XS650 Clutch Worm Actuator experiment & tidbits

I mentioned somewhere that the biggest improvement I made was to run the clutch cable up the frame and exit between the forks above the bottom triple tree and below the headlight. The cable then makes a nice gentle sweeping curve back to the clutch perch. It may not look as pretty as the Yamaha diagram shows but makes the clutch easy to pull in. That was with the original Yamaha cable. I did the same to the XV and that too is easier to pull in.

Routing is a huge part of the solution.

I also found the single aluminium clutch rod gave more clutch control whereas the two piece gave more of an on off action.

True.

I wonder, did 2M's all aluminum(6065T6) clutch rod pass the test of time?

Can't say, I only rode about 200 miles before I blew the engine. But the clutch is fine.
 
Hey, guyz.
Yeah, the XS1B's clutch action and pushrod are still working fine.

To answer questions about the clutch cables and aluminum pushrod, have a look into these.

http://www.xs650.com/threads/32945

http://www.xs650.com/threads/32267

For those with a lathe, there should be enuff info in there to make your own pushrod from 8mm or 5/16" round rod. Lookup Alexandria Precision to source some high-quality 7075AL rods.

And, yeah, I didn't want to slight or insult any cable suppliers, but if you study the cable experiments thread, you should see that the Motion Pro cable has the best performance...
 
On my XS SH I found that 8mm would not fit down the shaft whereas 5/16" fitted nicely. Consequently I had to use the lathe to turn the 8mm down slightly. I am not sure if this tight fit is common to all XS models.
 
Interesting...the cable I have is black, slightly curved short metal tube at case and only says Made in Japan TSK 6. Needs to be removed as I can not even put pressure on clutch lever. Silver/ grey is original...ok.
 
Hello. Just swapped in a royal enfield ball and ramp mechanism. Only done about 30 miles but feels really good so far.

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Hello. Just swapped in a royal enfield ball and ramp mechanism. Only done about 30 miles but feels really good so far.

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Can you give us model and year on that Royal Enfield ball and ramp mechanism? My local Triump/ Royal Enfield dealer is a great guy but I doubt he has a crossover reference to XS650s. And I won't set foot in the local Honda/Yamaha dealer's shop anymore.
 
The eBay listing just said 5 speed, part number 550512 but googling that seems to confirm it. It's on an adaptor plate as i didn't want to mod any xs parts. The cable arm cracked when I tried to bend it a small amount - the case hardening goes deep, hence my ugly version. And I added a short tube to support the push rod and hold the ball bearing. I'll make it tidy when I've done a few more miles.
 
I'd tried a hard to make the clutch work better but still had the usual stickiness and mushiness at the lever and loss of travel with a warm engine. The ball mech has little flex so I guess more lever movement makes it to the pushrod plus it works smooth giving very good modulation. And with the engine hot, no loss of travel so clicks into neutral with no effort. I'd say the old mech was pushing the plates far enough in ideal conditions but lost too much travel, say when the engine is hot - the Enfield one works more consistently. I've only done a few miles so far (did get the engine pretty hot tweaking the carbs) but I'm hopeful! I'll pop the cover off in a minute to take some pics.​
 
Cool, I'll do some more miles and try to confirm it's good.
Adaptor is just a thick 45mm washer with holes for the original mechanism screws. 50mm washer would be better as the 2 holes are right on the edge but would need grinding to clear the generator case. Then 3 tapped holes for the countersunk screws, the screws cut so they don't bottom out. The new mech needs countersunk screws for clearance.

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The 3 screws seat the ramp plate onto the washer and 2 screw heads pretty equally. Like I said, I had to bodge a new arm on and add a stubby tube to support the pushrod and hold its ball.
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New adjuster screw was too long so swapped it.
Next time I'd weld the cable arm on where it gives more cable slack - my adjuster is nearly in all the way. And I'd fit a longer arm with more cable holes to experiment with. Also, the layout means there's not a stack of adjustment at the pushrod. Glad I didn't have to shorten it but I could have.
 
The original just uses a "tin cup" with a rubber seal. Looks like something like that could be adapted. Just found a new one on Ebay for 18 bucks. Before I pull the trigger, you think the pull is enough easier to make it worthwhile?

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Yes the original is well protected. Actually pull effort seems similar but maybe more of the energy gets where it's supposed to go and more consistently. I'm cautious about saying to go for it until I've done more miles under more conditions but it looks good so far. And sure you know, everyone seems to get varying results with what they do so there's that!
 
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