Clutch, throttle questions

[gs550e_guy]

Hello,

I'm new to the forum, and brand new to motorcycles. My son and I purchased a 1980 GS550E with 18,600 miles. I would appreciate any comments/advice on the following issues.

When the clutch lever is let out, it doesn't engage until the very last moment (practically no friction zone action). This is sort of unnerving when pulling out at a stop sign, or light. Once the bike gets going it's no problem; the gears change fine and the engine is smooth. We adjusted the clutch cable at the grip and this may have helped a little, but I know (from MSF course) that there should be more control at the initial take-off. I'm reluctant to take the clutch apart (having never done this before) but is that the only way to determine if the clutch is worn out? Would lubricating the clutch cable be useful (maintainance details don't seem to have been attended to on this bike).

Throttle. We noticed that when we turn the handle bars (bike in neutral) the throttle revs up from 1000 to 2.5-3000 rpms. I'm thinking the cable is getting compressed by the front end assembly, but I can't readily see a bind or a pinch. Is this typical or should we look closer at the cable route?

This bike is in need of a lot of TLC that we're slowly getting to (we've owned it less than a week) but the above issues are pressing.

Here are some pics of the bike:

http://s106.photobucket.com/albums/m253/gs550e/

I appreciate any help anyone can provide.

[hunter58]

Hello,

I'm new to the forum, and brand new to motorcycles. My son and I purchased a 1980 GS550E with 18,600 miles. I would appreciate any comments/advice on the following issues.

When the clutch lever is let out, it doesn't engage until the very last moment (practically no friction zone action). This is sort of unnerving when pulling out at a stop sign, or light. Once the bike gets going it's no problem; the gears change fine and the engine is smooth. We adjusted the clutch cable at the grip and this may have helped a little, but I know (from MSF course) that there should be more control at the initial take-off. I'm reluctant to take the clutch apart (having never done this before) but is that the only way to determine if the clutch is worn out? Would lubricating the clutch cable be useful (maintainance details don't seem to have been attended to on this bike).

Throttle. We noticed that when we turn the handle bars (bike in neutral) the throttle revs up from 1000 to 2.5-3000 rpms. I'm thinking the cable is getting compressed by the front end assembly, but I can't readily see a bind or a pinch. Is this typical or should we look closer at the cable route?

This bike is in need of a lot of TLC that we're slowly getting to (we've owned it less than a week) but the above issues are pressing.

Here are some pics of the bike:

http://s106.photobucket.com/albums/m253/gs550e/

I appreciate any help anyone can provide.

Congrats on the bike, it should be a fun project.

I know that on my GS1000 I too have a clutch that engages quite far out, much further than any of my friends bikes. I've looked for ways to adjust it and from what I've found out so far is that there is no adjustment other than cable play. I've grown used to it and I guess it will be corrected in the future when the clutch is fixed/replaced. Others may have more suggestions for you on this.

As for the throttle I had this when I changed out my handle bars recently. I had to play around with the routing of the cable. Most likely it's being pulled or pushed when you're turning the handle bar. Mine was doing it when turning the bar to the right, but I got it cleared up.

Steve

[tconroy]

I would take the clutch cable housing off the engine and see if there is something loose or adjust from there first then go to the clutch lever and see what happens

[CrownPoint]

sounds like it could be a simple as a sticky cable. my clutch was giving me a hard time and engaging at weird times and when i took it apart it was just a sticky cable. you can lube them but probably better to buy, cost under $30.