This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

'bleeding' $#!++y hydraulic clutch on RSVR Factory

wamo

wamo

Joined Feb 2010
6 Posts | 0+
Calgary, Canada & Kalispell Montana
bike manages 400-700km between clutch bleeding regardless of methods used. Supposedly all efforts (squeezing, pumping, tilting, & praying) have been tried for a permanent solution.
I've been told that getting rid of the Aprilia hydraulic component & replacing with one from a Ducati (brake?) will fix. Anyone know which part number to order?
 
Have you tried reverse injecting the fluid? (filling it from the slave upwards with a syringe) not sure about the master cyl, but the MPL slave cyl is a popular upgrade, seals are better than the standard item.
 
yup... I have
MPL? more info please?
 
get one dude! well worth the cash, inevitably it will be more expensive for shipping but the difference is night and day.
 
Fitted MPL to mine yesterday and bled with vacuum bleeder.
Tested in garage since we have 50 cm of snow outside road test awaits.
I have a picture of it in my garage.
 
feel for ya mate. weather slowly, slowly starting to improve here. the sun even came out and temperatures soared to double figures! get the shorts and T shirts out!
 
I'm on it. Thanks for all your help guys, looks like my solution and salvation. Though seems I don't need to rush. Check out our current riding conditions in "my garage" ...we've had lots more since this was taken, but it's only -8C.
Good thing I have an electric vest.
 
If it works for some time and then it dies there must be air or moisture coming in the system somehow.

I dont think changin the slave would help, there must be a problem elsewhere.

Check if there are any signs of fluid leaking. There is also a posibility that the pipe is defected or even the smal tube that connects the master cylinder(the lever) and the reservoir lets the moisture in.
 
I agree it's a problem with the self bleed mechanism on the clutch master cylinder next to the clutch lever not the clutch slave cylinder which is located on the engine.

This is a known problem to Aprilia and it affects some bikes and not others. There was a product enhancement on earlier 2003.5 and 2004 bikes for a revised master clylinder but your bike is a later 2007 model.

The problem occurs when heat from the engine boils fluid in the slave cylinder which then rises up the clutch fluid line to the master cylinder. The self bleed should expell the air when the clutch lever is pulled in, but on yours this appears not to work.

i'm not sure as to what the remedy is on the later bikes. It might be worth a PM to Griff aka Fusebox on this site for more info
 
Had the same trouble when on a long trip, Philip Island back o Perth. on doing the reverse bleed I was turning the lever on the bar so the master cyl didnt point downward. Forgot to move the lever back down on the last time and although a slightly awkward position I have not had to bleed for over a year, also changed the fluid to Motul 600 rather than dot4
 
Ill have Motul 600 (RBF) and its DOT 4, however, has a high boiling point.
Works on my rear brake and now I changed it to clutch as well.
 
:devious
wamo said:
bike manages 400-700km between clutch bleeding regardless of methods used. Supposedly all efforts (squeezing, pumping, tilting, & praying) have been tried for a permanent solution.
I've been told that getting rid of the Aprilia hydraulic component & replacing with one from a Ducati (brake?) will fix. Anyone know which part number to order?
Click to expand...


hello Wamo!!
sorry about the delay in gettin back to you, im slowly drowning in work and trying to move the workshops from where we are to just round the corner plus work plus.....yaddaaa yadaa!! ( im a bloke doing more than one thing at the same time is taxing for goodness sake!! hehe!! :devious

im (as always) with the legs meister on ths one its the clutch master cylinder that is causing the problem here, i assume youve got an early factory?? or R ??? 04 onwards.....? looks like the picture on your avatar says later???

if this is the case then, this is a modified version of the technical bulletin that was released by aprilia that may help and or confirm the issues you have!

Dear Dealer,
referring to the problems of difficult neutral
engagement, we have concluded that they are caused by the presence of air inside the clutch master cylinder.
Affected master cylinders are the ones manufactured up to 21st October 2004 (marked
4K21): the ones manufactured from 22nd October (marked 4K22) and after that date do not
show these problems because there is an additional fluid feed hole that works as bleeder.

please have a looky see and see how yours fairs up....
stay in touch mate and we'll work through this no worries!!
Griffer!!
 
thanks mate... I'm anxious to put this behind me. It's an '07.
It's a usage factored thing. Long trips w/ little clutch... less problem. More stop & start means more problems. I'm grateful for CRG levers as it allows me to continually compensate until neutral becomes too difficult. $#!++y
 
check out the markings on your master cylinder and cross reference against the post above...see what you got !!

let us know and we'll crack it mate!
meantime ill be doin some research for you into alternative clutch master cylinder to stop the issue and add some trickness to the proceedings!!

your not the only one to suffer this continual pain in the neck mate dony worry there seems to be a lot of other guys following this thread ...it seems that you could be carrying the torch for a few of us dude!!

catchya soon!

Griff
 
will do... I'll have access by end of next week and let ya know. thx
 
Wamo did you get that clutch master cylinder figured out? I live in the Kootenays so the 05 is away for the winter and want to know about a fix. Did you ever look into the KTM 61002032000 part # I saw posted in the forum?
 
×

Similar threads

P
faulty master clutch cylinder
Replies
3
Views
3K
Leepants
Leepants
crashtd
Guides How-to Bleed your Hydraulic Clutch
Replies
2
Views
14K
sungamma
S
Posh Johnny
Guides Bleeding your hydraulic clutch
Replies
28
Views
42K
Texas Tornado
T
Asphalt & Rubber
MotoCzysz Electric D1g1tal Dr1ve: More Than Just a Glimpse into the 2010 E1pc Superbi
Replies
0
Views
849
Asphalt & Rubber
Asphalt & Rubber
Asphalt & Rubber
How to Save Harley-Davidson "“ Step 1: Redefine and Reposition The Way You Market Your
Replies
0
Views
1K
Asphalt & Rubber
Asphalt & Rubber

New Posts