Clutch not disengaging

[otrfjr]

Yes, my '07 did the same thing beginning at 1600 miles--and after Yamaha replaced the clutch at 1900 miles, it's starting to do it again 400 miles later. Take it to an honest dealer and get it documented (and I hate to tell you, but your clutch is toast if it's gotten to the point where it won't release). At least 5 others in this forum with 07's have had the same problem (difficulty downshifting/clutch won't release) with no clear indication of what the real problem is. Some have gotten by with having the clutch plates soaked & others have done the plate soaking in combination with rebuilding the clutch slave cylinder.

Since my new clutch is now getting chipped to hell because the shitforbrains at my dealership tried to blame a Purolator oil filter for what is clearly either a part defect or an engineering blunder (I'm thinking it has to be the throw distance of the slave/actuator 'cause I flushed & bled the fluid in my clutch twice, so I don't think it's hydraulic), I'm going to replace both the master and slave cylinders hoping that Yamaha, in its effort to avoid releasing a service bulletin, has at least corrected the problem in subsequent parts production.

Good luck.

 

[otrfjr]

also check out:

https://www.fjrforum.com/forum//index.php?showtopic=18194

https://www.fjrforum.com/forum//index.php?showtopic=19640

https://www.fjrforum.com/forum//index.php?showtopic=18558

https://www.fjrforum.com/forum//index.php?showtopic=12768

https://www.fjrforum.com/forum//index.php?a...Bclutch+%2B2007

 

[msb14]

Anyone having problems with the 07 and the clutch not disengaging. Pull in clutch and wait literally 2 seconds before clutch will disengage, blipping the trottle helps, just changed oil at 2k and bled clutch to check for air. Any Ideas?

I just talked to my dealer about the clutch problem and told him others were having the same problem. He said he had never heard of anything like this before but would check with "Yamaha." He called me back and said Yamaha had no knowledge of ANY problems with the clutches on the '07s. Despite the fact the bike is 1 month old with 1700 miles, he said that they would probably have to charge me because its a wear item. UNBELIEVABLE. To anyone on this thread with the name of any Yamaha reps. that have knowledge of this issue and/or the names of the dealerships that have acknowledged the issue, please reply. Your help is greatly appreciated.

thanks.

 

[ionbeam]

I just talked to my dealer about the clutch problem...He said he...would check with "Yamaha."...and said Yamaha had no knowledge of ANY problems with the clutches on the '07s....he said that they would probably have to charge me because its a wear item.

Now that you know you need a new dealer I hope you can find one that is fairly close. If we knew your location someone may be able to suggest a better (more honest & credible) dealer. You can check in the FAQs and Common Historical Info Forum for recommended dealers. Ask your dealer for the name and title of the person at "Yamaha" that told him that there were no issues with the '07 clutches. There is a small chance that a regional tech may not have heard of the problem but a better chance they weren't motivated enough to check. We just know that your dealer wouldn’t have intentionally spoken inaccurately

 

[otrfjr]

OK: please, everyone who has had this clutch issue needs to contact the SAME PERSON at Yamaha so that they can't get around denying knowledge of this issue.

I suggest we nominate a customer service representative & all of us call and leave a message stating the problem & telling then that we're recording the conversation. I nominate Diana Cortez: 1-800-962-7926 ext. 7484.

The we all need to write to Jill Hobbs who is the coordinator for the Yamaha Customer Service Division, 10 Mauchly, Irvine, CA 92618-9853.

We all need to do this even if we had a POSITIVE experience with repairs at our dealers (who hopefully corrected a problem that came directly from the factory.

Keep copies of both the phone call and the letter. Thems that want to write/call in support of those that are getting the shaft should feel free to do so.

Gonna reproduce this post in a separate thread.

I just talked to my dealer about the clutch problem...He said he...would check with "Yamaha."...and said Yamaha had no knowledge of ANY problems with the clutches on the '07s....he said that they would probably have to charge me because its a wear item.

Now that you know you need a new dealer I hope you can find one that is fairly close. If we knew your location someone may be able to suggest a better (more honest & credible) dealer. You can check in the FAQs and Common Historical Info Forum for recommended dealers. Ask your dealer for the name and title of the person at "Yamaha" that told him that there were no issues with the '07 clutches. There is a small chance that a regional tech may not have heard of the problem but a better chance they weren't motivated enough to check. We just know that your dealer wouldn’t have intentionally spoken inaccurately

 

[otrfjr]

Anyone having problems with the 07 and the clutch not disengaging. Pull in clutch and wait literally 2 seconds before clutch will disengage, blipping the trottle helps, just changed oil at 2k and bled clutch to check for air. Any Ideas?

