Further
Well-known member
I know this has been visited again and again, but I have a slightly different question.
First let me say that the clutch effort and engagement point have come to be the only seriously bothersome issues for me on my new 08. I love the bike otherwise - though I wish it could go on a diet.
I thought my old BMW had a stiff clutch. This thing is a BEAR! In crawling traffic it gets to the point of pain. So I just swapped out for the Gen I slave. The effort is minimally improved. I guess I can live with it now, but the engagement point which was bad before is now almost right at the bar.
This is bad. Even in the most "distant" lever setting. There's no such thing as a 2-finger shift on this bike because with my 2 smaller fingers still on the bar, I can't get it into 1st gear. I did a good bleeding with a vacuum bleeder. Doesn't matter.
So here's my question. I have a vague recollection of someone else doing a Gen I swap and finding similar problems. They said they then proceeded to bend the lever out a little further.
I can see where bending a few degrees out at the end of the lever could help a bit, but I have visions of cracking that delicate aluminum.
Can anyone comment on this? I'm thinking I'll remove the lever and put it in a vise and be REAL careful. But would it help to heat it up a bit with a torch you think????
Chris
First let me say that the clutch effort and engagement point have come to be the only seriously bothersome issues for me on my new 08. I love the bike otherwise - though I wish it could go on a diet.
I thought my old BMW had a stiff clutch. This thing is a BEAR! In crawling traffic it gets to the point of pain. So I just swapped out for the Gen I slave. The effort is minimally improved. I guess I can live with it now, but the engagement point which was bad before is now almost right at the bar.
This is bad. Even in the most "distant" lever setting. There's no such thing as a 2-finger shift on this bike because with my 2 smaller fingers still on the bar, I can't get it into 1st gear. I did a good bleeding with a vacuum bleeder. Doesn't matter.
So here's my question. I have a vague recollection of someone else doing a Gen I swap and finding similar problems. They said they then proceeded to bend the lever out a little further.
I can see where bending a few degrees out at the end of the lever could help a bit, but I have visions of cracking that delicate aluminum.
Can anyone comment on this? I'm thinking I'll remove the lever and put it in a vise and be REAL careful. But would it help to heat it up a bit with a torch you think????
Chris