GS550 clutch question

[Anonymous]

I was replacing an oil seal on my 79 GS550, and I thought I'd take a look at another problem.

When I pull the clutch lever, while the bike is moving, I hear a rattling sound.
As I expected, it had something to do with the device that pushes the clutch rod. It seems it comes out too far, touching the drive chain (see the scratch marks).
When pulling the clutch lever, the cable turns the device clockwise (red arrow in the picture). The thread goes inverted, so it's pushing the clutch rod in, releasing the clutch.
The spring attached to it, helps pulling back the device when the clutch lever is released, and keeps the system under tension.
It was like this when I bought the bike, so all I did was take it apart, clean it and put some new grease in.
It seems to me that the spring is too long. I measured 43 mm. It might not be the original spring.



I could turn in the adjustment screw on the ouside, but that would mean that the clutch would be slipping

Anyone know what would be the right setup?

[argonsagas]

Jojo:

I have never worked on one of these, but will offer something based on the photo.

The length of the spring is most likely irrelevant. I cannot see how or why it would cause or contribute to the effect shown, as it extends vertically when the cable is drawn, then pulls back down, while the abrasion is caused by rotational movement on a lateral basis.

As you say the damaged / ground portion of the arm, was caused by the chain rubbing against it, then it must be that :

A:the chain mount has too little clearance, (perhaps a missing washer?)

or

B: there may be excessive play in the sprocket hub,

and / or


C: the arm itself is flexing against the chain due to its underlying mount and/or bearing having too much play


Both B and C could be caused by use and wear.

I don't know what mounting is beneath the arm, so I cannot say if it can be adjusted/repaired.

[Anonymous]

Perhaps your front sproket is too large? On my 1981 550L I have 15 teeth.

[Anonymous]

Well, sometimes problems solve themselves....

I took the device apart, to take some pictures and show some more details on how it works, or how it is supposed to work.
It's a spindle (?) that, when turned clockwise by pulling the clutch cable, comes out and pushes the clutch rod in, disengaging the clutch.

After I took the photos, I put it back together, so I would not lose any parts. To my great surprise, I could turn it in completely ( 8O ).
Seems that there are three positions one can start with, when turning it back in; if you start off wrong, you either end up with the arm pointing in the opposite direction, or you can get the position of the arm right, but the spindle is sticking too far out. If the clutch lever is pulled in this situation, the spindle moves outwards even more, touching the drive chain.

So the first time, after I had cleaned the part and put the new grease in, I didn't put it back together the right way

Well, let me show you the pictures anyway, so everyone understands where I went wrong...




Thanks for the suggestions guys!