I'm a big boy x pro motocrosser but dam my clutch is a bitch to pull all day. I have arthritis bad too. So I got two oppositions hydrlic cheep pit bike one maybe a better lever set up. 2nd a moose easy pull 40 bucks. Dam she is stiff . I have a new cable and lube it reg so wtf. What do u do ?
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Clutch lever is like pulling in a Mac truck. Ideas?
- Thread starter Motocue
- Start date
A lubed cable will still bind if routed improperly with bends that are too tight. Besides the cable being well lubed, you need to keep the worm gear assembly packed with grease. Clean the plastic female part that mounts on the case out first and inspect it. They can crack and then distort and cause binding when you pull the clutch lever. Also, the female part can distort and bind up if you have its two mounting screws too tight.
I would start by disconnecting the cable at the hand lever and "un-routing" it from the bike frame. Reconnect it so it has just one big arch going from lever to case. Try it now to see if it's better. If it is, your routing and excess bending/kinks were probably at fault. If no better then the worm gear could be the problem.
I would start by disconnecting the cable at the hand lever and "un-routing" it from the bike frame. Reconnect it so it has just one big arch going from lever to case. Try it now to see if it's better. If it is, your routing and excess bending/kinks were probably at fault. If no better then the worm gear could be the problem.
Have you taken apart the worm, cleaned and inspect for cracks? The one part of the worm is nylon and can crack. his crack uses most of the lever pull to close the crack. It also lets the parts bind up. This increases the pull.
With a good worm, properly lubed, a good cable properly lubed and with proper adjustment it will pull relatively easy.
I'm a bit like you, arthritis, with all this done even with 70lb clutch springs I can pull my lever with two fingers.
I have pulled the clutches on many bikes. A lot of new bikes it feels like the clutch cable is broke or not hooked to anything.
If you pull the clutch on many bikes of the 70's, they all pull a bit hard.
Leo
With a good worm, properly lubed, a good cable properly lubed and with proper adjustment it will pull relatively easy.
I'm a bit like you, arthritis, with all this done even with 70lb clutch springs I can pull my lever with two fingers.
I have pulled the clutches on many bikes. A lot of new bikes it feels like the clutch cable is broke or not hooked to anything.
If you pull the clutch on many bikes of the 70's, they all pull a bit hard.
Leo
angus67
Welder's penetrate deeper!!
or you could actually try to pull a mack truck, then your bike clutch will be magically easy. lol
Seriuosly though, If the cable in the sheath is frayed , it could be catching there too. new or old, it can happen. especially if "new" cable came from a cheap supplier. The cable I use is one from mikesxs, It still works fine. Some have had them snap on the road. I keep an original that works fine, but its chaffed, and ugly at the ready.
Seriuosly though, If the cable in the sheath is frayed , it could be catching there too. new or old, it can happen. especially if "new" cable came from a cheap supplier. The cable I use is one from mikesxs, It still works fine. Some have had them snap on the road. I keep an original that works fine, but its chaffed, and ugly at the ready.
if you find that you need to replace the clutch cable, consider the EZPull cable from 650 Central. I've had one on my '82 650 for several years, very pleased with it. It eliminates that slight kink in the lower fitting on the stock cable. Plus plus to what other posters have said about the condition of the worm and about routing and lubing the cable itself.
angus67
Welder's penetrate deeper!!
U can take some of the bend out of the lower elbow by padding it, and using a bench vise to almost straiten it. Not my idea , found idea hear somewhere on the forums
If you want to really get into it, and lose a day (or two) of your life, you could piledrive thru these:
XS650 clutch actuator experiments:
Clutch worm actuator experiment and tidbits
Clutch worm mod testing
Clutch pushrod experiment and tidbits
Clutch cable experiment and tidbits
Clutch worm rotation gauge
Clutch worm depth dialgauge-post90
Clutch worm depth dialgauge-post91
Clutch worm depth dialgauge-post92
XS650 clutch actuator experiments:
Clutch worm actuator experiment and tidbits
Clutch worm mod testing
Clutch pushrod experiment and tidbits
Clutch cable experiment and tidbits
Clutch worm rotation gauge
Clutch worm depth dialgauge-post90
Clutch worm depth dialgauge-post91
Clutch worm depth dialgauge-post92
So off with the cover , what a dirty mess. Got it all degreased and well lubed. I saw room out on the end of the pull arm so a drilled a hole out there for more lev ridge . Lubed cable it feels good and free. It's much better livable now. Oh I am running a yz quick adjust perch and lever but that should not make it pull any harder.
