Hard clutch pull

[danny01975]

New owner of an 82 1100GK. The clutch pull on this this is HARD. I disconnected the cable from the clutch lever arm and the cable moves freely. So it seems the cable is fine.

My left hand is sore after a few hours of riding. And it’s not just me. Two of my riding buddies said the same thing the first time they rode it.

is this normal for this bike? How hard should the pull be?

 

[rphillips]

Hard to explain how hard the pull should be. Most old cable operated clutch bikes, 750 and up should be roughly the same. I never remember anybody say'in don't buy one of those cause the clutch is hard to pull. Thinking, about all that will effect cable pull is cable or springs. If somebody has installed stiffer springs, a set of OEM springs or remove 2 of the 6 stiffer ones should take care of the pull...Just my opinion

 

[danny01975]

Hard to explain how hard the pull should be. Most old cable operated clutch bikes, 750 and up should be roughly the same. I never remember anybody say'in don't buy one of those cause the clutch is hard to pull. Thinking, about all that will effect cable pull is cable or springs. If somebody has installed stiffer springs, a set of OEM springs or remove 2 of the 6 stiffer ones should take care of the pull...Just my opinion

I don’t know if it has different springs in it or not. But that would be a good test. I can’t imagine a set of clutch springs is too much. Then I’d know for sure that’s just how it is.

 

[rphillips]

Do you know anybody that has an old Japan bike 750cc or up so can compare yours to theirs. My wife had trouble pulling the clutch on a new to her Kaw. 600 Eliminator, I took out either 2 or 3 of the springs, all worked fine, even with me riding it and trying to make it slip, no problems. Whatever works... Good luck.

 

[danny01975]

Do you know anybody that has an old Japan bike 750cc or up so can compare yours to theirs. My wife had trouble pulling the clutch on a new to her Kaw. 600 Eliminator, I took out either 2 or 3 of the springs, all worked fine, even with me riding it and trying to make it slip, no problems. Whatever works... Good luck.

I’ve tried three different Kawasaki KZ1000 KZP bike. An 86, 92 and a 95. All are orders of magnitude easier than this GS. Thanks for the idea about removing some springs! Will try stock springs first. If that doesn’t work then I’ll remove some and see how that goes.

 

[Grimly]

It was fairly common to fit uprated springs, even if the bike didn't need them. OEM springs were perfectly fine for the most part, but would eventually get weak - this took decades, though.
The only real reason for uprated springs was if the engine had been worked on, but a lot of owners fell for the marketing BS of the aftermarket clutch spring makers.

 

[Dogma]

Definitely could be the springs, but you should also check for sharp bends in the cable routing and make sure the lever is lubed at the pivot and where the cable connects. It can make a surprising difference. Easier to check than the springs too. My 1000G went from a 4-finger pull to a 2-finger pull.

When you swap in fresh stock springs, you might want to order the screws that keep them in place too. They're pretty soft material, and the torque spec is surprisingly low. Unnervingly low, in fact. I'd recommend a torque wrench. You might need to make a trip to Harbor Freight to get one that goes low enough.

 

[danny01975]

Definitely could be the springs, but you should also check for sharp bends in the cable routing and make sure the lever is lubed at the pivot and where the cable connects. It can make a surprising difference. Easier to check than the springs too. My 1000G went from a 4-finger pull to a 2-finger pull.

When you swap in fresh stock springs, you might want to order the screws that keep them in place too. They're pretty soft material, and the torque spec is surprisingly low. Unnervingly low, in fact. I'd recommend a torque wrench. You might need to make a trip to Harbor Freight to get one that goes low enough.

Thanks for the advice! I did check the cable pull while disconnected from the clutch lever and it was easy to pull. No effort at all. But it’s still a good idea to check for bends. Also, thanks for the tips on the screws!

 

[Brendan W]

Check the routing. Up between 1 & 2 , forward under the coil and under the tank support rubber.
At least one member here found it made a difference.
You might think a ninety degree turn to get under the coil was not the way to go.

 

[salty_monk]

Try finding someone who has some old stock ones and fit half of them. It's always good practice when fitting the EBC or similar to only use half of them. Using all of them leads to a dead hand in a few miles...

 

[danny01975]

To all of those who said it was the clutch cable, you were right! My clutch cable broke yesterday about 10 miles from home. I had to ride all the way back home without stopping in 7 AM. Traffic! What an adventure that was!

I got the replacement clutch cable today and installed it and low and behold it is super easy to pull. I only thought the old cable pulled freely, but that was without comparing it to the new one.

I decided I would change the clutch cable before tackling the springs since the clutch cable was broken anyway. Good decision!

still, lots of good advice on this thread on things to check And look out for it. But in case anyone else is wondering, the clutch pull is super easy! As easy as a the hydraulic clutch on my Goldwing. So I guess that’s my answer to my original question, how hard should the clutch pull be. The answer is not hard at all.