that from a few others....guess it's time to take the tank off and see what's up under there...I really appreciate that time you took to respond...promise to let you know what i find out.

 

[motofiala]

So after wrestling with the quick release connector on the gas tank, I was able to remove the gas tank to inspect the clutch cable. As I have heard on this forum and other places, if the clutch cable is too close to the right cylinder it can heat up and cause issues. My question then is how should it be routed? I cannot seem to find a channel or path that it should follow. I have not removed a clutch cable before. Also some of the plastic covering of the cable seems to have melted/burned off. Do I need a new cable or just find a cooler path for it? Again, thanks in advance for your help.

 

[john zibell]

Try a better routing. If that takes care of your problem, great, if not replace it since it is damaged.

 

[abbienormal]

There is a forum on 2013 V7 clutch cable failures. Your problem sounds very similar. You might want to look there for ideas.

 

[motofiala]

Thanks! I found the thread on the clutch.... I ended up zip tying it to a bracket. I guess I will find out on the next hot day if it helped.

 

[bandido]

@motofiala Curious to hear if your problem was resolved by zip-tying the cable away from the cylinder head...

 

[motofiala]

It seems to have worked. I have not had it out on a day as hot as the one that I had the issues with it, though, but it seems to have resolved it. Nonetheless, I have been underwhelmed by the quality of this bike [hard starting, this stupid clutch issue, a gas tank that won't go back on straight, and now a leak at the final drive on a bike with 4,500 mi on it] and will probably get rid of it next year.

 

[Tclark]

Congrats on the V7 purchase, and welcome to the Famiglia and Forum. Hope you'll add your info the the Registry here in this section. Warm up time and correct fueling along with more enjoyable throttle response and cooler running can be had with my ECU re-flash shown >HERE<.
For the clutch, best place to set the free play is at the back of the transmission. Close the adjuster at the bar completely, and set the free-play at the trans, noted on p.63 of the Service Manual (as to location). Take up any additional slack at the lever. Repeat as necessary as you enjoy the miles.

 

[Tclark]

I too am having issues with my 2015 v7 stone clutch. Bought it new in February of this year from the only dealer in Michigan which is 120 miles from my house. On the ride home I had to keep adjusting the slack out of the cable so the clutch wouldn't drag at stops. Seemed to level out for awhile but when the hot weather arrived and the engine reaches operating temp it still happened. I stopped back to the dealer and they took the handlebar adjuster out more so now I have about 3 threads left on that adjuster and it still does it when hot so I can't turn it out anymore and it has more play at the lever again. They say not to touch the adjuster at the back of the trans so I haven't, besides that is almost turned all the way in itself. My question is should I try turning it in with what adjustment that's left on it or not? I'm losing faith in MG. P.S. I HAVE 3500 miles on the bike.

 

[TimmyTheHog]

I too am having issues with my 2015 v7 stone clutch. Bought it new in February of this year from the only dealer in Michigan which is 120 miles from my house. On the ride home I had to keep adjusting the slack out of the cable so the clutch wouldn't drag at stops. Seemed to level out for awhile but when the hot weather arrived and the engine reaches operating temp it still happened. I stopped back to the dealer and they took the handlebar adjuster out more so now I have about 3 threads left on that adjuster and it still does it when hot so I can't turn it out anymore and it has more play at the lever again. They say not to touch the adjuster at the back of the trans so I haven't, besides that is almost turned all the way in itself. My question is should I try turning it in with what adjustment that's left on it or not? I'm losing faith in MG. P.S. I HAVE 3500 miles on the bike.

err...if you are running out out of room on your handle bar adjuster while still have too much free play, Your transmission end of clutch adjustment will need to be re-tuned...

if this is new from dealer, have the dealer taking care of it...I believe your bike is still under warranty due to the year of it?

 

[john zibell]

I too am having issues with my 2015 v7 stone clutch. Bought it new in February of this year from the only dealer in Michigan which is 120 miles from my house. On the ride home I had to keep adjusting the slack out of the cable so the clutch wouldn't drag at stops. Seemed to level out for awhile but when the hot weather arrived and the engine reaches operating temp it still happened. I stopped back to the dealer and they took the handlebar adjuster out more so now I have about 3 threads left on that adjuster and it still does it when hot so I can't turn it out anymore and it has more play at the lever again. They say not to touch the adjuster at the back of the trans so I haven't, besides that is almost turned all the way in itself. My question is should I try turning it in with what adjustment that's left on it or not? I'm losing faith in MG. P.S. I HAVE 3500 miles on the bike.

Your symptoms don't sound good. Have you reviewed this thread? https://www.guzzitech.com/forums/threads/v7-ii-owners-clutch-advisory-bearing-omission.16098/