Clutch

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Shagasaur

New Member
Aug 2, 2013
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Utah
I've read through every post I could find about clutches.. but nothing explains why a clutch would need adjusting as often as I have had to. I had to adjust the clutch last week and again yesterday..

Last week and again yesterday on the ride home from work the clutch did not want to disengage. The clutch was staying engaged with the lever pulled and stall the bike at a stop and make peddling to get up to speed very difficult, dang near impossible up hill. Help! :-||

If you have any advice I’d appreciate it!
 

maniac57

Old, Fat, and still faster than you
Oct 8, 2011
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memphis Tn
Is the small cable clamp good and tight? I mean the brass part with the setscrew in it. Also grease the bucking bar and ball and release arm.
 

Shagasaur

New Member
Aug 2, 2013
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0
Utah
Thanks, and yeah I've read through the adjusting... I do think the clutch wire and retaining screw may be the problem. I studied the wire length and just maybe it slipped.. but if it did its only 1/16 of a inch. I think I'll run some solder down the end, not much, just to give the screw some thing to grab on to..

:-||
 

crassius

Well-Known Member
Sep 30, 2012
4,032
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USA
new clutch cables often stretch about 1/8 inch over the first few days - park it overnight with clutch lever locked to get the stretching over with
 

2door

Moderator
Staff member
Sep 15, 2008
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Littleton, Colorado
new clutch cables often stretch about 1/8 inch over the first few days - park it overnight with clutch lever locked to get the stretching over with
Very good advice and soldering the end of the cable helps too. After you get the adjustment correct you can bend the soldered cable 90 degrees at the cable stop or even two 90s to allow it to fold over the stop.

Cables can and do stretch but as Crassius said, they usually find their 'set' after a while and adjusting shouldn't be necessary. I'm sure there are some sub-standard cables out there that can't hold up to the stress of operating a clutch and even good cables can be compromised by a clutch mechanism that hasn't been lubricated or cables that have sharp bends or kinks in them. You'll want wide sweeping turns in the cable housing.

There is a modification that can be done to the clutch actuating mechanism that will reduce the friction and pull. That has been covered here numerous times.

Tom
 

Shagasaur

New Member
Aug 2, 2013
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Utah
Well... I guess the pictures are self explanatory... I ordered the clutch parts today from the guys over at pistonbikes.com. Very helpful! Willing to put up with me calling back twice to add the clutch shaft and pulley puller to the order, in that order.. Rough day without my baby.. Need links to videos to watch on how to rebuild the clutch... Its gonna be a tough weekend without a ride.. Guess I'm gonna go "Yard Sale" hopping to find my next build.. :)

Laterz :-||
 

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crassius

Well-Known Member
Sep 30, 2012
4,032
158
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USA
I'd first put a tough socket on the nut in center of clutch and see if I could drive it back in a bit before replacing anything. Sometimes those shafts aren't put in all the way, other times the clutch isn't seated all the way onto the tapered area where the woodruff key sits.
 

GearNut

Active Member
Aug 19, 2009
5,104
11
38
San Diego, Kaliforgnia
It is all too common for the 3 studs or sometimes the flower nut lock screw to drag on the inside of the clutch cover.
Considering how the pinion gear meshes with the clutch gear, check out crassius's suggestions on the shaft placement. Note that most of the time the gears never mesh perfectly anyways, but yours looks a bit too far mis-aligned.
Some folks add a second or thicker gasket to place the cover further out, away from the clutch.
Also, some folks resort to grinding the 3 studs a little bit shorter. So long as they are long enough to locate the pressure plate when the clutch lever is squeezed in (the pressure plate doesn't go out past the end of the studs) you are good to go.
There are many different ways to approach the problem.

One of my engines did it a slight bit. I just let it grind itself untill it made it's own clearance then I cleaned up the metal powder inside the clutch compartment.
 
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MotorBicycleRacing

Well-Known Member
Jul 28, 2010
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SoCal Baby!!!
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I notice that you are using both springs behind your clutch arm.

The large spring is used to keep the clutch cable away from the
heat of the cylinder head.

It is also not necessary to use the small spring as the internal
spring is more than strong enough.

Your large gear is too far to the right, normally the bevel gear
sticks out a bit.

First try knocking the whole assembly to the left using a socket
as mentioned above.

 

Master-shake

New Member
Feb 24, 2013
315
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texas
this shot right here,



is a big problem in my opinion. that circle in the middle there is from where the wingnut locking screw has rubbed against the plate while your bike was moving most likely when you clutch in heavy to start stopping. you are going to need to fix that.