Get Me Home fixes

[flamesnm]

Hi
Had a great trip out on the newly MOTd XS at the weekend until 3 miles from home and I heard a metallic sound on the road behind me and the next pull of the clutch gear lever showed whatever had fallen off had taken the clutch out. Some lucky breaks with the traffic got me about a mile up the road before I stalled it.

From there I mostly had to push it home. I had a running bike that I couldn't get into gear without stalling it. The part that made a break for freedom was the spring attached to the worm gear.

It got me thinking about what roadside fix could I have made that would have allowed me to limp back and whether there's a wealth on knowledge on here for roadside fixes that can get you home in a jam.

I'm off to order some clutch springs......

 

[Bob Kelly III]

sounds like the entire side cover came off and was dragging the ground eh ? which means No screws to hold the clutch worm gear on with
...now if you had a ratcheting nylon strap you could cinch the side cover down enough maybe to allow the clutch to work enough to get you home unless you lost the clutch push rod and the little ball in the worm gear.....
in a case like that I'ed have put it in second and put it on its center stand in the dirt and got it going with the kicker.... then pealed out for home.... in 2nd that's better than pushing it !....
getting that big twin started would be hard without a hill in gear.... but I have done it on other machines by putting it in neutral and get it going down hill and pop it into 2nd and bouncing on the seat at the same time ...( if you don't bounce hard down on the seat the rear wheel just locks up !) .... once going head for home...
depending on how modified the system is there may be an easier solution, and may not be... that spring you lost is mainly there to pull the clutch lever all the way back after the clutch springs do their job with the clutch plates.... making the clutch work without the parts is a really hard one because that clutch rod takes a bunch of pressure to push in and it takes the setup that is made for it !
.....
always check those case screws after the first ride and make sure their tight, they may have been, but heat and expansion will loosen them again that's why I use an impact driver and make darn sure their tight !
.....
They say " Hind sight is always 20/20" so what You could'a done may or may not have worked anyway so don't worry about it ! LOL
just be ready Next time ! LOL
.....
Bob.......

 

[Bob Kelly III]

humm let me clarify How I do that Pop it into gear and ride back home.....
say your clutch cable brakes and the clutch no longer funtions.......
you can get the beastie going again by being on a hill or just pushing really really fast and hopping on it and standing on the pegs and pulling up with your left toe , and slamming your ass down at the same time to get the thing to turn over and start up.......
it takes some practice and over the years I've had the misfortune to need to do it several times !
if the need arises where you have to shift with no clutch you can try to match rpm with no pull and no slowing down right in between and then try and shift it is very very hard on things and I don't recommend doing that, but it can and has been done before with no ill effects
.... this ain't an old ford truck that you could shift all day like that ,,,, get it wrong and you'll shed teeth in the transmission and then your S.O.L.
...... but if your 100 miles away from home you can't ride all the way home in 2nd but matching RPM to where your neither pulling or slowing down and then shifting is your best bet ! .... My Old hond'a 90 when I was a Kid could do that all day but it was a tiny bike and less to destroy than a 650 !!!!!!!! LOL
....
Bob.......

 

[flamesnm]

Thanks Bob. Good stuff there.

The clutch side cover was still on it was just pulling the lever didn't engage the clutch.

getting that big twin started would be hard without a hill in gear.... but I have done it on other machines by putting it in neutral and get it going down hill and pop it into 2nd and bouncing on the seat at the same time ...( if you don't bounce hard down on the seat the rear wheel just locks up !) .... once going head for home...

That's what I did a couple of times but those hills get longer and there's no shortage of traffic in the SE of the UK so after a couple of near death experiences where I didn't want to stop at roundabouts or junctions I eventually got caught out and stalled. Then looked for another hill Eventually I ran out of hills and energy so just shoved it the remaining mile.

 

[Bob Kelly III]

Yep those brake downs can be dangerous on busy roads......
I had a flat on a rear tire on a rainy night, down hill, coming home just after I passed a simi-truck and got back in my lane and all of a sudden the bike went sideways ....I didn't go down, but it wern't for lack of tryin' !!!!! I was all over my side and that simi-truck and trailer was right behind me..... I hurd his jake -brakes come on and I knew he saw I had a problem... at that point I was doing all I could just to keep it upright....
the ass wanted to pass the front !!!! I was flat-tracking it at close to 70 mph and I had no intention of doing so ! I was standing on the pegs by then and slowly hurded it to the right side of the freeway and I hear this TooT, toot.. of the simi-truck going by and I nodded my head !
and I could hear him throttle up again...... I got off and discovered the tire had come completely off the rim ! damm cheap tire !!!!!!
.... I put it back on with just my hands ! and continued home ! a ride I will not soon forget and that was over 30 years ago ! LOL
...... one airs breath of being tangled up in the duels of a Simi-truck away...... a lesson well learned ... buy good tires for the motorcycle !
.......
Bob........

 

[xjwmx]

I'm not sure how that spring coming off would keep the clutch from working -- I'm thinking the effect would be the lever just wouldn't return exactly normally or something. A couple of times I've changed gears forgetting to pull the clutch. It wasn't too different from normal... Make sure you're in the right rpm range for the new gear. Traffic might be the biggest problem. The best way to stop might be to stall it in a higher gear with the front brake. I wouldn't do any of this if there was any alternative at all though.

