Clutch not dissengaging

[Pat42]

Hi guys, first post, hope you can help me.

I have a 2007 Sportster 883R. I had a minor accident about 2 weeks ago and it has been in my garage since then whilst I've been doing repairs (all cosmetic stuff like replacing indicators etc). That finished I went to start it up a few days ago but bike wouldn't start - it makes a repetative clicking sound when I hold the starter button and once or twice made a small choking sound as if the starting is trying to turn the engine over but has not got enough power, so I'm assuming at this point that it is probably just a battery problem.

I took it out of the garage and thought I'd try and bump start it but then discovered another problem: The bike rolls fine in the neutral but I discovered that it won't budge when put in gear even with the clutch in - i.e. the clutch seems not to be dissengage when I pull on the clutch level. I opened up the clutch inspection cover to have a look and can't see anything wrong, the visible part of the mechanism seems to be working fine. The visible plate rotates smoothly and shifts forward and backward about 3mm as the lever is pulled and relaxed again. I carried out a clutch adjustment and readjusted the cable tension to see if it that helped, but to no avail.

Anyone got any suggestions what might be wrong?

Thanks for your help.

 

[glider]

I would start with cleaning and reinstalling the battery terminals, neg off first and on last. After that charge the battery and if it doesn't do the trick, replace it or load test it. The clicking you are hearing is likely a bad connection or bad battery or a battery in need of a charge.

Check your fuse panel for signs of corrosion around the fuses which is a big problem on the sporties.

As far as the clutch, after sitting a while it sounds like the plates are stuck together from what you post. Get it running first and the rest may go away on it's own.

Welcome to the forum.

 

[fin_676]

The clutch need to be spinning to throw the oil clear of the plates when the bike and oil are cold can take up to 15 sec of spinning to get the oil clear of the plates hence the clunk when selecting 1st from cold
the oil helps the plates stick together by causing a film seal around the friction blocks on the plates in a similar way that a rubber sucker needs to be wet to stick well to a window
you could try to hold the clutch lever in for a wee while 30 sec plus and rock the bike between forward and backward and that may break the lock on the clutch

Brian

 

[Jack Klarich]

Did the handlebars get tweaked and or the clutch lever? This could explain a no release as the clutch adjustment would not be correct