ST1300 Clutch leak?

Joined
May 27, 2011
Messages
33
Location
Valley City, OH
Bike
2003 Honda ST1300
Hello all. Got on the bike to leave for work today, and it seemed the clutch didn't want to release, even with the lever pulled all the way in. I opened the cap, and sure enough, the fluid was low.

Any ideas as to what my issue might be? I'm hoping to find someone that says, "just tighten this, that's what I did, and the bike has been great", because the service manual says to remove the engine to replace the slave cylinder. That's beyond my abilities.

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Joined
Jan 8, 2011
Messages
7,062
Location
Arizona
Bike
2007 Honda ST1300A
Remove lower left side cowl and flush/bleed clutch.
Unless there is a puddle under your bike, this should probably resolve your problem.
15 minute job, a 10mms wrench and a screw driver will take care of it.
 

dduelin

Tune my heart to sing Thy grace
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GL1800 R1200RT NC700
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Fluid low or almost gone? Unlike a brake system reservoir the fluid should never drop to low level in the clutch reservoir unless there is a leak. The slave cylinder is located in a difficult location to get at but contrary to the service manual it can be removed and replaced with the engine in place. We know several ST-O members that had to do this repair. A slow leak of hydraulic fluid evaporates in the super heated location of the slave before making its presence known by a puddle.

A flush and bleed of the fluid is worth a try. A very slow leak may not cause the problem of no clutch to reappear for a long time.

The brake caliper bleeders are 10mm but IIRC the clutch bleeder is 8mm.
 
Joined
Jan 8, 2011
Messages
7,062
Location
Arizona
Bike
2007 Honda ST1300A
Fluid low or almost gone? Unlike a brake system reservoir the fluid should never drop to low level in the clutch reservoir unless there is a leak. The slave cylinder is located in a difficult location to get at but contrary to the service manual it can be removed and replaced with the engine in place. We know several ST-O members that had to do this repair. A slow leak of hydraulic fluid evaporates in the super heated location of the slave before making its presence known by a puddle.

A flush and bleed of the fluid is worth a try. A very slow leak may not cause the problem of no clutch to reappear for a long time.

The brake caliper bleeders are 10mm but IIRC the clutch bleeder is 8mm.
Good advice Dave, but you got the sizes backwards....the brake bleeders are 8mm and the clutch is 10mm.
 
OP
OP
carldavis65
Joined
May 27, 2011
Messages
33
Location
Valley City, OH
Bike
2003 Honda ST1300
Thanks Dave. I will give that a try. We will be leaving for a trip to the Smoky Mountains and was planning to take the bike so we can ride some of those legendary mountain roads. This scared me, because I thought our plans to ride were in jeopardy.

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Joined
Jul 16, 2015
Messages
74
Location
Chicago
Bike
2003 ST1300
I have same issue. Lost the clutch first about 2000 miles ago, dealer wanted to replace the slave, but I had them just flush & fill. Has worked fine with two top-offs. A mechanic I trust said that the brake fluid may be ending up in the crankcase after it leaks into the clutch which is bathed by the engine oil, but it's probably not too big of a deal since it may be a couple/few ounces of brake fluid in a gallon of oil. I have an emergency back-up bike (Suzuki SV1000S), so I'll probably take it to that mechanic soon and have it checked out.
 

dduelin

Tune my heart to sing Thy grace
Site Supporter
Joined
Feb 11, 2006
Messages
9,640
Location
Jacksonville
Bike
GL1800 R1200RT NC700
2024 Miles
006739
STOC #
6651
Good advice Dave, but you got the sizes backwards....the brake bleeders are 8mm and the clutch is 10mm.
Thanks for correcting me Larry. I can never remember which is which.
 
Joined
Mar 31, 2016
Messages
6
Location
North Lincolnshire
I had the exact same issue, slave cylinder seals gone hard after years of service. I got mine done under warranty luckily.

For a guy with big hands the easiest option is engine out, but if you search on this forum there is a thread form someone who did the job with the engine in the frame. Helps to have small hands/ access to child labour though!
 
