Clutch Adjustment question, tips??

[generallee]

Hello I picked back up today where I left off last august or so on my xs650. I was having trouble with the kick starter not turning over the engine. I have played with the worm gear adjustment on the left side numerous times only to get it to the point where it wont kick at all or the kicker will move down without turning over the engine.

I took the right side cover off to watch the parts move and noticed that the gear that is behind the clutch pack doesn't move at all when I push the kicker down.

Does anyone know what is going on? Should I start adjusting the actual clutch pack?

The kick is installed correctly and the bike kicked over fine when I bought it. Still have the same cable and lever assembly that came with the bike when I bought it.

Thanks.

 

[ippytattoo]

I don't know if you have covered all of this before but ... What year is the motor? Does the electric starter turn the motor? Haaaave you checked the alignment of the pressure plate and basket/hub? You may want to check out this thread it covers the alignment hole on the later clutches. When I first got my xs the starter would turn the motor but the kicker did not function and the alignment was definitely the problem.

 

[generallee]

I believe the engine is a 80-81. The bike no longer has electric start. When it did have electric start it started fine same with the kick starter. I have not done anything to the inside of the engine. It was working fine before i took off the clutch cable several months ago. I will check out that thread thanks.

Anyone else have a idea?

 

[DogBunny]

What he said. You didn't align the hole.
EDIT: just read your latest. If you never disassembled the clutch pack, then I must be wrong.

 

[5twins]

I would check the last thing you did (clutch cable). You obviously screwed something up there.

 

[generallee]

Exactly. I don't understand why it's being such a pain in the ass. Correct me if I'm wrong but the gear on the clutch pack will not move unless the worm gear is adjusted correctly.. right?

Could a bad worm gear assembly, clutch cable or perch assembly be the problem?

 

[5twins]

Gear on the clutch pack? There's no gear on the clutch pack, at least not in relation to the cable/pushrod assembly. The pushrod pushes the pressure plate out. That allows the plates to separate and the clutch to disengage. If your adjustment is off and doesn't allow enough pushrod movement, the clutch won't disengage. The plates won't separate.

Any of the things you mentioned can be at fault. In the ideal situation, this clutch doesn't move much, maybe a MM or 2, when disengaged. Take any movement away from that and it usually means trouble.

 

[DogBunny]

Remove the left side cover. Push on the kick starter. The engine should turn. If it doesn't, your clutch (what we have been calling the clutch pack) is assembled wrong (the hole in the pressure plate is probably not aligned correctly).

If the engine does turn when you press on the kicker with the left side cover off, then your problem is on the left side of the bike -- worm gear is messed up, cable is adjusted way wrong, or something.

BTW, back when everything was assembled, when kicking, you weren't pulling the clutch lever in, were you? On an XS650, you do not use the clutch lever when kick-starting.

 

[generallee]

is it possible for the plate to be out of alignment if I have never removed the clutch pack?

Thanks for the help.

 

[DogBunny]

Not very likely, but anything is possible.
My test takes about one second to do, and is just designed to help us help you by narrowing the problem down to the right side of the bike (something wrong with clutch) or the left side of the bike (everything else).

 

[littlebill31]

BTW, back when everything was assembled, when kicking, you weren't pulling the clutch lever in, were you? On an XS650, you do not use the clutch lever when kick-starting.

+1 on that ^

"The bike no longer has electric start."
Did you remove the electric starter or just make it inoperable?

 

[generallee]

Thanks for the help. I going to go try out what you have suggested and report back shortly.

I have removed the starter from the bike.

 

[generallee]

Turns out I left the little pin in the engine during the banshee swap. It was causing the banshee assembly to bind which was causing the engine to bind.

Thanks for the help and trouble shooting.