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Glendale, AZ United States | So let me start by saying I screwed up, but by how much I do not know as yet. I've had my 09 VV Premium for about a year now. I changed my oil today, serviced the air filters, and then lube. I figured it was time to lube the clutch cable and replace the clutch fluid since I had no idea when this was done last not to mention I live in Arizona with the heat and commute to work on Victoria even though through the window the fluid didn't look too bad.
Started down low by the primary, which appeared to be a standard clutch cable I am used to. Removed the barrel from the housing, cleaned her up and lubricated and didn't think anything of it. Then I loosened up the perch on the clutch lever on the handle bars with 10mm socket, removed the lever and realized I screwed up!! "You dummy, this is a hydraulic clutch!! As a result, when I removed the clutch lever the insides came out in pieces. Lesson learned, but I am sure I am not the only one out there who experienced this hence the reason why I am asking 
This is what I did:
Cleaned up the old grease from the clutch lever and housing. I Lubricated the barrel with a round hole in the middle that came out of the lever when I removed it and put it back in, but since I know nothing about a hydraulic clutch, what threw me off was a virtually free floating "threadless small metal plunger" with two different diameter ends. It looks like one end fits within the barrel with the round hole and the other end sits within a rubber O ring/fitting located right next to the clutch reservoir. I put everything together, lubed the perch bolt and tightened. No issues after assembly and took the bike for a spin to confirm. I have a road trip planned this weekend so I just wanted some input as to confirm what I did was accurate.
I know this was an oversight on my part for sure, but can I assume there is no maintenance required on the Vision clutch cable specifically? Anybody have clutch cable failure on the VV? It appears if the failure does happen it will be down low as opposed to clutch lever side, which appears to be more involved then a roadside clutch cable replacement. Anybody lube the clutch cable on the primary side? Just to confirm, the only service that needs to done is to periodically change out the clutch fluid and nothing else? Another thing that took me awhile to get used to is there is hardly any clutch free play on the VV and I am used to having more clutch free play in general. I guess this hits home the fact I have never had a bike with a hydraulic clutch before. With that being said, I worry that I may be engaging the clutch periodically with having so little free play. I apologize for my wordiness, but for those who have read my prior posts already know that and with asking so many dumb questions in one post, but is the brake lever assembly the same deal as far as being maintenance free? Thanks and look forward to the feedback, Vlad.
Edited by Vladezip 2014-04-17 1:30 AM
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Visionary
Posts: 1340
Gainesville Fl Home of the Gators | Your bike has a hydraulic clutch, and no cable. you should remove the lever and lube it as well as the end at the primary every 2-3 thousand miles | |
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Glendale, AZ United States | kevinx - 2014-04-17 1:42 PM
Your bike has a hydraulic clutch, and no cable. you should remove the lever and lube it as well as the end at the primary every 2-3 thousand miles
Yeah, it appears I have not done anything wrong and it is part of the standard service. Everything should be lubed with the exception of the plunger and it is setup virtually identical for both the clutch and brake lever. I was also told to be careful and not bend, twist, or power wash the lever down by the primary. Thanks for your response. You all can laugh now at my expense because I'm laughing Thanks, Vlad. | |
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Cruiser
Posts: 67
| Do not fret, one persons laugh is another's learning experience. Thanks for the learning experience!!
Edited by Tom13 2014-04-17 5:30 PM
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Visionary
Posts: 4278
| yup basic lube at first of riding season is good idea. Ride in a lot of rain do it again can't hurt.
Every three years change out the fluid | |
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Visionary
Posts: 3006
San Antonio, TX | Vladezip,
That is a nice writeup. If sure is fun learning about these bikes. | |
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Glendale, AZ United States | I appreciate your confidence My philosophy is "What one man can do another can do." Not to mention I'm not interested in spending 100 bucks/hour in shop charges unless I have no other option.
What I learned today was the following. The brake lever service/lube is not the same as the clutch lever, at least on my 09 VV. Just loosen up the perch bolt with 10mm socket and the lever comes right off. There is a small diameter disk within the rubber housing, which actuates the brakes below. The brake lever is just right up against it. I cleaned up the old grease and put a small amount of grease on the disk and then on the 10mm bolt and good to go. There is no plunger on the brake cable to worry about.
I was told by a reliable source today I trust the clutch lever should be lubricated every 2500 miles with each oil change. Most dealerships will do this every 5K miles, but the recommendation is the previous if you own an older VV. Every 5k should be fine for the brake lever, but it takes all of five minutes so why not do them both at once.
Avoid the spray on lube stuff if you live in dry dusty/sandy areas because the lube will turn into mud in due time, but use standard moly grease instead. No chemicals or pressure spray should be used for old grease cleanup for both clutch/brake lever. Just wipe with a shop towel on both sides and you should be good. If the cylinder on the clutch cable that connects to the free floating plunger becomes "scuffed up or scratched" just use some very fine grit sand paper to whip back into shape as not to mess with the tolerance too much so the plunger doesn't snag.
Here in my neck of the woods, which is dry/dusty the throttle on the handlebar should not be lubricated, but just use a sanitizer wipe or the Costco Kirkland wipes to clean up in the crevices and you should be good.
What I would be very interested in seeing is the "Master Mechanics" on this Forum take one for the team and post some videos either on this site or youtube since most of us are visual learners anyway of the following on the VV specifically for starters:
1. Clutch/Brake fluid replacement. (There is a certain order the brake bleeders should be bled to promote efficiency and minimize air in the system)
2. Brake pad replacement front and rear for VV specifically. I read a post of someone that does the rear pads with the bike tipped over on the tipovers, which I would like to see
3. Steering head lubrication and front fork oil replacement.
4. Tire removal on the rear
Any takers? Everybody take it easy. Vlad. | |
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Visionary
Posts: 3773
Pittsburgh, PA | I think you completely missed the most important maintenance item that needs to be taken care of.. =( You need to call your dealer and asked him how to lubricate your muffler bearings.. Once they got bad it can be very expensive... | |
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Glendale, AZ United States | Arkainzeye - 2014-04-18 3:32 AM
I think you completely missed the most important maintenance item that needs to be taken care of.. =( You need to call your dealer and asked him how to lubricate your muffler bearings.. Once they got bad it can be very expensive...
YEP... Even though they are Ness muffler bearings, they were delivered from Russia because the bearings have a plutonium coating. I couldn't figure out initially after install why I had to pull over once per hour on the side of the road and puke my guts out, followed by blood in the urine a few days later, and hair loss a couple of weeks later and then I put the pieces together and realized it was the darn plutonium, but the muffler bearings give off a pretty little green/yellow/lavender flame coming out the pipes so it was well worth it in my book.
The recommended lube for the plutonium Ness muffler bearings is a quart of sperm whale oil in each pipe (Russia does its own thing if you haven't noticed already), but I have been having a hard time getting my hands on the sperm whale oil so I opted to use a quart of KY jelly in each pipe instead. With the sperm whale oil the muffler bearings sounded absolutely phenomenal like a swarm of killer bees, but with the KY the muffler bearings sound like a bunch of marbles rolling around in there, which makes me think there is definitely a viscosity difference between the two products not to mention the KY has a tendency to get "tacky" with prolonged use and need to replace more frequently.
I thought awhile back I would go back to the stock muffler bearings, but I had to sacrifice my health for the wow factor with the ones I got so I figure I will keep em since my local dump the last time I checked doesn't take plutonium and I'm not inclined to bury the marbles in my back yard since the half life of plutonium is like 80 million years. You live and learn I guess.
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Tech question regarding VV clutch cable lubrication