Clutch Release Clunk

[tgsguitar]

When upshifting or down shifting, the clutch lever is closed and released in rapid succession.
When holding the friction point, pressure at the clutch master cylinder is held longer than when shifting up or down.
The clutch master cylinder may not be able to hold the pressure of the friction point, but appears to operate fine when shifting.
The clutch master cylinder may need a rebuild.

Just so these can be eliminated as possible problem areas:
Remove the slave cylinder from the back of the engine (3X 10mm I believe) and see if there is any fluid leaking from the seal.
Remove the clutch lifter rod and inspect it. Make sure it is clean and does not have any junk built up.
The clutch doesn’t have a whole lot of springs in there which would suddenly stop pushing back against the hydraulic pressure of the clutch fluid (DOT 4 Brake fluid), so it is not likely a fatigued spring.

While looking for the source of the ‘clunk’, check out the drive train:
With the bike on the center stand, in any gear, engine not running (HAD to add that point), grab the rear wheel and see how much it will rotate before meeting resistance.
Does it ‘clunk’ when it does meet resistance?
The ‘clunk’ may be the teeth of the final drive gear or the teeth of the final drive flange have worn and have some play.

Good Luck!

-Ride On

Thanks for the feedback I will make the checks that you suggest.
And I will make sure I don't have the bike running when I grab onto the back wheel
JimC

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Does this clutch have the dog ears inside that hold the friction plates like on the VFRs? I know that when those get rough from use, they will cause a variety of odd behaviors in the clutch, including a heavy vibration when releasing the clutch from a stop under hard throttle. The fix on those is to pull the cover and remove the friction plates then use a file to clean up the rough edges of the basket.

Yes it does have the dog-ears. Getting the clutch basket in and out is a big job. The clutch basket and plates were out about 18 months ago to replace the plates. Everything looked good then and I have not done a ton of miles since. I will keep your suggestion in mind though if I can't figure out what the issue is, ,thanks !
JimC