clutch cable install

not sure what i'm doing wrong, but i'm sure it's something.

i have this much slack at the lever:


and this is how it looks in the transmission:


that's too much slack at the lever to take up with the adjuster barrel. the clutch rod is adjusted to touching and then backed off 180deg.

it's a 46" RGM cable to a cheap lever on clubman bars.

...typing it out, makes me think maybe i've just got a poorly thought out combination of parts there =/

Is the lever arm inside the gearbox sitting correctly on the roller?
It may just be my eyes or the picture but the handle bar lever where the cable adjuster fits in looks shorter than the standard type. Do you have the standard lever set up to check this against or fit temporarily just to see if it makes a difference?

I have a couple of times put two adjusters at the handlebar lever end as a quick fix get you home kind of solution on my friends bikes that have mismatched cable and lever combinations. One adjuster just fits inside the end of the other. It works ok but it would be better to shorten cable or make up a spacer of some sort.

Good answer. Also, don't back the clutch adjuster nut off so far. Just a tad will do. Like Toppy, my money is on the adjuster arm not sitting right.

I had a similar problem at a friend´s Fastback.
The adjuster screw for the clutch which goes into the clutch spring was too short.
Must have been for a Atlas or so.
The original Commando screw is twice as long.
Even if the lever in the gearbox sits right there will be too much extra lenght in the cable.

soturi said:

i have this much slack at the lever:

Click to expand...

The dimension from the nipple centre to the end of the adjuster on a typical British clutch lever assembly is around 2" as shown, below.
I think yours is probably less which will also be contributing to the amount of overall slack.



Also, British adjusters tend to be longer allowing a greater range of adjustment.

https://andover-norton.co.uk/en/shop-de ... ut-single-

thanks for the help, all.

i measured, and while it matches the 2" lever dimension indicated the adjuster barrel is indeed significantly shorter.

i'm pretty sure the lever inside the gearbox is on the roller correctly. with an impromptu spacer added to the adjuster barrel i do get SOME clutch engagement - that wouldn't happen at all if the lever had fallen down as it tends to do, right?

i seem to have lost the adjuster barrel for my old bars, which is just as well since i'm sure the threads wouldn't be a match anyway. i'll probably just fashion up a spacer to put into the end of the new bar's barrel.

everything's an adventure.