Tight clutch lever? and oil drip

[crackerman]

Hey now,

I just picked up a 82 GS650 with 13,000 miles. It had been sitting for about a year and a half. I flushed the old gas out and replace gas and vacuum lines, put new gas in and she's running now. The clutch lever seem really stiff. I can pull it in but it's really tough. Is this the symptom of a bad clutch or is it as simple as just replacing the clutch cable? Also when she running I get the oil drip from the bottom of the engine case right next to the exhaust. All the bolts are tight I'm hoping when I change the oil and put a new gasket on it will fix the oil leak? ANy info on this would be appreciated.

[koolaid_kid]

It is usually the cable. Get a cable luber, remove the cable, lube it up good and slide the inner part lots of times until it frees up. It will also allow you to check the strands of the inner part. If any of them are broken, you need a new cable.

[bwringer]

Agreed -- check and lube the cable.

Also, clean and re-grease the ramp mechanism under the sprocket cover. These often get stiff when the grease inside washes out.

As far as the oil leak, you need to narrow down where it's coming from exactly. Degrease the oily areas, spray with foot powder, and see where the oil first shows in the powder.

[koolaid_kid]

Also, clean and re-grease the ramp mechanism under the sprocket cover. These often get stiff when the grease inside washes out.

You might want to double check that, Brian. IIRC, this model has the clutch actuation lever on the clutch cover itself, like my 1100, rather than the rod-thru-the-tranny method used on some other bikes. I reserve the right to be inaccurate, of course.

[bwringer]

You might want to double check that, Brian. IIRC, this model has the clutch actuation lever on the clutch cover itself, like my 1100, rather than the rod-thru-the-tranny method used on some other bikes. I reserve the right to be inaccurate, of course.

I also reserve this right...

This was based on a vague recollection of a similar problem on what I vaguely recall was a 650, but maybe it was a 550.

Anyway, the point stands -- whatever the clutch cable and such is supposed to do, make sure it's doing it smoothly and easily. The mechanisms are pretty easy to grok.

[koolaid_kid]

Grok. Shades of ancient Heinlein. Be sure and walk on the grass, it likes it.

You are correct, the 550 has such a mechanism. My old Zuk 2 strokes had this arrangement, and I remember hating it muchly for several reasons, including how nasty a job replacing a clutch cable was, and when I bent the rod on one bike and it took me a while to figure out what was wrong. IIRC, my KZ750 had this also, which surprised me when the GPz uses the other method. Poorly implemented, as I had explained previously, but at least once it is correct it functions flawlesly.
Of course the new method has its own joys, including figuring out how to route the cable if you forgot to write it down, and getting the adjustment correct at both the clutch cover and the clutch lever. All-in-all, a joy-joy job either way you do it.