How often should I change my clutch slave cylinder to avoid a problem with it failing and screwing the clutch up .

04 your 05
In Blighty

Do the drill mod on the housing and if it does fail it won't screw the clutch..

You drill a hole in the base of the housing that the slave cylinder fits in to .
So if the slave fails the fluid leaks out instead of getting past the seal to the clutch disk..

Someone can point you to the link with instructions... I am going to hopefully do mine when I get it apart this winter...

But today in OKC it's supposed to be 75 degrees and I's gonna ride...

Good Luck

John

I performed this mod in conjunction with clutch and rear main seal and much more.
Excellent advice. The procedure is straight forward, The shop manual will walk you right through it. You basically have to remove the following, Remember just a overview, Remove the following.
1) Tupperware
2) rear wheel
3) final drive
4) exhaust
5) para lever
6) drive shaft
7) frame cross member and shift linkage

Now you have full access to the clutch slave cylinder, Remove the 3 hex head screws and immediately slide cylinder out. Note the presence or absence of DOT 4. Hopefully its dry, Pull out the clutch push rod and look for motor oil, trans oil or clutch fluid. If the motor rear main seal or trans input shaft seal is leaking you may be able to tell. If all is clear then you only have to change the clutch slave. If the clutch push rod felt sleeve is wet you need to identify the source. Chances are if the felt sleeve if contaminated the culprit is clutch fluid. If contaminated with DOT 4, Clean the felt with contact cleaner on the push rod. Chances are if the clutch is not slipping and the slave is leaking you dodged a bullet.
Last bit of advice , Make sure you have a new slave gasket and banjo washers. In order to drill the relief hole in the trans next to the case you need a extra long drill bit. In the pictures of my job I was about 3/4" away from the case at 6 o'clock.
Enjoy!

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Some sources say after 60,000. Otherwise you are on borrowed time.

Good write-up and photos Pete - thanks. More details in the HoW (b.2) - click David Shealey's link #4:

• I drilled a 5/32" hole starting in the radius between the transmission housing face and the protrusion, angling up toward the bearing about 45 deg.. That put the exit of the hole about 1/2" out from the bearing

Thanks Dave, Yes David S is the man who stimulated the modification. Here's to only slave cylinder failures without clutch contamination !

It can be done without removing the exhaust.

Would it be possible to drill the hole in the clutch slave cylinder seeing as they are cheap to buy.


04 your 05
in Blighty

Not really. I guess a flat could be made on the bottom of the nose of the cylinder, then a hole drilled in it's mounting flange, but then you would have to do that every time it was replaced. The drain hole in the transmission case is a one time fix.

I have also thought that just cutting out the bottom portion of the gasket between the cylinder and tranny would probably work, but that would present a pretty narrow opening for the fluid to drain through. Would probably work though. Maybe using two gaskets with the bottom portion removed?

I still like the drilled drain hole best though.

My experience with a used 00 K12LT... dealer replaced with new clutch slave (and all other clutch parts, plus re-sealed transmission and engine rear main). Lasted 28 months and 6000 miles. Just sayin', YMMV.

Pulls a double-wide sidecar, but don't think that has anything to do with clutch slave. The fact that the bike went only 500 miles (over 14 months, had shoulder issues) before the driveshaft came partially off the trans output spline and chewed up the inside of the swingarm might reflect on the quality of this dealer's work, though. For inquiring minds, the c-clip that is SUPPOSED to lock the driveshaft onto the splines was present and intact, indicating that it was never properly seated in place. Dealer's response was "its out of warranty". Will have to go back to doing my own work... for my own health and safety.