2door, Norman did a post like this (mod) awhile back, pics included. I was having trouble with the lever too.
Just bought one of the 68.5cc engines and inquired before I purchased it as to whether they improved the clutch lever design, they said they did. Well, yes they improved the design but not the problem. I still cannot get it to work the way the manufacturer would like it to work. If you adjust it one way your lacking on the other and vise versa.
The clutch lever that came with my 49cc engine last december is what I would call a "heavy duty" design. It has a long handle and bigger diameter cable. It is very smooth when you depress the lever. The one that came with the 68.5cc engine I just purchased is what I would call "mini size" clutch lever. Good grief! I think they designed it for a childs hand. I can barely grip it with three fingers and the curl on the end of the lever is very uncomfortable. The cable is a much smaller diameter than the first and is very hard to pull. It has what I call "drag" areas (intermittent) when you pull the lever. I know what your thinking, its binding somewhere, no its not. The smaller cable and "mini" design and lever add up to a poor substitute for an improved version.
From what I've read and the pics I've seen they have come out with three levers so far.
The first being the "Russian lever", then the "improvement" upon that and now the "improvement" upon that.
As I see it in the pics, the Russian lever is simple by design and works as intended. You depress the lever all the way then flip the other lever to lock it. What could be simpler.
I may be wrong and I'm only speaking from close up views of this lever but when you depress the lever all the way to the grip you have total disengagement of the clutch after its locked out with the Russian style lever.
I'd rather use something that works and is simple than something that has been improved upon aesthetically that doesn't work. Yes, their so called "improvements" may look better but thats all. I have yet to try the mod described here but its on the agenda. If it doesn't work I'm going purchase one of the Russian levers.
RPM