clutch question?

[turkeyroll60]

With the clutch lever pulled all the way in and the motorcycle in 1st gear, how easy should the rear tire spin while the bike is on its center stand with all the weight on the front end?

[tkent02]

Shafty is going to be pretty hard to turn. You can't spin it so much as just maybe move it some. Chain drive, only kinda hard, you can spin it half a turn or maybe more. There is a lot of drag in the clutch, brakes, and all of the other mechanical parts.

If it hasn't been ridden in a while the clutch will likely be too stuck to move by hand.

[turkeyroll60]

I put a new clutch cable on and adjusted it according to the clymers and the clutch lever on the handlebars seems super tight. It is really hard to shift through the gears with the bike on the center stand and not running. Before I made any adjustments it wasn't like that but the rear tire would spin as noted before in my previous post. One thing is for sure the rear wheel doesn't spin as you described tkent. I haven't had much riding time on it but it has been on a few 5-6 mile trips.

[tkent02]

There should be a little slack in the cable at the lever if you set it all up correctly, the slack needs to be there. If the cable is tight parts will start to fail.
No bike will shift properly without the transmission turning, either by the engine running or by spinning the wheel by hand while you shift.
Which bike is this and what are you getting at?

[pete]

Hmmmm haven't got time to look right now, but somewhere in my rebuild thread around last November/December I re-posted Ed's (Nessism) clutch adjustment guide which I used on my 450 as I had exactly the same question.

Basically, my bike was stone cold, hadn't been run properly for years, and what you're saying sounds similar.

If you can find that guide, it will confirm if your cable is adjusted and you can then run it and see how it feels.

I almost couldn't turn my rear wheel by hand in 1st with the clutch pulled in at the time.

[jeremyseg]

I was wondering the same thing. My GS450 does this. 1st gear, clutch adjusted and pulled in, rear wheel spins pretty good and i have to grab it fairly hard to get it to stop. I assumed that a multi plate clutch, each plate probably being a little warped would have some explanation for the drag while being disengaged. I'd love more input on this. If this is not normal I'd have no problem replacing my clutch package. This is my first bike so I have no idea. Jeremy

[turkeyroll60]

Well I seem to have no problems driving it around town. I re-adjusted my cable by the clymer and was sure to only back the screw out a half turn before tightening the lock nut. I took it for its longest trip yet (about 20 miles) and it performed great. I adjusted the idle and it seems as though when you grab the actual throttle cable and move it around, the revs go up. I tried lubricating the cable and it still messes with the idle when touched. Do I need a new throttle cable or is there another answer? I guess will be moving to a new thread.

[pete]

Well I seem to have no problems driving it around town. I re-adjusted my cable by the clymer and was sure to only back the screw out a half turn before tightening the lock nut. I took it for its longest trip yet (about 20 miles) and it performed great. I adjusted the idle and it seems as though when you grab the actual throttle cable and move it around, the revs go up. I tried lubricating the cable and it still messes with the idle when touched. Do I need a new throttle cable or is there another answer? I guess will be moving to a new thread.

Glad you got your clutch sorted! Sounds like you have a throttle cable routing issue though, it should be routed and mounted firmly enough that the only thing that opens the throttle is the twist grip...