I just talked to my dealer about the clutch problem and told him others were having the same problem. He said he had never heard of anything like this before but would check with "Yamaha." He called me back and said Yamaha had no knowledge of ANY problems with the clutches on the '07s. Despite the fact the bike is 1 month old with 1700 miles, he said that they would probably have to charge me because its a wear item. UNBELIEVABLE. To anyone on this thread with the name of any Yamaha reps. that have knowledge of this issue and/or the names of the dealerships that have acknowledged the issue, please reply. Your help is greatly appreciated.

thanks.

They tried to pull the "normal wear item" shit with me too. My dealership & customer rep refused to acknowledge the problem as well. I know, sounds like hog heaven for conspiracy theorists, but they should feel obligated to issue a service bulletin at the very least. Keep working them: be an asshole and keep mentioning the other documented cases. They will break down & offer a "one-time goodwill offer"--which is anything but imho--to cover under the warranty.

In addition to what little grassroots momentum we can generate, I'm going to try to enlist a former Yamaha superbike champ who's the brother-in-law of a neighbor to get news to the Yammie execs that this is going on. Don't know if he'll cooperate, but if we can work both ends to let them know that this is bullshit, the better off we are. It's a bit like "The Big Lebowski": we have to draw a line in the sand to stop this unchecked aggression. & if it doesn't work, we can always go bowling.

 

[msb14]

I was at the dealer today and they acknowledged that something was amiss. They seem to be stepping up to the plate and are filing a "claim" with Yamaha to check/fix the clutch. I was encouraged after talking to the service manager today. I'm supposed to bring the bike back next week. All this said, I agree that we need to talk to Yamaha Customer Service and I'll do my part and call.

Thanks.

 

[dean]

I was at the dealer today and they acknowledged that something was amiss. They seem to be stepping up to the plate and are filing a "claim" with Yamaha to check/fix the clutch. I was encouraged after talking to the service manager today. I'm supposed to bring the bike back next week. All this said, I agree that we need to talk to Yamaha Customer Service and I'll do my part and call.
Thanks.

please advise name of dealer so those of us who have yet taken the fjr to our dealer can at least mention an actual yamaha shop that has confirmed an ongoing problem. thx!

fwiw, i put my clutch lever on the farthest reach setting, and that seemed to make a minor improvement until i can get it fully resolved.

 

[msb14]

I was at the dealer today and they acknowledged that something was amiss. They seem to be stepping up to the plate and are filing a "claim" with Yamaha to check/fix the clutch. I was encouraged after talking to the service manager today. I'm supposed to bring the bike back next week. All this said, I agree that we need to talk to Yamaha Customer Service and I'll do my part and call.
Thanks.

please advise name of dealer so those of us who have yet taken the fjr to our dealer can at least mention an actual yamaha shop that has confirmed an ongoing problem. thx!

fwiw, i put my clutch lever on the farthest reach setting, and that seemed to make a minor improvement until i can get it fully resolved.

The dealer is Thousand Oaks Yamaha in Thousand Oaks, CA. Their service manager is good to deal with. They have only acknowledged that something is strange with the bike after riding it and have agreed to file a claim so they can explore and nail down the issue. They have not yet agreed with me that its the clutch. Right now I'm happy that I've got this far. We'll see what happens.

 

[johnniegoldfish]

B) Now at 3400 miles, the dealer wanted to take apart the clutch but wouldn't give me a specific appointment and it is June in Vermont and he suggested that I buy the extended YES warranty to guarantee that Yamaha would back it up and these two things gave me the willies, so I paid better attention to the bike. Rode the clutch on hills at stop light instead of braking and when on the open road when I pulled in the clutch handle and the clutch hesitated I would just wait a second and after one good two hundred mile day the clutch is greatly improved and while not perfect it is pretty darn good. If anyone else is having this problem I might suggest that if you need to be in traffic to be really aware that the clutch might not diengage and leave you pulling forward when you think it will be stopping. So, what I did was change the oil using Yamalube, I can't find 20/40 elswhere and rode the clutch. Good luck and godspeed.

