The last ride of the season on my '72 interstate the clutch cable snapped at the clutch leaver. I had to limp it out of traffic and lost the clutch adjuster as well as the adjuster nut from the leaver. I order a new cable as adjuster parts and installed them. Now there is no "play" in the leaver. As soon as I squeeze it the clutch is disengaged immediately, and has to be almost fully released to engage with a lot of throttle (bike almost does a wheelie) or it will stall. I also feels like a lot of tension is on the cable when the lever is fully squeezed. When I measured the cable, it is fairly close in length as the one that snapped. Could it be a routing or placement issue of the cable? or would something have have jumped out of place in the gear box? or do I need to adjust the nut on the main shaft as directed in the riders manual. I have replaced the cable once before and had no Issues. The clutch plates have been replace in the last two years. I would like to sort this out over the winter as I would like to start riding as soon as possible next season. Thanks.
Whats up with my clutch?
- Thread starter blipJC
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check where the the cable hooks up in the gear box...there is a plate in the middle of the notched shaft ...if that comes out of position it will case it to jam...reach under it with your finger and push the plate upwards....then attach cable end ...might be your issue
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Yes it sounds like the actuator arm has dropped out of place. Slacken the handlebar end and lift the gearbox cable end arm back into place. Re adjust.
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blipJC said:
It sounds as if the inner cable is too short (or the outer is too long) or the replacement lever adjuster isn't allowing enough cable slack.
blipJC said:
It has been suggested that the lifter arm may have dropped out of position inside the gearbox, however, the clutch pushrod adjuster normally needs to be backed right off before the lifter arm will drop but it seems you haven't touched the pushrod adjuster.
Slackening the pushrod adjuster screw might give a bit more cable slack but if as you said there is a lot of tension in the cable "when the lever is fully squeezed" then the lifter may reaching the limit of its operating range due to the shortness of the inner cable so slackening the adjuster might not cure that and the increased tension could eventually break the cable.
The simplest answer would probably be to pull off the ferrule at one end of the outer cable and shorten it.
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The man has said the new cable is virtually the same length as the old one.
You cant connect up a clutch cable without backing of the adjuster at the lever or you should not be able to get the out cable into the adjuster.
Nothing else has been done to the bike.
Go back to basics and look at what is there.
When a new cable is fitted, and the adjuster on the hand lever is wound fully in, you should be able to move the outer cable in and out of the adjuster. Can you do that. If not , how the hell did you get it together without using brute force.
Its possible something else has gone wrong as well, but before going that far, double check what you have done.
I have seen the nut on the inner end of the main shaft come loose, and I have seen the nut on the clutch end come loose as well because of an incorrect washer between it and the clutch hub. these all cause clutch disengagement problems.
You cant connect up a clutch cable without backing of the adjuster at the lever or you should not be able to get the out cable into the adjuster.
Nothing else has been done to the bike.
Go back to basics and look at what is there.
When a new cable is fitted, and the adjuster on the hand lever is wound fully in, you should be able to move the outer cable in and out of the adjuster. Can you do that. If not , how the hell did you get it together without using brute force.
Its possible something else has gone wrong as well, but before going that far, double check what you have done.
I have seen the nut on the inner end of the main shaft come loose, and I have seen the nut on the clutch end come loose as well because of an incorrect washer between it and the clutch hub. these all cause clutch disengagement problems.
- Joined
- Feb 12, 2013
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- 1,563
Now there is no "play" in the leaver. As soon as I squeeze it the clutch is disengaged immediately, and has to be almost fully released to engage with a lot of throttle (bike almost does a wheelie) or it will stall. I also feels like a lot of tension is on the cable when the lever is fully squeezed. When I measured the cable, it is fairly close in length as the one that snapped. Could it be a routing or placement issue of the cable? [ NO IT IS NOT LIKELEY ]or would something have have jumped out of place in the gear box? [ POSSIBLY ] or do I need to adjust the nut on the main shaft as directed in the riders manual. YES YOU DO HAVE TO CHECK THAT BUT READ BELOW ] I have replaced the cable once before and had no Issues. [ YOU SEEM TO KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING THEN ] The clutch plates have been replace in the last two years. [ GOOD, BECAUSE THAT WILL GIVE YOU A LIGHTER FEEL TO THE CLUTCH ] I would like to sort this out over the winter as I would like to start riding as soon as possible next season. [ THEN SEE BELOW AND PULL IT APART AFTER YOU HAVE CHECKED WHAT YOU HAVE JUST DONE IN CASE YOU HAVE ACTUALLY MADE A COCKUP ]
The man has said the new cable is virtually the same length as the old one. You cant connect up a clutch cable without backing of the adjuster at the lever or you should not be able to get the out cable into the adjuster. Nothing else has been done to the bike. Go back to basics and look at what is there. When a new cable is fitted, and the adjuster on the hand lever is wound fully in, you should be able to move the outer cable in and out of the adjuster. Can you do that. If not , how the hell did you get it together without using brute force. Its possible something else has gone wrong as well, but before going that far, double check what you have done.
I have seen the nut on the inner end of the main shaft come loose, and I have seen the nut on the clutch end come loose as well because of an incorrect washer between it and the clutch hub. these all cause clutch disengagement problems.
It does sound like you ought to remove the clutch and check that outer nut is not loose. because of the design, [ parallel splines ] it will always com loose, but you can have a hardened washer made which will help. when the clutch is out, see if there is excessive end play in the centre hub. If there is, go and check the nut on the inner end before it is turned into a bush with lots and lots of metal debris added to the oil. This happened to me and resulted in a gearbox bearing replacement. When you finally tighten that inner nut, make sure you use enough locktite as there is no other means of securing the nut.
Hope that helps you. Failing that, get someone who knows these bikes to give you a hand. We all want to see you up and running without tooo much fuss. We dont want others to think these bikes need a lot of tampering. You are going to have to r ride it in the winter as well to make sure you have fixed it or you will still be working on it during the summer.
Dereck
The man has said the new cable is virtually the same length as the old one. You cant connect up a clutch cable without backing of the adjuster at the lever or you should not be able to get the out cable into the adjuster. Nothing else has been done to the bike. Go back to basics and look at what is there. When a new cable is fitted, and the adjuster on the hand lever is wound fully in, you should be able to move the outer cable in and out of the adjuster. Can you do that. If not , how the hell did you get it together without using brute force. Its possible something else has gone wrong as well, but before going that far, double check what you have done.
I have seen the nut on the inner end of the main shaft come loose, and I have seen the nut on the clutch end come loose as well because of an incorrect washer between it and the clutch hub. these all cause clutch disengagement problems.
It does sound like you ought to remove the clutch and check that outer nut is not loose. because of the design, [ parallel splines ] it will always com loose, but you can have a hardened washer made which will help. when the clutch is out, see if there is excessive end play in the centre hub. If there is, go and check the nut on the inner end before it is turned into a bush with lots and lots of metal debris added to the oil. This happened to me and resulted in a gearbox bearing replacement. When you finally tighten that inner nut, make sure you use enough locktite as there is no other means of securing the nut.
Hope that helps you. Failing that, get someone who knows these bikes to give you a hand. We all want to see you up and running without tooo much fuss. We dont want others to think these bikes need a lot of tampering. You are going to have to r ride it in the winter as well to make sure you have fixed it or you will still be working on it during the summer.
Dereck
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