There seems to be a lot of good news/bad news stuff happening in my life recently. The most recent example is the clutch on my KTM 690 Enduro. While riding home from work on Wednesday I noticed that the engagement point had shifted radically and I had to pull the clutch lever all the way towards the handlebar to get the clutch to disengage just enough to be able to shift. It's a new bike with a hydraulic clutch, so there isn't a cable that would stretch and cause the problem.
This morning I popped the top off the clutch fluid reservoir and found it significantly low on fluid. I added a little brake fluid, pumped the clutch lever a couple dozen times et voilà—the clutch engagement point is back where it should be. So the good news here is that it appears to be a simple fix.
The bad news? Am I losing clutch fluid somewhere, or did the dealer not top off the reservoir when they prepped the bike for sale? I traced the line and didn't see any obvious leaks, so my hope is that the latter answer is the correct one. I could see how the system could function OK with low fluid in warm weather, but with unusually cold weather the fluid turns more viscous and exposes the problem.
Fingers crossed, it's off to work I go.
UPDATE: There appear to be some bubbles in the line now, as the friction point gets closer to the bars after a blast on the highway. I also found out that brake fluid's the wrong thing to put in the clutch reservoir; had to suction it out and re-fill with ATF. [sigh]
UPDATE: There appear to be some bubbles in the line now, as the friction point gets closer to the bars after a blast on the highway. I also found out that brake fluid's the wrong thing to put in the clutch reservoir; had to suction it out and re-fill with ATF. [sigh]
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