Clutch does not stay engaged

[megaheinous]

Hey all you motorbikers! I love motorized bicycles!

I've been running fine for about 2 months, lot's of joy riding & getting errands done in the sun, & I have gotten past the break-in period too.

I used to live in Denver, CO where the bike was assembled, & then threw it uptop my parents van, strapped it down good, for the 18 hour long ride home to Grand Rapids, MI. For about 4 hours of that trip back we went through a light rain storm, so the bike did get pelted by raindrops during that time period going average 75 mph.

Now we're back in the mitten state, the bike is all put back in place, I did some minor retuning of the bike, making sure all the nuts n bolts were secure from the vibrations of the trip, & so far I did not notice anything out of place.

So after filling the gas can back up, putting my helmet on, & heading out to the street feeling confident about going for the first ride back in Michigan, it's go time! Start pedaling up to speed, engaged the motor, it's pretty cold out now, so it took a while for the gas to kick in, with light pumping of the throttle gas on & off to get the stream going, but I did get the motor to fully get going & turn over. I ride slowly accelerating for about 50 ft, & then the dang clutch slips by itself from engaged to be now disengaged! I try re-engaging the clutch, & can only keep it engaged by holding down the lever, which is not normal. Otherwise if I don't hold it down, it will automatically go straight to being disengaged! :-( Also, in the process holding down the engage lever, I heard a light "tink" noise, perhaps something came loose?

So I immediately turned the bike off, as I usually do if something fishy goes on, & headed home. The cable assembly seemed to be in place, all to where it connects to the clutch arm, so I then opened up the clutch cover to the clutch plate & checked out the pads, they were fairly worn, though all dry, but not destroyed, with minimal amounts of wear debris around, took them out to clean the area, & put them back into place, including the rest of the assembly, making sure the flower nut was put back right & I even re-greased the clutch gears for extra measure.

So before I try & fire up again, is there anything else I can check, fix, or tune up that can make it so when I engage the motor, it will want to stay engaged! because I feel like I only did regular maintenance to it without addressing the problem.

Please & thank you for an answer to this, or any help as to how this happened, maybe from the long ride, or the elevation change, someone with information on this will be greatly appreciated!!

Peace & love!

-Beth

 

[Greg58]

I don't understand what you mean by " holding down the lever", are you pushing against the back of the handle?

 

[megaheinous]

In order to engage vs disengage, I have the clutch set up to the same type of 2-lever system that changes the speed of the pedaling. These two systems look identical, but are for separate purposes, one on each handle.

So for changing speeds, on the right handle bar next to my throttle, I press one lever in all the way, to make a more difficult ride pedaling, & by pressing in the other lever in all the way, it to switches over for an easier ride.

To answer your question, the clutch is situated on my left handle bar. I engage by pressing in the inner lever, to disengage, I press in the outer. The engaging lever was not staying in like it is supposed to, & loosened somehow, till it shifts automatically into being disengaged. During the ride, I had to hold down the engaged lever, to keep it engaged.

 

[rustycase]

Beth, did you tell us what kind of motorbike you have?
Sounds interesting, but we need more information.
Best
rc

 

[OG-Whizzerdude]

I have the same problem with one of my Whizzers. It has the auto cluch that goes around and around with the engine but the wheel stays put. I used emery cloth on the shoes to remove some minor glazing and cleaned up the drum the same way. All 3 shoes function by hand real well The springs seem good. It looks like it's all in order but no power to the rear wheel.
I'll be following this thread. Maybe we can both get fixed up

 

[megaheinous]

I have a 2-stroke 66cc "Power King"
Runs on 32:1 semi synthetic

Received the parts from thatsdax.com
KIT_INFRAME_2_STROKE

A friend of mine built the motor, & he added his own touches to the kit, but since I moved away, he cannot help anymore, so any help from you guys is greatly appreciated. I feel confident enough to follow a list of directions, or modifications. I have already done much searching on this website as to why this has occurred but have not found a direct correlation yet.

