Clutch Lost Pressure with Engine Overheat

[Goat_Herder]

'07 S2R1000.  I got stuck on Friday evening traffic with brush fire going on next to the freeway.  The ambient temperature was 95 and I was just creeping along.  When the engine temp reached 280, I started notice the clutch started to act funny - the clutch pull got a little lighter and then the contact point became inconsistent.  When the engine temp reached 290, the clutch pull got really out of whack.  I then pulled over to the shoulder.  All of the sudden, the clutch lever lost all pressure.  I would pull on the lever and it would have no resistance at all.  I thought I was in big doodoo.

I started looking on my phone to see if my wife or a friend can come get me.  Went back to check on the clutch and felt a little pressure.  I thought if I waited a bit longer, the clutch would come back to live?  10 minutes later, engine temp came back down to 270.  Got on the bike and creeped past a congested spot.  Once I got going a bit faster (25mph), the air flow was enough to keep the engine temp in check.  5 minutes later, I going up to 60 mph and the engine temp came down to 250.  It ran like nothing had happened.

So the question - what caused it and was that normal? Was there a shut off valve in the clutch system?  Was the bike on the verge of exploding and I barely escaped death?!?!

[Speeddog]

The answer to your questions is 'no'.

When was the last time the clutch fluid was flushed and system bled?

[Howie]

Use DOT4 or 5.1.  The fluid simply overheated.  You should also change the fluid annually.

[Goat_Herder]

When was the last time the clutch fluid was flushed and system bled?

It had been a few years since the clutch fluid was changed/flushed.  Sounds like that the cause for loss of pressure and not something major with he clutch assembly or the engine.

I am planning on changing the oil in the fall, before shutting it down for the winter.  I will add clutch oil replacement to the to-do list.

[ducpainter]

Probably should do the brakes at the same time.

[Jruwducati]

Did your clutch return to normal function once it cooled down? I had something very similar happen.

[JonS2R]

I had something similar happen during the summer right after I changed levers. There's a plunger thing that screws into the clutch lever that fits into the master cylinder to actuate it. Turns out I didn't screw it into the lever enough. I'm not sure if that helps in your case though but just thought I'd add some input.