Stiff clutch lever - has anyone used or made an ez-pull clutch lever on a gs ?

[seanarthurmachado]

Hi everyone,

My 1979 gs850g is being worked on, the clutch has always been stiff and hard to pull.

The clutch springs have been replaced with standard strength springs. All fibers and plates check out and are in spec. The clutch cable is perfectly routed. The cable is a new motion pro cable with 0 miles on it.

The cable was lubed with wd40 specialist silicone spray
Cable does not bind in any way.

(All work was done by or under the watchful eye of Steve, so its definitely all done right in spite of my all thumbs approach of waving random tools and grunting like a drunken monkey at the old bike)

I have seen the mention of using an "ez clutch lever" that moves to the hole over for more leverage on the wire.

(I have seen new levers for sale as well as a post somewhere about drilling another hole for the cable end on an existing lever to reduce pull force needed.)

Has anyone tried either of these ez clutch levers or methods ?

Thanks
Sean

[tkent02]

I put an MSR AOF lever and perch on a few bikes, big improvement for $30.

[Grimly]

My 850 clutches are light and easy to pull, so something's not right. Thinking on it, when re-assembling the lever down at the casing end, it's easy to get that a spline out of whack and that makes it a little bit more difficult. Also, the vertical shaft through the casing gets corroded and binds.

[tkent02]

Yup, he's right. If an 850 clutch isn't a one finger feather pull there's something wrong with it.

[Guest]

Can we get a picture of your left forearm?

[Prairie]

My guess is he would be showing you his finger instead of the wrist or forearm.

[Guest]

I am not sure about WD 40 Specialist spray but WD 40 is not good for moving parts in the long run. WD stands for water displacement and has carriers in it that dry out after a while making things really sticky. Years ago I used it on the choke linkage of my truck and it froze the linkage after a month or so. There are special cable lube sprays for this purpose as well as a tool that will enable you to spray right into the wire part of the cable. Available at any bike shop for less than $10.

[tkent02]

Motion Pro cables suck too. Not sure if that's your problem but it can't be helping it any. Also how is the angle between the lever on the clutch cover and the cable? How worn is the lever and the perch? How are the sides of the slots in the basket? If they are worn the clutch will be hard to pull.

[Nessism]

Yeah, OEM Suzuki cables are best.

I've got an image somewhere showing someone that converted a GS from cable to hydraulic clutch actuation. Looked easy enough. Could post a photo if anyone cares.

[tkent02]

I've got an image somewhere showing someone that converted a GS from cable to hydraulic clutch actuation. Looked easy enough. Could post a photo if anyone cares.

I bet it's a lot easier to fix the existing stuff.

[bwringer]

Agreed -- a properly functioning eight fiddy clutch with OEM springs and cable is like buttuh. Verrrrrry easy. Something else is wrong.

Other than trying a proper OEM cable instead of the imitation garbage (there really is a big difference), I can't think what else the problem might be.

I do know that if you replace the stock ape hanger handlebars, you have to find a new way to route the cable -- it's way too long otherwise. Maybe rethink your routing?

Or maybe a couple of weeks with this is all you need...

[Katarat]

Ive got the same problem with my 1150 and a new Motion Pro clutch cable. Ill replace that with a factory one and take the side cover off & see whats going on. I have one of those EZ pull clutch arms on my Harley Fatboy and it made a huge difference

[kdo58]

i bought the wrong lever once it looked right but it bind up in the perch. went back to an old lever and it worked fine.

[duaneage]

I installed a new cable on my 650 and the clutch lever got easy. Same on the 1000. I've got EBC Springs that are about 10% stronger than stock. I'm using Barnett Kevlar clutches.

[BigD_83]

This might deserve a new thread, but it's applicable to Sean's issue, which has not been reported as resolved, so a bump for him.


My 650 has had a stiff clutch as long as I have had it. Even with the stock handlebars and clutch cable. A few guys from the forum have tried it and they all agree it is way too stiff.

It is now fitted with Eurobars and a newer (~3 years old) GS1000S OEM cable on it. Cable is adjusted as best I can so I have no slip or drag, but it is a really small window for that. I can make it a lighter pull with slightly more free play, but then I get drag. I have noticed the clutch end of the cable does not extend quite as far as the stock cable did, but the clutch arm is perpendicular to the cable when all the slop is taken up, and the clutch arm is not quite parallel to the clutch cover. There is not enough length in the cable to move the arm one notch clockwise on the spline.



New, OEM springs. Fibres and steels all check out to spec with no noticeable warpage; However, they were bathed in gasoline at one point of their life.

The clutch basket has colour, but no real notching.

For giggles, I removed three springs to see how it would feel, and it got to where I felt it should be on pull strength.

The spline turns fine with the clutch cover off. Lever doesn't feel like it binds under tension.


Assuming all the above is true, what else could I investigate? Is the statement in bold above an indication the cable is just too darn short?