My friend who built the bike did explain that at some point i will have to replace my jet in the motor from the "Dellorto Sha Copy .70 (Ngk bpr@hs running 7 now) saying it 'prolly needs a a 5 here in Michigan, may need a 75 jet." because of the elevation difference...I do not know if this will add reason to why the clutch has failed, because I do not know what a jet does, in fact, i will search online right after posting this what a jet in an engine does.

Anyways thank you for your reply, looking forward to the next response!
I attached an image of my bike for a simple reference.

 

[Greg58]

Sorry but I have not seen a set-up like yours, do the levers have a screw that applies tension on the top? Maybe you can check the screws for tightness. If you have or can take a pic. of the lever set-up someone may have an idea.

 

[2door]

If I'm understanding this right, she's using a shift lever for a clutch lever. It might be one of those locking type shifters, not spring loaded. Whoever installed it did it wrong.

The correct way to engage/disengage the clutch should be with a handlebar lever the same as used for brakes. Squeeze the lever to disengage the clutch and release it to engage the clutch. Using a shift lever that requires moving it from one position to another isn't going to work.

There have been those who have used an old thumb shifter for a throttle, claiming they have 'cruise control'. A very dangerous thing to do.

Tom

 

[Greg58]

I thought if she had a close-up pic. of the lever we might be able to see something that doesn't look right, on her first post she said it worked before hauling it on top of the car. I myself like the standard clutch lever set-up.

 

[diceman2004]

ok ... sounds like the gear shift , on the right side handle bar is a click shift ( I have a Sturmey like that ) .... ok forget about the gear shift ( its just confusing the issue )

The clutch is normally engaged ... it takes a lot of force to disengage it . ( a lever of some sort ) .

It sounds like you are describing a click shift lever being used as a clutch lever .

This is because we are at 10 replies already ...
Engaged = when you pedal , you are turning over the motor
Disengaged = when you pedal , you are NOT turning over the motor

It is very unlikely that your lever is disengaging the clutch by itself , so

is the cable free or is it tiewrapped to the frame ( does it disengage when you turn the handle bars )

You described the clutch lever as a click shift lever ( same as the gear shift lever )
IS IT A SIMPLE ON OFF LEVER ... or is it going through steps ( like changing gears would ? ) ... can you press the same lever in more than once , and hear a click each time ?
Pressing your engage lever should let the clutch arm swing away from the bike .
the release lever will pull the clutch arm into the bike .

Because it sounds to me like you are running a 3 speed click shift as a clutch .
you should be in iether 1st or 3rd ... but are actuall running in 1st and 2nd .. or 2nd and 3rd ( whichever the case may be ) and your clutch is running at a half engaged condition , wearing out the shoes just enough to be dissengaged .

Thats what i think anyways .

 

[megaheinous]

The clutch levers are a simple on/off mechanism, once they are pressed in all the way, alternating function.

Thinking about it more as to how the ride went, I feel as though at some point the cable that's connected to the levers i press in to change between engaged vs disengaged, came loose. Where it came loose I will have to do further investigation. Where it is by clutch arm, being most likely, or if it is up by the levers. The cable could have also been caught on the turning of the handle bars & came loose that way too.

All your guy's ideas are great, & I will soon enough find time to work on the bike again, & if all seems well, take it for another test ride, after checking the whole system from front to back.

thank you so much for the immediate responses! you guys have helped out in ways i have not thought about!

be back later...

 

[megaheinous]

Ok, got it figured out! After calling my mechanic, & explaining what happened, he says that the shifter on the handle bar slid off the notch of the cable...but somehow it's back into place, & grabs the cable just fine now. Maybe some "goop" had to work itself out in the mechanism, that was put there during the 18 hour long car ride, & made the cable slip, or maybe it was a ghost...but all in all, the bike is running, more tuneups have been done & I now know more about the bike then I ever would, if this simple problem didn't occur. Thank you guys soo much!

happy riding! boooomchyaaa!

 

[Greg58]

One thing about these m/bikes, you will have to learn to do some off the work yourself or have deep pockets!