Joined
Nov 10, 2012
Messages
199
Location
Holderness, NH
Bike
ST1300 2012
WOW. What a coincidence!
i logged on tonight to see if there was anything on the forums about missing clutch fluid!
I bought the 2005 ST1300 in April with about 21,140 miles on it. I noticed the clutch fluid was low and sorta nasty so I topped it off, planning on getting to a flush later this spring. Tonight on my way home from work I noticed the fluid is low in the sight glass and was wondering where it went. I have only put about 1400 miles on it so far. Sounds like I really need to do the flush process and see what happens before I dig any deeper.
 
Joined
May 5, 2012
Messages
19
Location
Cavan, Ireland
Bike
ST1300 V4 2005
I had the unfortunate task of having to remove slave cylinder a couple of weeks ago and after much reading decided I would attempt without removing the engine. So yes its possible to do and with big hands however I had to modify a spanner from two to help with the job. I used a mixture of center stand and side stand purely for reach ability purposes and I drained oil and removed oil filter. The attached pictures if people fancy making this for themselves will save an aching heart, just forgive my welding as this is something I don't do well but the end result is my clutch is back to normal and I'm back on the road :)
IMG_2290.jpgIMG_2291.jpgIMG_2292.jpg Hope it help someone.
 
Joined
Sep 4, 2013
Messages
8,110
Location
Cleveland
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2010 ST1300
I had the unfortunate task of having to remove slave cylinder a couple of weeks ago and after much reading decided I would attempt without removing the engine. So yes its possible to do and with big hands however I had to modify a spanner from two to help with the job. I used a mixture of center stand and side stand purely for reach ability purposes and I drained oil and removed oil filter. The attached pictures if people fancy making this for themselves will save an aching heart, just forgive my welding as this is something I don't do well but the end result is my clutch is back to normal and I'm back on the road :)
IMG_2290.jpgIMG_2291.jpgIMG_2292.jpg Hope it help someone.
Good fix - question.
Was the box wrench you used bent like that or did you heat a standard (straight) box wrench and bend the handle 90 degrees?
 
Joined
May 5, 2012
Messages
19
Location
Cavan, Ireland
Bike
ST1300 V4 2005
Just a standard wrench or spanner as we call it in ireland, put it in vice applied heat and a hammer.
 
Joined
Oct 17, 2015
Messages
1,957
Location
near Harrow, Ontario, Canada
Bike
'83 BMW R100RS
STOC #
8870
I had the unfortunate task of having to remove slave cylinder a couple of weeks ago and after much reading decided I would attempt without removing the engine. So yes its possible to do and with big hands however I had to modify a spanner from two to help with the job. I used a mixture of center stand and side stand purely for reach ability purposes and I drained oil and removed oil filter. The attached pictures if people fancy making this for themselves will save an aching heart, just forgive my welding as this is something I don't do well but the end result is my clutch is back to normal and I'm back on the road :)
IMG_2290.jpgIMG_2291.jpgIMG_2292.jpg Hope it help someone.
Thanks Techi - this is a very useful contribution to solving a challenging problem. Im goi g to file those photos away carefully.

Can you tell us what size wrenches (spanners) you had to modify?

Pete
 
Joined
Jan 8, 2011
Messages
7,062
Location
Arizona
Bike
2007 Honda ST1300A
You need an 8mm wrench or small socket. It appears he bent and welded his 8mm bmw spanner to his 10mm bmw spanner.
Good job in finding a solution to your issue mate.
 
Joined
May 5, 2012
Messages
19
Location
Cavan, Ireland
Bike
ST1300 V4 2005
@Igofar you are correct it was two wrenches 8mm and 10mm I was prepared to lose if it all went wrong. However you will see from the end of the unwelded part of the10mm I have cut the head off as it would have been to long. The 10mm could just as easily been a piece of any narrow rod it was just was I had spare and about the right size so it suited at the time. The 8mm was again handy because it an open wrench at weld point so just made for easy assembly. Hope that makes sense I can try give approx measurements in the morning but really once you have the 8mm wrench the rest can be made from what you have lying about just try keep it narrow and strong for opening nuts.
 
Joined
May 5, 2012
Messages
19
Location
Cavan, Ireland
Bike
ST1300 V4 2005
Had it handy and placed against ruler hope it sheds light.



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