Was riding for hours and bike had been shifting perfectly. Pulled up to red light to dn shift and clutch lever was completely limp. Pulled the right side tranny off and everything was fine and works from clutch lever. Pulled derby cover and everything looked good. 97 dyna WG.
What would cause my clutch to not disengage?

 

What year bike? And when you look at the clutch with the derby cover off an pull the clutch lever, what happens?

 

97 dyna WG. Nothing happens when moving clutch lever, completely limp lever, clutch does nothing.

 

Well, you're losing movement somewhere. When you took the right side off and pulled the lever, the ramp thingie moved? The ***** are all in place? The throwout bearing looked OK?

 

Yes to all the above. Thats whats the big ????? From hand lever all the to the rod that pushes open the clutch is like one solid unit. Dont make any since. The lever has about a 1 inch total movement and no way can you "suddenly" loose that total 1 inch movement, after shifting perfectly all day.

 

Loosen the adjuster nut at the clutch hub. Remove the adjuster. Stick a screwdriver in, pushing the rod in as far as it will go. Hold the screwdriver in there and pull the clutch lever. Does the screwdriver push out?

 

So, what you are saying is when you pull the clutch lever, you actually see the clutch release clamp assembly move in and out. That assembly pushes against your throwout bearing that is connected to the right side clutch push rod. If the ramp doesn't move, then you might have a broken clutch cable.

If the ball and clutch ramp moves, then I would go through a complete clutch adjustment to see where the loss of movement came from.

 

Ill try that, thanks

 

Yes the clutch ramp moves in and out, throwout bearings are there. Hard to believe I lost all [inch] clutch adjustment instantly.

 

My manual is saying i am missing the retaining ring on the end of the throwout bearing. But I dont think the retaining ring has anything to do with the actual pushing the rod? I also tried to push the rod in with my hand and a piece of wood but it did not move.