Clutch Adjustment Woes

mrmach5

mrmach5

XS650 Enthusiast
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I have a 75 XS650 that I purchased about six months ago. About 7,500 miles on the bike. Bike runs great but suffers from the typical clutch adjustment issues. To be able to get enough disengagement to find neutral, now has no free play so some slippage . Adjust the free play and now can't find neutral . Thinking that perhaps a new cable, and actuator might improve my travel some, I ordered parts.
This morning I took the side cover off , replaced the actuator with a new Mikes XS unit, and replaced the cable with a new lubed up Motion Pro cable. Now same problem,,,, even worse! Requires twice the effort at the lever, and can't get enough travel no matter how I adjust. Start the bike, and put it into gear and the bike is wanting to crawl forward. Needless to say frustrating!!!!!!!!!!
I have one of the Pit Bike Hydraulic kits and the instructions from Hughs Hand built on how to install , at the ready. If this will fix my problem I'm all in,,,, however if I end up with the same outcome,,,,, I will set fire to the bike out of revenge.
Any advice, or insight is appreciated.
 
Best advice, don't BBQ the bike.
I have had two (2) of the pit bike adjusters, no longer run them.
The stock arrangement works well it just takes some time and practice to get great results.
The actual/successful procedure is a varied as the members of this site. Ima thunking while most follow the guidelines each has their own little refinements.
5twins likes to fan the clutch lever to remove all slack, I never have. Retiredgentleman removes all slack, I leave a little. gggGary like to experiment and probably does it a little different each time, I tend to use the same routine on several. And 2M, well he justs re-engineers the whole damn thing.
My point is if you keep at it, make mental tics as to what is working it will get better.
As a once over. With the cable barrel completely screwed in you adjust the slack out of push rods with the actuator then adjust the slack from the cable with the cable barrel. I use 1/8 back off at the actuator and a penny's width of free play at the lever. Your method will vary guaranteed.
 
Well, hmmmmm - this is certainly a frustrating problem but for god sakes, don't destroy that wonderful old motorcycle.

I'm sure you're kidding about that.

Anyhow, there are a finite number of components in the clutch system of an XS650B - and you'll figure out which one(s) are the culprits in your present difficulties.

Ask questions, take advice - you will find the answers.

Pete
 
Thanks,,,,, well I guess for now I will shelf the hydraulic pit bike kit and the idea of setting the bike on fire and concentrate on getting the most out of the stock set up. The two things I did yesterday made the adjustment impossible and the effort at the lever ridiculous. So I'll start with removing the Mikes XS actuator and putting back the factory one, as I can't see the new cable being the culprit. From there I will make small adjustments to see if I can find a happy medium.
 
While swapping take the oem apart, check the threaded plastic barrel for cracks. Grease well on reassembly. Do not over tighten the lock nut on the plunger adjustment. Like the drain plugs it seems to tighten up with time.
 
Just a thought...have you had the clutch itself apart?

There are a whole series of washers and shims and a tiny little radial roller thrust bearing under the clutch basket and if any of them are out of place - the whole thing doesn't work.

....hmmmmm.

Pete
 
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No I have not been in the clutch area at all. I was weary at the outset comparing the aftermarket actuator to the factory one, but installed it anyway thinking it would give me more mechanical advantage /travel ,,,,, turns out to be less, fifty bucks down the drain (soon to be appearing on e-bay)
 
There are too many uneducated consumers buying their products so why would they? There aren't many things I'll buy from them anymore, and the list seems to keep getting shorter, lol. For many of the items it's not the quality, it's their high prices. The exact same product can be found elsewhere cheaper, sometimes lots cheaper.
 
I went back to the tech pages and found lots of info supplied by many of you regarding the actuator systems, issues and mods to help correct the poor design.
I purchased a 1L9 actuator from an XS400 off e-bay and will experiment with this modification following 5Twins procedure in correcting the clocking. I'll also clean up that mounting surface to assure no binding as well. With any kind of luck I will find that happy medium.
Thanks again for the info!!!
 
mrmach5 said:
I went back to the tech pages and found lots of info supplied by many of you...
Click to expand...

And, that's the key. Simple as some of the XS650 mechanisms appear, they have their gotchas. Numerous threads written by many members helps to gain a clearer, deeper understanding. If you find anything unusual, or an epiphany, please post it up...
 
I just replaced all my pics in that worm gear thread so if you couldn't see them before, you may want to take another look. I recently discovered that button head Allens have a head height about 1mm less than the original Philips screws. That would allow more to be sanded off the worm which would correct the clocking of the worm arm even more. The screw size is M5 x 12.
 
Twins,, Thanks for updating the photos,,, as they say a picture is worth a thousand words. I'll carefully review a the process and measurements.
One item I'm not crystal clear on is the removing material (sanding) to correct the clocking. Am I sanding on the flat nylon mounting surface or the other side with the steel retaining shell???
 
Sand the "top" I guess you would call it, the part with the metal shell that sticks out on the inside of the case when mounted. This side .....

aNDx0z9.jpg


This allows the male worm to screw in more, deeper, before it bottoms out, and that's what corrects the clocking. And it doesn't take much to effect a good enough change, only a MM or so sanded off moves the end of the worm arm about 1/4". If you switch to the button head Allens, you could sand even more off, like 2mm. That should clock the arm pretty much just like a stock 650 one.

A caliper works best for checking the worm height. If you don't have one, I recommend a trip to HF for one of these $3 plastic ones .....

https://www.harborfreight.com/6-inch-utility-caliper-7914.html

Obviously not the most accurate thing around but more than good enough for this job. Before sanding .....

7vdzkZp.jpg


..... and after .....

Ftjqmm3.jpg
 
Now THIS is extremely useful information - thanks 5Twins!

Next winter I'm going to invent a time machine and then I'm taking a few key people back Japan circa 1967-8 - and by gummers, we're gonna do that XS650 over right!

...and while they're doing that, I'll be just down the street having some good suishi and enjoying a tastey BEvERage.
 
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