i recently bought a 97 gasgas and when i got it home i started it up, put it in gear and pulled the clutch in but the bike stil kept creeping forward. does anybody know what this could be and how to repair it? thanks

Edited May 28, 200719 yr by mathew2007

high mate. a common problem with earlier gas gas was the fibre peeling of the clutch plates and getting stuck between the plates. clutch will work of sorts but keeps dragging. remove cover and plates and check easy enough job to do. warm bike up and drain gearbox/clutch oil and refill with thin oil. we allways used atf oil in our gassers. hope this helps

You definitely need to take a look at your clutch. It is possible that the clutch basket has become 'grooved' where the steel plates have dug into it. This can be sorted by taking a file and carefully smoothing the edges. Once you have removed the friction and driven plates you should see where the damage is to the basket.

The fibre coming away from the friction plates is also a possibility.

You should clean the clutch plates thoroughly if you see noting else wrong. When you refill the gearbox, use ATF (automatic transmission fluid) Dextron II standard is recocommended by GasGas.

If that doesn't cure it, you need to replace the clutch plates as they are probably warped.

All this is assuming that you have the clutch adjusted correctly in the first place. If you are not sure, ask someone at the next trial you go to.

Good luck! They can be a bit hit and miss, I have a 98 TX200 that works perfectly, a 2004 125 Pro that is a bit iffy and a 2006 200 Pro that is perfect! My mate has a 1999 TXT249 that is faultless since I did the basket.

Hi Mathew,

If the plates have checked out ok, there are 2 other areas that may be the problem.

The clutch master cylinder may be passing fluid - easy to install a new kit.

Or the clutch slave piston may have a problem. On some of the older motors, the ball bearing sited inside the slave piston can be pushed inwards. The piston travels the same distance as always, until it comes into contact with the crankcase, but the actual clutch pushrod travel is then limited if this ball bearing has been pushed in. This causes the clutch to drag. A new slave piston kit fixes this.

Refill the gearbox with 700 ml of ATF rated to Dexron III, or a good mineral 10 weight oil.

Bye, PeterB.