Clutch not engaging or disengaging

[dluszcz]

I'll pull the clutch apart again. I know the plates are not warped. I placed each plate down on a large door length mirror as I removed them from the clutch basket.

The fibers are OEM from the original engine. They were not gummed up or tacky in any way.

Other people I have talked to instructed me to dip each plate in oil and then place in the clutch basket. I did that with all the steel plates and the fibers.

When I take them apart again, I'm going to barely tighten them. I do not have access to a inch lb torque wrench and if barely tightening them allows the clutch to disengage, I'll keep slightly tightening until the clutch no longer disengages and then I will back each bolt up a little bit.

Probably won't get to that til this upcoming weekend. I will update when I get around to tearing the clutch apart again.

If anyone else has any other ideas or something else to try, I'll definitely listen. My goal is to get it roadworthy before I put it away for the winter.

[blowerbike]

I'll pull the clutch apart again. I know the plates are not warped. I placed each plate down on a large door length mirror as I removed them from the clutch basket.

The fibers are OEM from the original engine. They were not gummed up or tacky in any way.

Other people I have talked to instructed me to dip each plate in oil and then place in the clutch basket. I did that with all the steel plates and the fibers.

When I take them apart again, I'm going to barely tighten them. I do not have access to a inch lb torque wrench and if barely tightening them allows the clutch to disengage, I'll keep slightly tightening until the clutch no longer disengages and then I will back each bolt up a little bit.

Probably won't get to that til this upcoming weekend. I will update when I get around to tearing the clutch apart again.

If anyone else has any other ideas or something else to try, I'll definitely listen. My goal is to get it roadworthy before I put it away for the winter.

you are tightening against a shoulder...TIGHTEN THESE BOLTS OR THEY WILL FALL OUT AND GET HUNG UP IN SHlT!
this area is not your problem and i always soak my fibers..always have with out any problems... different strokes for different folks ya know.
you are missing something here..
i wish you was close and i'd fix this thing and be done.
i'm not sure what to offer now.

[tom203]

you are tightening against a shoulder...TIGHTEN THESE BOLTS OR THEY WILL FALL OUT AND GET HUNG UP IN SHlT!
this area is not your problem and i always soak my fibers..always have with out any problems... different strokes for different folks ya know.
you are missing something here..
i wish you was close and i'd fix this thing and be done.
i'm not sure what to offer now.

Maybe you should learn to express yourself more forcefully!

[blowerbike]

Maybe you should learn to express yourself more forcefully!

ok tom,
i will work on that

but seriously..
maybe some pictures of the clutch springs/other components???
this really shouldn't be that much of a pain unless someones been in it before and swapped/mixed up some of the assembly order.

[dluszcz]

Got it apart again. The steels are good. No light between them and they lay flat on the mirror still.

However, when I took the bolts and springs out and removed the pressure disc but left the fibers and steel plates in, I had a lot of friction when turning the tire with it in 1st gear. However, this could be because I didn't have the steels all facing the same way according to the way they were stamped. I can see where 1 side is slightly rounded and the other is a straight edge. Not sure this would make a difference but I wouldn't have thought to look that closely if someone didn't say that in a previous reply here.

When I take all the plates out, there is way less friction and the tire moves freely while the clutch basket turns.

I'm thinking I need new plates. Since the steels appear to be OK, can I get away with just buying OEM fibers? Buying all 7 steels and 8 fibers is going to cost almost $220.

However, I've decided to try to clean the plates again. Only this time I sprayed the steels and fibers with the brake cleaner. Made a huge difference on the fibers. The steels cleaned up just like they did the 1st time.

I figured that I probably have to buy new fibers anyway so I may as well try this. Going to soak all the plates again, but this time I'm going to use the right oil. Didn't know that I had to have 10W40 JASO MA rated oil until I did a lot more digging and searching of the forums.

Any ideas on where I may be able to buy OEM plates cheaper than from the dealership, just in case cleaning them doesn't work? Google hasn't turned up much and eBay has aftermarket and I've read to stay away from anything except OEM.

Also, if this doesn't work, I'll take some pics and post those as well. If I need new plates, those will have to wait. Hopefully, when I get the right oil and put it all back together, the clutch will disengage.

[BadBillyB]

Hey, now your on the right track. Put the steels in with the smooth side facing out. Put the friction plates in dry. They will be fed oil when the motor starts up. If the steels are not warped or severely discolored (from slipping) they will be fine......Billy

[dluszcz]

Today, had a buddy come over to check my work.

Put the steels in smooth side out.

Put everything back together. Filled it with Valvoline Motorcycle oil rated JASO MA. Filled it to the Full line on the window.

Hooked up the clutch cable. Nothing. Still engaged.

Is there any way to get the clutch to disengage if the clutch cable is not hooked up? My buddy thought that since all the cable does is pull the lever, pulling the arm should achieve the same result. I told him that is not what I have been told on this thread.

Is it possible that I have a cable that is too long? I'm asking because when I bought the bike, it was not running. So, I do not know if the clutch cable is correct or not. Should I spring for a new cable just to rule that out if I still can't get it to disengage?

Also, I printed out the cable routing on BassCliff's website I'm certain I have it installed correctly. The only possible hangup is that where the cable goes between the carbs and engine, the guides are not there. I must have forgot to put that on when I put the engine in. I have them on the bench right now. Would that make any difference in the cable performing correctly?

The cable is way too loose. No amount of adjustments is making the cable function properly, which is why I'm thinking the cable is not the correct one because it acts like it is too long. I would need a 4 inch adjustment at clutch lever on the handle bar to get this to take up most of the slack.

I honestly can't believe that I'm still having this much trouble with such a simple part of the project.

[dluszcz]

Just to close this thread, the one thing that everyone overlooked after rebuilding the clutch the 1st time was rotating the rod clockwise to take up all the slack BEFORE putting the clutch arm back on.

And rebuilding a clutch is not as challenging as I thought it was. The only problem we had was we THOUGHT we did everything right and didn't even CONSIDER the fact that we had overlooked something so simple.

It really was something that simple and the clutch now disengages properly.

Next up, adjustment of the cable.

Thanks to all for your input.