Motorcycle Repair: 1983 Honda vt750 Shadow clutch, honda vt750, hydraulic clutch

Question
Hello Mark,

I have the same problem with the clutch on my Shadow that one of the other posters had. When I engage the clutch, there is no resistance, and I can not put the bike in gear. It is as though there is no clutch on the bike.

I am not sure if it just needs adjustment or if the clutch needs to be replaced. This problem started about a week ago when I was riding.

Where is the clutch located, and do you have any instructions for diagnosis or changing the clutch?

Thanks in advance for your help.
Billy

Answer
Hi Billy,    Im not sure if you have a hydraulic clutch or cable clutch, but you could have one of 3 problems going on... If you have a hydraulic clutch (you have a master cylinder resivior on the left that looks the same as the right brake side) Your slave cylinder may be bad or need to be bled, 2nd, if your clutch HAS in fact gone bad, you would more than likely have some resistance, but the bike will just not move without the engine revving up, 3rd, your cable may have just broke, which would cause the same issue that you describe...
The clutch is located on the right hand side of the bike sitting on it behind the big cover with a circle mold in it...

Let me know what you come up with, just make sure you have a drain pan under the cover when you remove it, you WILL or SHOULD have fluid come out as you loosen the cover up...

Hope this helps!

~Mark