View attachment 56622
View attachment 56622
adding the hole out toward the end of the lever will decrease the effort to pull the lever, but it also decreases the amount of travel to open the pressure plate.
This increases the clutch drag, making neutral harder to find and increasing the tendency to creep forward when at a stop and just holding the lever pulled.
It can also increase shifting difficulties.
Mike's sells a worm with both holes in the arm. I replaced a cracked worm with one of those. I tried both holes. The decrease in lever effort was not worth the increase in other problems.
Leo
This increases the clutch drag, making neutral harder to find and increasing the tendency to creep forward when at a stop and just holding the lever pulled.
It can also increase shifting difficulties.
Mike's sells a worm with both holes in the arm. I replaced a cracked worm with one of those. I tried both holes. The decrease in lever effort was not worth the increase in other problems.
Leo
the red baron
Ray The red baron
Hi Guys, i have recently acquired a 73 TX650 and the clutch is the same now having had over 30 bikes in the 70s when i was a teen i know this is not the norm, also the clutch isn't working properly as it stalls when you try and shift it into gear even when freshly adjusted as per manual specs. i'm assuming that the worm gear setup must be faulty, any recommendations as to best supplier.
cheers Ray
cheers Ray
Last edited:
Have you removed the left cover, taken the inner worm out of the housing, cleaned, inspected, generously lubed it, reinstall?
How about the cable, Have you removed it, cleaned inspected and lubed it as well?
On reinstalling the cable route it with as few bends as possible, any bends should be as little as possible. On the metal sleeve around the cable at the case carefully straightening it a bit help too.
A well lubed cable and worm make the clutch easy to pull.
On the adjustment, I do things a bit different than the book. When It says to back out the worm adjuster I back it out several turns and spin it in and out a few times. This gives you a good feel for the amount of pressure it takes to spin just the adjuster. This is important because you need to know when the resistance just starts to increase.
Now with a good feel for it turn the adjuster in till you just feel an increase in pressure. This is the point that all the slack is taken up between the adjuster screw and the pressure plate. At this point you need to add a bit of slack back into the mechanism.
The book calls for 1/4 turn, I think that's a bit much. I use 1/6 of a turn, Easy to do, this is one flat of the lock nut. Once you get this done It gives you about as much movement of the pressure plate as you can get without slippage.
Now adjust the lever for about 1/8 to 1/4 inch free play.
This does make the lever be out close to fully out where the clutch engages but it reduces clutch drag to the minimum. Making finding neutral easier.
Leo
How about the cable, Have you removed it, cleaned inspected and lubed it as well?
On reinstalling the cable route it with as few bends as possible, any bends should be as little as possible. On the metal sleeve around the cable at the case carefully straightening it a bit help too.
A well lubed cable and worm make the clutch easy to pull.
On the adjustment, I do things a bit different than the book. When It says to back out the worm adjuster I back it out several turns and spin it in and out a few times. This gives you a good feel for the amount of pressure it takes to spin just the adjuster. This is important because you need to know when the resistance just starts to increase.
Now with a good feel for it turn the adjuster in till you just feel an increase in pressure. This is the point that all the slack is taken up between the adjuster screw and the pressure plate. At this point you need to add a bit of slack back into the mechanism.
The book calls for 1/4 turn, I think that's a bit much. I use 1/6 of a turn, Easy to do, this is one flat of the lock nut. Once you get this done It gives you about as much movement of the pressure plate as you can get without slippage.
Now adjust the lever for about 1/8 to 1/4 inch free play.
This does make the lever be out close to fully out where the clutch engages but it reduces clutch drag to the minimum. Making finding neutral easier.
Leo
the red baron
Ray The red baron
Hi Guys
Solved my clutch problem, i replaced each component starting at the clutch lever, cable but turned out changing the actuator worm was what solved it, i purchased a MikesXS one with the slightly longer arm and bingo smooth clutch that actually works.
Cheers Ray
Solved my clutch problem, i replaced each component starting at the clutch lever, cable but turned out changing the actuator worm was what solved it, i purchased a MikesXS one with the slightly longer arm and bingo smooth clutch that actually works.
Cheers Ray
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