Another pesky request for advice.......sorry!
My clutch bites ok, albeit a bit far from the bar for my liking, and does not slip when underway.....but seems to slip before engaging fully after a moment's delay when the lever has been released just occasionally on pulling away. I had something similar on a Triumph Daytona a few years ago, solved by stronger clutch springs. Is this a Hesketh 'feature', or do I need to fettle?
Cheers
Pete
Hello Pete,
The slave cylinder piston seal may need renewing and this means removing the timing side cover, and finding someone with a spare seal kit. What can happen is that the inner oil seal fails and this allows the engine oil to contaminate the second hydraulic oil seal which then swells and leaks so always replace both together. The master cylinder seals will also need renewing, especially if the hydraulic fluid has gone black from engine oil contamination. I'm not sure but your bike probably still has its original clutch plates installed which need to be replaced by the far superior SURFLEX plate set from a DUCATI 900SS, Darmah, 860 - Bevel twin. There is a trick to this as you need to substitute one plate from the original stack. The cheapest and most effective job is to replace the original soggy rubbery Brembo clutch hydraulic line with a new black braided item from NBM Woolford, HEL or other. I always use the NBM Woolford black lines for brake and clutch hoses because they look neat whereas the shiny stainless ones look a bit flashy on the HESKETH, in my honest opinion. If you send your old lines to them they will send back new ones to exactly the same length with the correct fittings.
Sadly, the reach from the bar to the lever can't be adjusted. There is a small grub screw in the lever but this should always be backed right off because otherwise the clutch hydraulic pressure can't release properly. Check that this is screwed right back as that might also be your problem.
Hope this helps,
RB
Quote from: Pete D on November 08, 2015, 09:54:30 PM
Another pesky request for advice.......sorry!
My clutch bites ok, albeit a bit far from the bar for my liking, and does not slip when underway.....but seems to slip before engaging fully after a moment's delay when the lever has been released just occasionally on pulling away. I had something similar on a Triumph Daytona a few years ago, solved by stronger clutch springs. Is this a Hesketh 'feature', or do I need to fettle?
Cheers
Pete
All good info from Rob...
Mine does this too - always has. I've recently replaced the springs and I have the Surflex plates fitted.
When I rebuilt my slave cylinder, I found that the o-ring between the cylinder and the timing cover was 'sliced' and had been permitting engine oil to get into the cylinder (and the breather at the rear of the timing side cover). This (seemingly) had been caused by the absence of any 'lead-in' on the timing cover bore. The sharp edges on the cover and the o-ring groove came together like a pair of scissors and 'snipped' huge chunks out of the o-ring... I created a short 'lead-in' at the top of the bore, allowing the o-ring to be introduced without the scissor-effect.
I suppose a special tool - like a small bore piston ring compressor, could be used to prevent damage to the o-ring and negate the lead-in requirement..?
And... Interestingly, my clutch fluid still goes black - I change it every year - but there is no sign of any engine oil at the breather hole now... I had come to think it was down to the master cylinder...
Jeff
Good stuff chaps......
I'll get fettling again.....and hope it doesn't still remain a feature...!