How to get a good friction point on the clutch on a 80 GS750E

[Agemax]

So, does the wheel turn freely with the plates out?
To take it apart, bend the tab off the nut, stand on the rear brake and use a breaker bar. Some coarse sandpaper or small file will knock down the sharp edges where the plates make contact with the basket.

standing on the rear brake will not allow you to undo the centre nut,it will just spin. you need the special tool or fab one up to lock the centre hub to the outer basket.

[gearhead13]

standing on the rear brake will not allow you to undo the centre nut,it will just spin. you need the special tool or fab one up to lock the centre hub to the outer basket.

Really? I have been doing it that way for years

[Agemax]

Really? I have been doing it that way for years

oh yeah,DOH!...........i was thinking of when the motor is out the frame..

hey, its early and i haven't had my coffee yet

[chuck hahn]

Actually..if you use an impact driver, an electric or air impact, you dont need any special Lock up tool. Few whacks with the impact driver and hammer and the nut is loose.

[pnedac]

All good info here thanks again. Looks like I have my marching orders so back to work I will go.

I have tentatively set that appt with my guru here in West Sacramento should I blow it, but my goal is to conquer this bad boy myself and cancel that appt.

I think it should be a relatively smooth operation though since I already have it all apart. Now to get that center nut off and out comes the basket.

I will say this: I thought it was more dramatic than it actually is (the grooves). I stepped away to post my progress and went back out there later and the grooves somehow didn't seem so deep. I think it is one of those things where you want to feel like you've found something big, but I will take the basket out and get some sanding on it just to be sure.

I will surely update when I get it back together.

Thanks again.

Pnedac

[pnedac]

Have I made a fundamental error?

So my wife got home and I was still out there working this issue and she asked me to explain to her what is going on. So I said "Let me show you how this "should" work on a bike that is in perfect shape".

I also have a 2003 Suzi TL1000R (The R Stand for Rocketship!) and I sat on it, put the kickstand up, held in the clutch, popped it in first and to my surprise it did not move at all even with the clutch pulled in. It behaved just like the GS750. The TL was turned off though as has been the GS this whole time.

It was too late to be starting loud bikes up, but the TL works perfectly so my new question is this:

Have I been chasing this problem falsely because the bike is not turned on when I am doing this?

The only difference between the two bikes is that the TL has a hydraulic clutch vs. the GS cable clutch. I thought this might be it, but I also thought that perhaps the hydraulic clutch is a poor example because they are apples and oranges.

I will feel like a noob amongst noobs if that is all that I have been doing wrong. It could have been a simple cable adjustment, but I need to turn the bike on in order to test the operability.

Am I onto something here or do I really have a clutch problem?

Shaking my head!

[GateKeeper]

So I went to the garage to test out your above comments on my own....

bike is off and in neutral I can push it no problem, as it should be

bike is off and in first gear and clutch pulled in, I can push the bike, some resistance but it is moveable, both forward and backward

same as above but clutch released bike will not roll forward or backward

bike was not running in any of these tests

hope this helps

.

[chef1366]

Take out the clutch basket
Measure the fibers and steels with a caliper to determine if they are out of spec. (got a manual?)
Take steel wool to the steels and fibers to rid the old oil and glaze.
File the High ridges smooth in the inner and outer basket. Don't get too happy taking off material but just take off the high ridges. Dimples left over is ok.
Replace the clutch springs and the lock washer.(Lock washer the part you bend over the nut)
Use an electric impact to remove and tighten the clutch bolt.
Oil the fibers before reinstalling.
If you have 2-3 mm of play in handle bar lever and it increases a lot with the heat of the engine replace the cable.

[surveywaters]

The tl1000r should have rolled with the clutch disengaged (in) and tranny in gear. Get your wife back out there and ask her to try it, you may not be rolling with enough force.

I agree with Chef. Very straight forward and thourough. If that doesn't get it then you probably have some bent plates. These clutches are pretty simple.

Also, did you ever try spinning the rear wheel while in gear with the clutch out to make sure you're barking up the right tree?

[eil]

I'm having a similar issue. My 1980 GS850GL (recently bought) hasn't run in about 10 years.

I took apart the clutch just to have a look inside, but found everything to be within spec. I put it back together, adjusted the cable and whatnot, but can't get it to slip at all when turning the wheel by hand, even with the clutch lever pulled all the way in.

I can provide more details but before I do, I thought it would be worth noting: I haven't yet filled the engine with oil. Does this make a huge difference? I know that the clutch is supposed to be bathed in oil, but I figured the test above would still sorta work. I didn't want to put oil back in until I knew for sure that I wouldn't have to take the clutch apart again.

Am I worrying over nothing?

[surveywaters]

Oil will make a huge difference. The plates have to be able to easily slip and can't with out a thin layer of lube between. Please allow these to scientific goobers to demonstrate. Also, be sure that you use oil designed for motorcycles or do a quick search on oil here, some guys use rotella, I like mobile one v-twin

[pnedac]

Free at LAST!!!!!!

Well boys,

I have (finally) some good news. Took the old booger apart again and this time I took out the basket and bemoaningly filed every single groove and put it all back together. I will note that the pro at the shop was stumped too, as he said everyhting looked great, but having nothing else to latch onto I said let's pull it and I will file it anyway. MEasured all the springs, plates, everything and it all was (close enough) within spec.

Low and behold with about ten different cable adjustments we got it working MUCH better though still not perfect. At least the bike is not just pulling away so hard it just dies. It pops forward just a little bit (normal) and now moves through the gears pretty freely. I think with a couple more little adjustments we'll have this beast up and on the road in no time.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!

I could not have done it without you!

Cheers and beers for you all!

[gearhead13]

I was just thinking that maybe this thing has those crappy barnett steel backed plates in it.
But also, the bike will never roll as easily with the clutch pulled in as when its in neutral.
None of my 750 clutch baskets were chewed up bad enough to not allow it to roll. Maybe someone was dumping the clutch hard on that thing

[pnedac]

It is hard to tell what might have been the actual issue, but regardless it is definitely more happy now. Thanks again and I am sure I will be back before long either to show off the finished bike or because something else goes a little wrong. Never fails!

I rode it yesterday around the block a few times and it is definitely working much better than it was before.

[pnedac]

Cold Blooded as can be

Anyone have any tips on how to get the bikes out of their state of being so cold blooded?

I noticed this weekend that the clutch issue was rearing its ugly head. That is, until the bike was more warmed up then it seemed to vanish.

Also I am having a hard starting issue. It turns over fine and runs excellent, but when it is cold it just doesn't seem to quite fire right up. One little squirt of starting fluid (carb cleaner) and it fires right up and then it'll fire right up instantly after that. I have checked and rechecked the carbs and they are definitely good to go. It is always just barely not firing when it is cold. It just needs one ever so tiny squirt and it goes. ANy ideas?

Pnedac