Home. Back. ...... The Gas Gas Guru. Technical Information.
I need alittle help! My 94 is in moderate condition. Having been riden fairly hard by the former owner and being babied by me I manage to keep it running very well, but I now have a problem with the clutch dragging when I stop. It doen't make sense to that it would drag, I thought it would begin to slip with age. I've put a new piston in the master cylinder and bleed it well, but the problem persists. Is it possible the ball in the clutch assembly has worn and its diameter has decreased ? or something far more simple than that ?. I can't keep her from wanting to run away at a slow speed or stop, help !!! Thank you.

There could be several things that could cause the clutch to drag. I'm assuming that you are using the same type/amount of oil as before. One of the plates may be warped and you can check this by taking them out and measuring them on a surface plate (or carefully on a piece of glass with the edges taped). Try to slide a .002" feeler gauge under the plate at several points. The plate should be flat, it doesn't take much warpage to cause drag. The metal plates should not have grooves in the friction surface as this can cause problems too. Make sure that there is absolutely no air in the system. This is a common cause of your problem and it's difficult to feel at the lever. Pressure bleed the system from the slave cylinder up. It's a good practice to replace the master cylinder spring along with the piston. It sounds like there is not enough "throw" in the system to fully release the pressure plate. I'd inspect the shaft and ball (which usually does not wear) and measure the freeplay in the system from the slave cylinder on (if you don't know how, your Gas-Gas dealer can help). Beyond this level, I'd have the dealer check it out as there may be something unusual going on that I'd have to see to diagnose. Jon.

NOTE.... Jim Snell advises that the most common cause of clutch drag on the Gas Gas (90%) is when the screw on the clutch lever is turned in too far, when the customer assumes that less free-play equals less drag... quite the opposite, when the piston is not allowed to come all the way back to its stop. If the piston is not returning to the outer stop 'c' clip, the stroke is less, causing less fluid movement to the slave piston as well as blocking the bleed hole from the reservoir to the piston and no additional fluid can be drawn into the system.

Professional tuner and 'Trials Competition' writer Jon Stoodley has very kindly stepped up to the plate to answer your questions. If you're having problems, or need some advice just send an email to Jon. If it's something that could be useful to others, we'll post it on the site.
Home. Back. ..... The Gas Gas Guru. Technical Information.