Thursday, July 06, 2006

Clutch Performer

An old fashioned good-news-bad-news story:

1. Good news: the new master clutch cylinder for the Suzuki arrived.
2. Bad news: it wasn't the part I ordered.
3. Good news: it came with the 11/16" bore I wanted.
4. Bad news: it didn't come with the electrical switches I need.
5. Good news: the hydraulic portion and the electrical portion are universal so the old electricals bolt directly to the new hydraulics.
6. Bad news: the 11/16" bore didn't make a damn bit of difference. There was still way too much drag.

I took the whole bike down to the Suzuki dealership and asked them to look at the clutch-pack side of the engine. The hope was that there was something mis-installed by a previous dealer that would explain the problem. As it turned out there was. There's still alot of drag on the clutch but it does disengage enough to allow the motor to shift while running.

Last Saturday I put about 5 miles on the bike. Doesn't seem like much, but after 10 years I'll take even the small victories.

I think at this point I'm going to give up on the DIY aspects of this bike and take it to the dealer again and have them give it a professional tune-up and check things over.

I have a nasty feeling that the rear cylinder is leaking oil. Unless it's just oil left over from assembly that's going to be a real bummer. ... How do you think a Suzuki Intruder would look as a living room recliner? Maybe put an IR transmitter in the headlight and use the electrical switches to operate it as a giant TV-remote. ...