hard clutch pull

I had a real wobbly clutch lever perch but replace both but I don't recall seeing an o ring hmmm..
 
I got rid of the old perch and lever as they were pretty wobbled out so all I can say is they looked the same when installing the new ones
Heres what I found
Cables the same length
No rubber o ring on lever
Re routing the cable helps a lot ( taking off the air cleaner boxes made that task easier to do)
I went back and made sure to grease everything with a thicker grease and the pull is better but I think with the 8 plate conversion there's going to be a little more resistance
What I have is fine now and I think just re routing the cable was the biggest improvement
 

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I have to take it out for a run today and then it's time for an oil change so I'll have a better idea on how it's feels
 
Did that I figured that if it moved it got lubricated
 
And me being me (It's full time job)
After greasing everthing etc I started putting it all together I couldn't find the shift lever WTF
Looked in the tool box , on the bench and finally found it a box of other parts
I work worst when I'm frustrated and or in a hurry LOL
 
Exactly. Some other clutch and shift related areas I grease are the exposed section of the clutch pushrod, the section of shift shaft that passes through the side cover, and the exposed portion of inner clutch cable that hangs out of the sheath .....

InsideLeftCoverClean.jpg
 
After reading all the helpful suggestions everything got greased and not with the thin white lithium grease
 
When I get a chance I’m going to attach my digital scale to the end of the clutch lever to measure the actual pull needed. Maybe I’m just getting old and weak. Lol
 
Here’s the video of my “clutch pull” experiment. I used a digital luggage scale. Set up: Magura lever, newish Motion Pro well lubed cable, 8 clutch plate mod with heavy duty Barnett springs. Surprised at how high the numbers got. I made several videos but unfortunately this one was the best. Don’t pay so much attention to the progression of the numbers, but more the peak in the pull force. Note positioning of scale hook close to the end of the lever. The actual force would he higher near the Center of the lever where your hand would be. I should do the water Buffalo too as a reference with an easy pull clutch.

 
Oooff... almost 30lb of pull? My SG barely breaks 10. you're almost 3 times higher. Granted mine's a stock clutch, but 3 times as much.... :cautious:
I think it's more about lube and cable routing than anything. My cable runs almost totally exposed. I can change it by removing nothing but the left engine sidecover.
If I remember, I'll get some pics tomorrow. Jog my memory if you're interested.
 
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Found some I already took.
Motion Pro cable.
The idea is to get as large a radius curve as possible.... in 3 dimensions. The tighter the circle, the harder the pull.



Clutch Cable Routing 2.png


Clutch Cable Routing 1.png
 
The routing of the cable at the engine and along the backbone of the frame is as good as stock. The problem I have is the handle bars I’m running have lower rise and little pull back. This makes the cable bend radius quite sharp as it is routed across the speedo and makes its way down to the frame. It used to be inside the forks but now I have it outside to reduce the sharpness of the bend. Maybe I should try Euro bars.
My old perch and lever allowed me to get a more favourable radius on the cable but wouldn’t give me the plate separation I wanted.
Interesting though, when I first had the hard pull I unbolted the bars and held them in a position with the optimal bend radius of the cable and it didn’t make a significant difference.
I also thought about having a custom cable made to suit the bars I have.
The cable is lubed with regular motor oil. Perhaps I should try some fancy cable lube or is it a waste of dough?
 
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As in most things involving friction I add DS2 to my cable oiling container. I recall how hard it is to get a gentle clutch cable bend with "superbike" bars. And I've begun to notice that Madness has a higher clutch effort compared to a "modern bike" I ride. I'll quantify and detail my current routing.
@bosco659 can't tell from the pics how your cable is routed under the tank.
A couple more routing ideas here.
https://www.xs650.com/threads/short...utch-cable-rerouting-ideas.41987/#post-419895
Page down a bit for routing on a bike with superbike bars.
I changed bars/risers on Madness, routing changed for best path with the different bars.
 
I routed mine to the right side of the bike and then under the carbs
I'm going to try it all on the left side like Jim has
And I'm going to straighten the tube a little where it goes into the case too
I'm thinking that the cable might be too long but it's worth a try
 
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