The CB1100 Community Forum

I have a 2013 CB1100. It hasn't been started for 3 months and when I started it today, I discovered a problem with shifting gears. When I shifted into 1st gear the bike started to creep ahead. I let out the clutch and the bike moved ahead. However, I could not shift it into 2nd gear. I road around in 1st gear for awhile and then stopped. I could not get it to shift into neutral. I shut the bike off and was then able to get it into neutral. I then started the bike again and shifted into 1st and it started to creep forward again. I let out the clutch and moved ahead. Again I could not shift into 2nd gear. After several tries I finally got it into 2nd gear. I rode around in 2nd but could not get it into 3rd.

My first thought is that the clutch master cylinder is not working and therefore the clutch is not releasing. It seems that the clutch lever does not have much resistance when I pull on it. Is it possible that the seals in the master cylinder are leaking? Is there a way to check this out?

I assume there is a slave cylinder down at the clutch. Is that correct? If so, I assume there could be a problem with it not releasing the clutch.

Any thoughts or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

More advanced mechanics will chime in, but the first thing I’d do is flush and bleed the fluid. And yes, there is a slave cylinder down there.

Sounds like the clutch packs are sticking or dragging. Might be worth an oil change as well as looking at clutch fluid.


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The above info is all good advice. Any clutch master cylinder leakage would be inside the master cylinder and not visible - but that's a rare failure. Oil change is a good idea also. If the oil is thick from an kind of additive, the plates might be dragging. Master cylinder flush and bleed is the second thing to check.

Thanks guys for the input. I changed the oil less than 100 miles ago so I am going to address the clutch fluid first. I will flush and bleed the master/slave cylinders and report back on the results.

What oil did you use just out of curiosity?

At 15K miles, 5 years ,I had the brake & clutch fluid replaced on my 2013. The shop said the break fluid looked good but the clutch fluid looked nasty and really needed to be replaced. They emphasized nasty. Never had a problem though.

Is there a remote chance of master cylinder premature corrosion due to water in the system?

Well he said he changed the oil less than 100 miles before, and made no reference to the issue happening before the oil change which is why I asked.

If something changes after you have recently done something, always check that first.

(02-20-2021, 12:05 PM)gmike_imp Wrote: [ -> ]At 15K miles, 5 years ,I had the brake & clutch fluid replaced on my 2013. The shop said the break fluid looked good but the clutch fluid looked nasty and really needed to be replaced. They emphasized nasty. Never had a problem though.

Nobody knows why, but clutch fluid always turns dark faster, usually in a few thousand miles. Doesn't harm it though.