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

[pnedac]

Good morning gents,

I am finally done getting this GS750E dialed in and I took it for the maiden voyage last night to find that the gears are tough to change. The clutch is pretty new and if the bike is on the center stand (and turned on) or turned off it goes through the gears quite smoothly. I know that it can be a little tricky to find the sweet spot.

I have a Yamaha XS650 and it has a little locknut that you loosen up, turn the screw just until it grabs and you tighten the locknut and you are there at the perfect friction point, but this Suzi doesn't appear to have that same type of mechanism. Is it only adjustable vie the cable?

If that is the case do you have any tips on how to find the sweet spot or do you think that the cable may need to be replaced (distinct possibility). I had to jam it into 2nd and 3rd which is a no go.

Thanks for any advice you can offer. I do have the manual by the way and it only references the cable so maybe that is what I need to work with.

Cheers,

[mrbill5491]

Good morning gents,

I am finally done getting this GS750E dialed in and I took it for the maiden voyage last night to find that the gears are tough to change. The clutch is pretty new and if the bike is on the center stand (and turned on) or turned off it goes through the gears quite smoothly. I know that it can be a little tricky to find the sweet spot.

I have a Yamaha XS650 and it has a little locknut that you loosen up, turn the screw just until it grabs and you tighten the locknut and you are there at the perfect friction point, but this Suzi doesn't appear to have that same type of mechanism. Is it only adjustable vie the cable?

If that is the case do you have any tips on how to find the sweet spot or do you think that the cable may need to be replaced (distinct possibility). I had to jam it into 2nd and 3rd which is a no go.

Thanks for any advice you can offer. I do have the manual by the way and it only references the cable so maybe that is what I need to work with.

Cheers,

Yup, adjustment is mostly the cable, though you need to check and make sure the clutch arm release is in the right position (fine adjustment at the clutch lever). If you don't have alot of adjustment left in your cable it is time for a new one. Go with the Suzuki OEM cable.

[pnedac]

Thank you for the reply MrBill. You say that the clutch are relaease needs to be in the right position. That is a little confusing to me. What is the "right" position?

To be more more specific about my issue I would say that when I pull the clutch cable at the handlebar I feel like I am not getting it to go all the way into neutral with that pull so it is sticking into the gear in which I place it. That make sense?

Each time you pull the clutch cable you are essentially putting the bike into neutral for a short moment (just enough to smoothly change the gear) then when you release you are letting it out of neutral (that is my own small understanding anyway).

So it feels like it is just mostly putting it into neutral when I pull the lever, not all the way into neutral. I hope that my description makes more sense. I suppose a little experimentation will help me get it right or I will more simply replace the cable with a new one and start from scratch which is also a good idea as this bike is older than I am!

Thanks again for the advice.

Pnedac

[Agemax]

the clutch actuating lever on the clutch cover should be in line with the mating surface of the cover with a slack cable. adjust up the cable until you have 2-3mm of play on the handlebar lever.
also check your oil level is correct and the chain is in good condition,adjusted correctly and lubricated well

[pnedac]

Thank you for that reply. I will go ahead and ensure that the clutch actuating lever is indeed lined up with the cover with a slack cable.

Thanks again!

[mrbill5491]

Ah I just got back to this post and Agemax got ya going in the right direction. You might want to post a pic so we can see your clutch release arm.

[pnedac]

Hi guys,

I will surely post a pick tongiht when I get home. I am a little stumped though. I can see that the pressure plate is moving as it should when I pull the clutch lever, but my issue persists.

While holding the clutch lever in and put the bike into gear the bike should still be in a neitral type position until I start to release the lever, but the bike is just in gear and not letting me use the lever to ease it into/out of gear.

Could there be something more to this like there is something amiss with the clutch? It is as if no matter what I do to the cable the bike is just going into gear like the clutch lever really is doing nothing.

I will continue to work this booger and of course I could still be doing something stupid with the cable, but Chuck was pretty lucid and I thought I was following directions quite well.

