1971 Build for Dad

Great tips there 5T, I've been fiddling with mine to find the sweet spot unsuccessfully.
I will try your method next.
 
I should mention that you want to do this snug clutch adjusting when the bike is cold. If you do it while the bike is hot and parts are expanded, when it cools down and the parts contract, your setting may be too tight.
 
I should mention that you want to do this snug clutch adjusting when the bike is cold. If you do it while the bike is hot and parts are expanded, when it cools down and the parts contract, your setting may be too tight.

Noted.
 
As always! I had to chuckle to myself last night as the worm screw turned in about an extra 1/4 while I "fanned" the clutch. @5twins, it worked perfectly!
I always readjust mine after cycling the clutch a few times after the initial adjustment and find it seats a little further the second time. I usually go for a short ride and check it one more time as well. (this goes for almost all cable operated motorcycle clutches)
 
Yes, it usually does take a few readjustments to get the clutch just right when you initially set one of these up. You may also need to readjust after installing a new clutch cable or pulling the worm apart to clean and grease it. It's just an "old bike" thing I guess, but it's not too difficult once you know the proper method and the "how and why" behind the procedure. That being said, let me explain things a bit more .....

The part about doing the majority of the adjusting down at the worm was mentioned many years back by Joe Minton in his "Minton Mods" article, but he didn't explain the "why". When pulling the worm arm with the cable, you get your best leverage when the cable is at 90° to the arm. So, ideally, you want the arm to sit, at rest and all adjusted up, so the cable to arm angle is at slightly less than 90°.....

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That way, pulling the clutch lever in will sweep the worm arm through that ideal 90° angle and have it end up at an angle of slightly more than 90°. This is the best you can do. When you adjust the worm screw, it doesn't change this arm to cable angle at all. When you adjust the cable up at the perch, it does. It lifts the arm as you tighten the cable adjuster because you are effectively shortening the inner cable. So, this is why you want to do as much adjusting as possible down at the worm.
 
I always readjust mine after cycling the clutch a few times after the initial adjustment and find it seats a little further the second time. I usually go for a short ride and check it one more time as well. (this goes for almost all cable operated motorcycle clutches)

I usually use the electric start on mine; where did you put the pedals Rusty?
 
Yes, proper clutch adjustment can take some fiddling. Do as much of the adjusting and elimination of freeplay using the adjusting screw down on the worm, then finish with a little final adjusting or "fine tuning" up at the perch and lever. The big issue with this clutch is that as the engine heats up, the alloy engine cases expand more then the steel clutch pushrods. This results in more freeplay at the lever. More freeplay means less pushrod thrust and less clutch plate separation, and the clutch can start dragging. Neutral becomes hard to find, shifting can get more difficult, and like in your case, the bike can try to pull ahead when stopped in gear with the clutch pulled in. To help ward this off, most of us set our worm screw adjustment a little tighter than the factory spec. The spec says to back the adjuster screw off about 1/4 turn after it makes contact with the pushrod. We only back it off about 1/8 turn.

What I also like to do is "fan" the clutch lever while I'm adjusting the worm screw. By that I mean pumping the clutch lever in and out just through it's freeplay range, until it just hits the point where the freeplay is gone and it would start disengaging the clutch. There are a series of balls and rods between the worm gear and the clutch, many inside the engine and bathed in oil. "Fanning" the clutch lever will push and stack them all tightly together, squeezing out any oil between them and taking up any slop or freeplay. If you turn the worm gear adjusting screw in until it stops, then start "fanning" the clutch lever as you continue to exert inward turning force on the screw, you'll often find you'll get as much as another 1/4 turn in on the screw. Only after doing that do I back it out a little (1/8 turn) and lock it down.

@5twins, someday you should write a book with all of these tech tips. Every time I read one I tell myself "I gotta remember that one!" Only trouble is there are so many of them!! When I eventually get around to rebuilding my top end and clutch I'm gonna be spending about a week trying to find all of these tips and tricks you keep posting! :lmao:
 
@5twins, someday you should write a book with all of these tech tips. Every time I read one I tell myself "I gotta remember that one!" Only trouble is there are so many of them!! When I eventually get around to rebuilding my top end and clutch I'm gonna be spending about a week trying to find all of these tips and tricks you keep posting! :lmao:

There is a new thing out called........... bookmarks............helps to put those tipbits in one place
 
Well I don't know how to set bookmarks in this forum either so I'm stupid too. I just rely on watching threads and using search to find stuff. We need a tutorial.
This might help if you look just above your name in the upper right corner of this web page there should be a star with a + sign in it
Left click on that and it should open a new window with 1971 Build for Dad | Page 18 | Yamaha XS650 Forum (or whatever thread your on)
Folder -Favorites
Hit done and it should be saved to your favorites
I wish I knew how to save screen shots (above my pay grade) to help you out
I'm sure others will be more helpful but by farting around on my computer I found out how
 
@5twins, someday you should write a book with all of these tech tips.
I would buy it! No kidding, it would be awesome to have a hardcopy for reference in the shop. Forums are not the easiest source of information to sift through. Often, I will use Google to search this site. A handy trick:
upload_2021-10-16_8-54-48.png

Type "site:xs650.com" into your Google search bar, followed by your search phrases. It is hard to beat the Google search engine...

I wish I knew how to save screen shots (above my pay grade) to help you out
I know of a couple ways to do this. The main method is to hit "Print Screen" on your keyboard. Then open a program like Paint and paste (Ctrl+V). You can then save this file or you can further crop it to the content you want.

My favorite way of getting screenshots is to use a program called TechSmith Capture. This is a screenshot tool that makes it super easy to get only the part of the screen you want. You can even annotate it, then copy it to the Clipboard, save it, share it, whatever you want to do. Highly recommended and it is free.
 
This might help if you look just above your name in the upper right corner of this web page there should be a star with a + sign in it

I don't see that on my screen, unless you mean the Google Chrome bookmark function?

Rhy, fully agree that Google is a good way to find things within a site. I buy parts from Yambits which unfortunately does not have a very user-friendly search facility so I often use a Google search - yambits XS650 clutch cable - or what have you to go to the item I need.
 
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