Clutch adjustment after doing work to the engine

[apopleptic]

Recently I've been doing alot of adjustments on my bike and have replaced the clutch springs because they were approaching the service limit. I also replaced the oil seal around the clutch pushrod and it's holder.

After I put the bike back together I'm pretty sure I did the clutch adjustment as per the manual by first tightening the handlebar adjuster all the way in and then also tightening in the other end of the cable sleeve into the case. After that I removed the little clutch adjustment cover and loosened the lock nut. I turned the adjustment screw in until it made contact and then backed out 1/4 turn. Then I fine tuned the amount of free play on the handlebar end by making small adjustments to the end of the cable where it goes into the engine cover.

After riding the bike with no real issues for about 30 miles I found myself unable to locate neutral at a stop light and noticed the lever had much more free play to it than where I had started out. I made it home and redid the adjustment from the beginning and ended up in a very similar position to where the first adjustment ended up.
I rode the bike about 20 miles and found the exact same free play on the lever.

I did the adjustment one more time, this time taking up the slack on the lever end of the cable and everything seemed to grip where it should.
I took the bike out this morning for a coffee run of about 2 miles or so and when I was almost home the bike slipped from 2nd into neutral under light acceleration up hill at maybe 4k rpms. I put the bike back into gear and it felt like the lever may have gotten a little slack again.

Can anyone suggest what may be happening? I've drained the oil and am replacing the filter as per my original plan. It was very dark and dirty looking for only having about 100 miles on it over a weekend, but I assume that is in part due to only changing the oil 100 miles ago and not the filter.

[apopleptic]

I've done the adjustment again. Here is where everything sits.
Engine side


Lever side also showing the amount of free play before engagement.


Here's the adjustment screw


I also noticed that I lost two of the cover nuts. I doubt I'll locate these unfortunately. No idea where they may have rattled loose. I checked both spots I commonly parked the bike. Doubtful I'd spot them while riding around, but tomorrow I may give that a try. Makes me a tiny bit sad really.

[Jedz123]

I would also double check the cable for fraying. I went through a cable every 7-10k miles on my 750... New stiffer clutch springs on an old cable might slowly break it... Sounded like a similar issue before all my inevetiable clutch cable snaps. Check your cable, also always a good idea to have an extra one in the shop... Trust me!

[apopleptic]

I don't see any fraying on the lever end. I'll have to pull the side cover off and check the other end.

On the up side, one of the three extra screws from Z1 was the same length as one of the screws that fell off.
Once I finish putting the new oil in, I'm going to take it for a ride around town and just take a look in a few places for that missing fastener. Like the gas station and the coffee shop. also around the square since that's all left turns to get around it.

[gearhead13]

That clutch is never going to work properly until ALL the bolts are in that cover. Look at the cover when you pull the clutch in.

[apopleptic]

That clutch is never going to work properly until ALL the bolts are in that cover. Look at the cover when you pull the clutch in.

Yeah, I notice the little wiggle.