You can change out the slave to something like a Muller and get a nice easy pull and better friction zone.

 

...I liked the hydraulic clutch on all my Touring, from '14 to '18.
After I put the AIM light force slave cylinder on the '18, it
was the EASIEST clutch I'd ever had on a Harley Touring bike.

I put the Mully on the '16 FLHXS and it was better than stock, but
not as good as the AIM on the '18.

The cable on the '21 Revival is easy, but not like the AIM...................

 

Pure, clean brake fluid has a boiling point. As moisture is absorbed, the boiling point lowers, but given the right temperature, brand new brake fluid will boil just fine. If you look up the spec for DOT 4, the boiling point for fresh fluid should be in there somewhere.

 

Interesting to hear the different comments.

I bought an ‘18 Ultra Limited about a year ago and found effort required to pull the clutch to be much less than my old Road King or Dyna, both of which I still have and still ride.

On the Ultra, I did absolutely hate the engagement point which forced me to look for fixes. Changed the clutch lever to a modified one from Soft Brake and that made a big improvement. Pretty happy now.

Whenever I get on the King or Dyna now I always think how much more effort is required to pull in the clutch but get used to it pretty quickly.

 

That could be a part of it.. there were no transfer problems on the pre-M8 hydraulic clutches, and there were no transfer problems on the M8 bikes with cable clutches (softails).

There were discussions about this, by smarter people than me. They mention how with advent the M8, there were some changes to the cavity between the slave actuator and the clutch rod, that affected the draining, pressure, and/or volume of trans fluid that collected in between them. They speculate that it was one of the factors that led to the oil migration.

A forum member, and machinist, developed a procedure where he would machine a piece behind the slave actuator, that lowered the pressure and increased the drainage behind the slave actuator. It stopped the oil transfer on his bike which was rather excessive. He made them available for individuals with severe oil transfer for a time. He stopped when cheaper, easier alternatives proved to help reduce the oil migration..

 

If you change your clutch fluid every 2 years like you should your brake fluid you won't experience any fade. Boiling point of those fluids drops significantly over time. We'd change our race bike fluid almost weekly on the road race bikes.

 

I sure wish HD designed there little cover a bit different to get to the bleeder so you don’t have to loosen the exhaust to get to it. I know folks have cut the bottom, but HD should have done something so that doesn’t have to be done. I’d probably change my clutch fluid every year if I didn’t have to take everything apart.

 

After busting up my hand my hydraulic clutch was hard to pull. I had the AIM slave (can I still call it that) cylinder installed and it made a big improvement. I can now pull with two fingers.

 

I changed it at about 20 months, but only because I installed a Muller slave. The moisture content was still well under the limit specified by HD. My brake fluid is also still under the limit, but I'll probably flush it out this winter anyway.