Chris Costello
XS650 Enthusiast
Last edited:
Remove the dipstick and blow compressed air in crankcase while sealing it with a rag and pinching the vent hose with pliers. It will push the pushrod right out of there.I used a magnetized screwdriver to extract the ballbearing, however the magnet isn't powerful enough to pull out the pushrod. Any ideas? I also tried the magnet on the short pushrod from MikesXS but it seems to be made out of a non-magnetic metal, although the long rod is a magnetic metal.
So after removing the short rod and bearing from closest to the outside, the magnet idea is to remove the other half of the short pushrod and then I would put the long rod in simply just like that?
Thanks for clearing that up.Well, one reason may be because of the expansion rates of the old long rod versus the new 2 part set-up. The old long rod is all steel and doesn't expand as much as the alloy engine cases. This results in extra freeplay in the clutch lever when the motor gets hot. Since the clutch barely separates it's plates enough when cold, this can result in clutch drag and the notorious hard-to-find-neutral syndrome when the bike gets hot. On the later 2 piece set-up, the inner rod is mostly alloy with little steel end caps. It's expansion rate more closely matches the engine cases. But even though the concept is good, the results aren't that great. The later 2 rod set-up still gives increased lever freeplay when things get hot.
The later 2 rod set-up also comes with a down side. The short outer rod wiggles and wobbles more than the old long rod. This can and does wear the seal and bushing quicker. And even with new parts, it's harder to seal up.
Also, I recommend shopping eBay for a N.O.S. original long rod. They pop up all the time and can be had for about the same price as the re-pop, often less (I just scored a couple for $10 each). There can be quality issues with the re-pops. Apparent the one I got didn't get hardened. It was wearing badly, to the point of being ready to shed metal bits, lol. I'll never buy another .....
It's just a 5/16" ball. You can get one at most hardware stores probably for like 50 cents or less.
One end of the clutch rodplease help - is the clutch rod supposed to fit in the top of the worm gear ?
Bought a new clutch rod lever assembly from Mike's. The old one is intact but has cracks in the plastic housing and the screws are loose (are they supposed to be)? With this older one I can stick the thinner head of the push rod
through the hole. Maybe because the hole is bigger from wear and tear ?
The old lever has a hole big enough to stick the skinnier end of the push rod inside .
However the rod won't fit inside the hole on $56 replacement lever hole.
Am I supposed to force the rod tip in the whole or is it just supposed to rest against the top where the ball is ?
Is the lever assembly faulty ? do I need to drill it out ?
Thank you guys I appreciate your advice.
Patrick