Doing a highspeed burn to sunset!

Johnnie B)

Well the problem has not completely gone away. As for giving it thousands of miles I have 2500 on it and it is down right unsafe when slowing down and you ahve your clutch pulled in and the bike is still going forward. This week it is going back to the shop and they said they would tear it down and were sure Yamaha would warranty it. This is a great bike, but this flaw has got to be fixed or a topless Solara is looking good.Johnnie

I'm having the same problem with my 07. Dealer and his shop manager tell me that they are seeing it a lot on the 07s, usually when the bike is cold and only when down shifting. The claim it will go away after a couple or three thousand miles. Long as it's covered by the warranty I'll wait and see.

 

[clutchless1]

I might be able to help all who are having problems with the clutch and want to bleed the system. I had a Harley that was having some serious stopping issues, it was called not stopping fast enough. I added a second caliper to the front knowing this would help, but when it came time for bleeding the system I had a hard time getting all of the air out of it. I went to a local auto parts store and got a set of speed bleeders, they're about $10.00 for a set of two and worth their weight in gold. I would add one of these bleeders to the clutch slave cylinder to bleed the system. It's very simple, all you have to do is add the bleeder, tighten it up and back it off about 1/2 of a turn, then start squeezing the clutch lever, do this 8 or 10 times and it's done, just tighten the bleeder screw back up. Make sure you have a small hose attached to the end of the bleeder screw to put the fluid being pumped out exactly where you want it to go, brake fluid eats paint so if you get it on any paint wash it off well.

These speed bleeders are so nice and well designed they have a check valve built into each one. What this does is when you squeeze the clutch lever and let off, this bleeder doesn't allow air back into the system, so all you do is pump the lever a few times and tighten it back up, just make sure you don't pump all of the fluid out of the master cylinder. The only other thing you can do after bleeding the system is to replace every rubber hose with braided stainless lines, this would prevent any expansion loss due to the rubber hoses expanding when the clutch is pulled in.

Now watch, I have said how nice these bleeders are, they won't have the size needed to do this. These are usually in your help section, I'm sure you can order these on-line if you'd like to. If I had these problems I would try this first. I know on my 06 FJR Yamaha says to use Dot 4 fluid, this isn't as bad as the Dot 5 as far as the compress factor goes. From what I have been told the make-up of these Dot 4 and 5 is you get more compression with these fluids (a spongy feel), more than the Dot 3 does. I believe the Dot 4 and Dot 5 are more spongy when being compressed, thus you don't get the real solid feel of a Dot 3 type of fluid (if this makes sence to you?). Now, Dot 4 and Dot 5 are not as bad on paint as the Dot 3 is, and the 4 and 5 also have a higher boiling point than the Dot 3 does. But in the end Dot 3 has a more solid feel when activating the brake or clutch, and if I remember correctly the 3 doesn't suck up as much water from the air, but the Dot 3 will eat the internal pieces in the system, these pieces weren't designed for use with anything other than what you have been told to user, and Dot 3 has a lower boiling point.

Just so you know, I'm not claiming to be any type of an expert, I could be totally off base, but I do believe what I have said about the types of fluids are true. Having said this, DO NOT ADD DOT 3 to any other fluid unless it is Dot 3. If you do something like this it will contaminate the system and eat the tiny pieces of rubber in your system, so don't flush your system out and change it to a Dot 3 fluid either, Dot 3 will eat the little rubber pieces in your system, then you will really have problems.

I'm sure this is more than you want or need to know, I'm just trying to help out a little.

clutchless1

 

[canyonman]

Mine has started doing this at 1800 miles. only seems to do this when its cold. I havn't been able to ride much in the last month and just now read the post that others are having the same problem.

I will in the near future try to compile some more specific and detailed data.

 

[FJRocketMan]

I have an '07 with about 2500 miles on it doing the same thing. I find that if I just twist the throttle a little bit when clutch engaged while downshifting, it seems to free it up and I can downshift the remaining gears without issue. I just hope it does not get any worse but I am not going to gamble yet taking to the dealership so I end up with "other" issues becasue they frigged something else up.

 

[FJR1300Mark]

I had a similar problem

At 40mph in 3rd gear close the throttle and then pull in the clutch and it took 1 to 2 sec before the engine would disengage.

It started at 1300 miles. Better when warmed up, but not like the first 1000 miles which were great.

