Clutch excessively hard to disengage

[Nerevar]

I just did my first motor bike conversion and I'm thrilled with how much fun and economical it is. However the clutch is excessively hard to disengage with the clutch lever. I already broke the one that I received with the kit after only 2 days of use ! The aluminum snapped right in half, and I have since replaced it with another handle that is just as stiff to operate. Any tips for loosening it up? Thanks in advance!

 

[Ghost0]

First try lubricating the cable, hold one end of it up in the air and dribble some light oil or chain lube down the cable. Second take off the spring that is between the cable adjuster under the carb and the clutch arm. It serves no purpose other than making the clutch harder to pull.

 

[europorsche914]

I did the same as Ghost0 and my kit supplied clutch lever never broke.

 

[OSCAR383]

i origionally ran my bike without the spring and then i was bored one day and decided i needed to put it on . and about four miles from home (without my cell phone ) clutch cable broke and i hod no tools to get the chain off to ride it back so i had to walk bike with rear tire up in the air

 

[Saddletramp1200]

Tech Tip, Take a good size nail and grind the end till it looks like a flat blade screw driver. Zip tie it to your frame. If needed pop your master link remove or tie up the chain and peddle home.

 

[Bikeguy Joe]

Make sure you have no sharp bends in the cable, and don't zip tie it to tightly to anything. Try to get the cable end mount where it ends at the engine turned so the cable comes out pointing at the clutch arm, not at an angle.

 

[tyrslider]

Mine came w/ 2 springs. They don't help anything!

 

[Bikeguy Joe]

One of those springs is a heat shield for the cable housing.

If you use that one in place of the already un-needed spring, you will have a pull most difficult.

 

[mechanickid]

make sure your cable doesn't wrap around the frame and has as few bends as possible, this helped me a lot. also making sure the cable holder/stopper on the engine isn't causing the cable to scrape when you pull it by turning it towards the clutch arm. this can be hard if you have the slack remover on the cable holder turned out because it hits the gear box.

 

[Nerevar]

Thanks for the advice everyone, but it seems that just use has made it easier to pull. I guess it's just stiff at first.

 

[jburr36]

Hmm. My clutch disengages pretty smoothly. When I had it apart I greased the split shaft under the spring. It made all the difference in the world. The tension on the clutch spring has an adjuster on it as well.

 

[Large Filipino]

Check out my clutch mod really easy to do with hardware store parts:
YouTube - 70cc bicycle engine clutch mod

 

[Motormac]

L.F. that is what I did with my bike and it was the best thing I ever did! can,t thank you enough for your invention!