Perhaps I need to just send a picture or better yet I will post a video on youtube and that might get a better understanding of what is going on.

Thanks again for all the support!

[Agemax]

it sounds like you need to pull your clutch apart and have a look, see if any thing is loose, or not fitted correctly. you say the clutch is fairly new, did it work before or is this the first time you have tried to use it since it was replaced?

[pnedac]

In fact the bike wa snot running when I got it and I proceeded to rebuild the bike. So far so good, but this is the first time it has been up and running so I would not have known if there was a problem to be honest. I took the clutch covere off to replace the gasket and at that time I was at a guy's shop and he is the one who looked at it and said the clutch appeared to be pretty new. He took the plates out and looked them over and put it back together and we buttoned it up. There is a chance that maybe he did not put it back together quite right or something.

He has been racing GS bike for many years and I always go to him to solve my big problems so I have a good sense that he was right about what he saw. Then again nobody is perfect and we all make mistakes. I was just hoping this would be a little easier, but I certainly am not worried about taking a coulple steps backwards if it means I can take a proper step forward.

Thanks again. I will post that video though and maybe it can reveal something. I honestly don't feel like loading this bike into the truck again and bringing it to his shop for the umpteenth time, but I will if it gets to it.

[chuck hahn]

Has this bike sat for a long time? If so, pull in the cluch lever and wrap a bungee cord around it to hold it in. Then go around to the rear whell and spin it around ( bike on center stand or wheeel off the ground ) spin it frontwards and backwards to try and shake the clutch plates apart. They could be stuck together from the old oil between them gumming them together.

If that doesnt work, like was said earlier, you will probably have to open it up to take it apart and see whats stuck together.

As for the cable, I know e got that parts understood and it IS in fact actuating the pressure plate properly..so the next thing would be plates stuck together...least in my mind thats what I would suspect.

EDIT....I see the other guy had the plates out..so they arent stuck together. Have him come to your place and open it up???

[gearhead13]

Hi guys,

I will surely post a pick tongiht when I get home. I am a little stumped though. I can see that the pressure plate is moving as it should when I pull the clutch lever, but my issue persists.

While holding the clutch lever in and put the bike into gear the bike should still be in a neitral type position until I start to release the lever, but the bike is just in gear and not letting me use the lever to ease it into/out of gear.

Could there be something more to this like there is something amiss with the clutch? It is as if no matter what I do to the cable the bike is just going into gear like the clutch lever really is doing nothing.

I will continue to work this booger and of course I could still be doing something stupid with the cable, but Chuck was pretty lucid and I thought I was following directions quite well.

Perhaps I need to just send a picture or better yet I will post a video on youtube and that might get a better understanding of what is going on.

Thanks again for all the support!

How can you see the pressure plate moving? Its covered up. All you can see is the actuator arm moving.
Pulling in the clutch doesnt change it into neutral, it just disconnects the rear wheel from the engine, allowing you to free wheel or change gears.

[chuck hahn]

You look in the oil fill hole and you CAN indeed see the pressure plate move. Give it a try.

[Agemax]

How can you see the pressure plate moving? Its covered up. All you can see is the actuator arm moving.
Pulling in the clutch doesnt change it into neutral, it just disconnects the rear wheel from the engine, allowing you to free wheel or change gears.

i think that is just the only way he can describe how the clutch works, maybe not fully understanding its operation. it is actually a reasonable way of explaining how it works for a noobie to engines

[Agemax]

You look in the oil fill hole and you CAN indeed see the pressure plate move. Give it a try.

i just look through the window

[pnedac]

I suppose what I mean when I say that pulling the clutch lever "puts it in neutral" I really mean that, as you said, it is disconnecting the wheel from the engine. I am ignorant to the proper term there. It "feels" like it is putting it in neutral. I will definitely be making that video and maybe we can get a better handle on this.

Thanks agian for all the support. When we took the clutch plates out they were pretty easy to get out. No stickiness or anything.

I will post back when I get home to the bike.

Cheers!