After reading the forums I changed the oil to Yamaha 10-30.

It took another 100 miles but now at 1500 miles all is good.

I will be changing back to 20-40 after about 1000 miles and will change the oil again if this shows up again.

I was relieved the change of oil made it ok.

 

[PA1195]

Anyone having problems with the 07 and the clutch not disengaging. Pull in clutch and wait literally 2 seconds before clutch will disengage, blipping the trottle helps, just changed oil at 2k and bled clutch to check for air. Any Ideas?

Many have replied...here's my solution and it's only mine...find another oil besides Yamaha 20W-40 and see if changing the oil Brand helps...I've done this to several Yamaha bikes in the last five years, and with each change, using several Brands other than Yamaha, I've experienced better clutch/transmission operating conditions...some prefer Synthetics, others mineral based...I won't go there now but I've done both: i.e., Amsoil, Mobil 1, Delo, Delvac, Rotella, Valvoline, and Castrol...but my '07 FJR1300A would absolutely not go into gear w/o stalling at first due to excessive clutch drag even when 4 bars are showing on the temp gauge for 600 miles on the Yam oil, and was getting worse by the day...honest...even with oil changes with Yam oil at 100, 300, and 600 miles and a brisk engine and clutch break-in...as soon as I switched to a cheaper Valvoline 4-Stroke JASO MA 20W-50 oil the problem went away...don't worry about the 50W designation versus 40W, it'll likely soon shear down to a solid 40 W...same performance as my '06 FJR did with Rotella 5W-40 at 1500 miles a year ago...I did do a few downhill runs with the clutch out to let oil into the assy. and within 50 miles the issue went away...that didn't work at all with Yam oil...go your own way, but please think about this test if you have clutch/shifting problems.

Gary in Fairbanks

 

[murf]

Just picked up an 07 FJR yesterday. No clutch problems as described in previous posts. Also, no "klunking" noise when shifting into first from neutral. Tranny is very quiet compared to my 04 FJR.

 

[wheatonFJR]

Just picked up an 07 FJR yesterday. No clutch problems as described in previous posts. Also, no "klunking" noise when shifting into first from neutral. Tranny is very quiet compared to my 04 FJR.

Are you sure you bought an FJR? Better go back and look again...

 

[PA1195]

Just picked up an 07 FJR yesterday. No clutch problems as described in previous posts. Also, no "klunking" noise when shifting into first from neutral. Tranny is very quiet compared to my 04 FJR.

Hello Murf and welcome...my '06 and '07 'FJR's were as you described when new...an Alaskan mosquito for sound and vibration...by up to 1500 or so miles with three oil/filter changes to Yamalube, issues developed with serious clutch grab and tranny whine in both...hopefully that will not be your future experience...if it does occur, than join the grabbers/whiners/fixers Club and seek remedy by either Dealer clutch soaking (good for the Dealer soaking $$$ from YamaMama, and a bunch of BS for a wet clutch IMHO), or change to a different Brand of oil...'nuff said.

Gary in Fairbanks

 

[murf]

Just picked up an 07 FJR yesterday. No clutch problems as described in previous posts. Also, no "klunking" noise when shifting into first from neutral. Tranny is very quiet compared to my 04 FJR.

Are you sure you bought an FJR? Better go back and look again...

Yea, no mistake about it, it's an FJR.

 

[murf]

Just picked up an 07 FJR yesterday. No clutch problems as described in previous posts. Also, no "klunking" noise when shifting into first from neutral. Tranny is very quiet compared to my 04 FJR.

Hello Murf and welcome...my '06 and '07 'FJR's were as you described when new...an Alaskan mosquito for sound and vibration...by up to 1500 or so miles with three oil/filter changes to Yamalube, issues developed with serious clutch grab and tranny whine in both...hopefully that will not be your future experience...if it does occur, than join the grabbers/whiners/fixers Club and seek remedy by either Dealer clutch soaking (good for the Dealer soaking $$$ from YamaMama, and a bunch of BS for a wet clutch IMHO), or change to a different Brand of oil...'nuff said.

Gary in Fairbanks

It's pretty hard to avoid transmission and primary gear "whine" since these gears are straight cut and straight cut gears tend to be the noisiest. The primary gear noise from my 04 was louder compared to the 07 I own now. Changing brands and going from dino to synthetic in the 04 when I went on a long trip to CA made no difference in perceived noise levels.