I had a sideways experience like Bob's for a different reason. For a couple days I had a flooding problem from a stuck float and it was very hard to start. After some difficulty I pushed it to a wet hill and hopped on. When I popped the clutch in 2nd the first thing that happened was the rear tire lost traction and starting overtaking the front It did get traction and start at some point though. Made it the 20 mi back home and promptly took the carbs apart...

 

[jamesgs4]

when i broke my clutch lever off once, I made it home by starting it in neutral, pushing the bike up to jogging speed, hopping on and slipping it into gear. I shifted without the clutch, and coasted in neutral to stoplights.

 

[Bob Kelly III]

on a xs650 James ? finding neutral is a challenge With a clutch ! without one I'ed think it impossible ! LOL
on old thrashed dirt bikes that are Loose as Hell sure,.... you can do that but a big strong street bike that gott'a take talent....
not something I could do on my machine !
.....
Bob.......

 

[flamesnm]

I'm not sure how that spring coming off would keep the clutch from working -- I'm thinking the effect would be the lever just wouldn't return exactly normally or something

I'm pretty sure the act of the spring coming off meant there was slack in the cable which also detached itself from the linkage attached to the worm drive. Had the cover off now and while I'll carry a spare in future it's going to be a lengthy roadside fix if it happens again. There's a few things to take off.......

 

[Bob Kelly III]

the worm arm of the clutch must be installed in the proper direction in order for everything to stay in there and work properly
look at the tech section which explains this in detail and do the complete clutch adjustment again once you are positive the arm is oriented in the proper direction.... and it should never fall off again !
....
Bob.........

 

[flamesnm]

Will do. Thanks Bob. Friday evening in the garage to get it back on the road.

 

[Bob Kelly III]

here is a quote from 2M about how to Place the worm in the case ...... I think you need this !
- To install the worm, place the lever arm at the 3 o'clock position, then CCW to 7 o'clock position.
.....
the tech section is found under the Garage/ xs650 technical reference....... where a long list of threads explaining different aspects of the beast.
I am sure it was installed wrong in the first place or it would never have come loose and out of there..... However you get the worm lever positioned make darn sure it is down in the corner as far as it can go so it has the most travel to actuate !
and it will go in there WRONG.....as well as the right way
then that pesky little screw and nut has to be adjusted to get it just right !!!!!
.... DO not loose the ball bearing in the worm gear it can fall out.... if the screw is a long way in and none of it is sticking out the top then the ball is missing ... you need one !!!!! you can probably scrounge one up in the shop if you do the size is fairly common
......
I was just reading 2M's mod on the lever to make the clutch easier to pull and I am thinking about doing that to my bike !
making the clutch easier to pull is a good thing ! LOL
Thanks 2M !!!!!!

....
Bob.......

 

[RFeng]

I did the same as James last Fall when my clutch cable broke. Start in neutral, pushed as fast as I could, hopped on and stomped it into first. managed to shift up and down w/out clutch on the way home and timed my approaches to the stop lights. Now that I'm thinking about it - Me and a friend did pretty much the same thin in a Ford Falcon in downtown St. Paul, MN back in the '70's...

 

[Bob Kelly III]

Wow I thought 1st would lock it up so tight and ya wouldn't even get one turn over of the engine ! interesting !
I did that trick many times with smaller lighter machines never with the xs650 though..... thanks for the info ...at least I know it can be done !
......
many things will cause the clutch not to work..... the bike falling over from the side stand .... breaking the clutch lever off at the pivot
(a good enough reason to not have the clamps on too tight so it can pivot instead of break ! ) the clutch cable breaking.....
the clutch mechanism braking in some way ( worm gear snapping) cable connector on the arm under the cover coming off ( had that happen once, it sheared the rivet! ) the alternator side cover cracking and flexing out instead of pushing in the clutch !
( caused by not having all the screws in the side plate ! )
so getting your machine home again so you can fix it is a good thing to know how to do it !
......
Bob........

 

[TwoManyXS1Bs]

Found this pic a couple years ago.
Just had to post it...

 

[flamesnm]

Excellent photo.

 

[YamadudeXS650C]

Found this pic a couple years ago.
Just had to post it...

View attachment 101868

Nice weld bead

 

[flamesnm]

Cover off this morning and it looks like someone has thrown rocks at the worm gear mechanism. The worm gear itself is distorted and out of shape. The clevis looks like someone has hit it with a hammer. It's still attached though. Spring missing. Adjustment screw is gone. Cover for that is gone.

Carnage on the clutch !!

 

[TwoManyXS1Bs]

The way the worm arm is factory bent puts the clevis close to the sprocket. You might like to spend your day pouring thru this:

http://www.xs650.com/threads/xs650-clutch-worm-actuator-experiment-tidbits.31554/

 

[flamesnm]

Hi 2M. I was up at 5am ( unruly puppy decided that was the best time for humans to be up ) and read that thread front to back. I meant to PM you to say how informative it was. I've made a few adjustments this morning, despite cleaning / straightening the whole thing out, but I don't have access to a welder to give the reversed arm a try. I did get the 30 degree elbow in a vice and made it more like 15 degrees as that seemed to be the major source of drag on my cable. Lubed everything up and how just need to wait for a new adjusting screw to arrive before I can take it out again. My clutch was never heavy but most of the parts were new.