CB350 clutch adjustment issues

I finally got some free time to work on the bike (first time in quite a few weeks) and was hoping to take it for a test drive, but first i needed to tackle the clutch popping issue. Pulling in the clutch lever would cause that popping sound, and also the PO had apparently replaced some of the normal bolts securing the left sidecover with set screws with nuts on them... and one hole had nothing.... Anyhow, I took the cover apart, cleaned the mechanism that pushes the clutch in, regreased it and replaced the cable with a new one from motionpro, already fit for the bike and tossed on a few new bolts from a bolt kit. Anyhow, here is the problem...

Correct me if I'm wrong but here's my take on a '73 CB350 clutch actuator thing (is there a technical name for it?). There are basically 2 adjustments for it. 1) adjusting the slack/tension on the cable itself with the spacers on either the lever, or the spacer leading into the panel. 2) the screw on the outside of the panel that allows for adjustment of how far in the initial position of the actuator thing is.

So, i adjusted the slack on the cable to the point where it gets the most amount of outward motion on the actuator thing so it should be able to push the clutch. Well it doesn't.
I then adjusted the screw on the outside of the panel and it helps, but not enough.

By the methods I've adjusted it, the clutch plates still have too much friction between them. I can move the rear wheel a little, but its not free enough. Or, If I start adjusting the screw on the outside, it causes the clutch plates to separate even when the clutch isn't pulled in. And when I do pull the clutch lever in there seems to be too much friction on the plates still.

I'm hoping someone else has been able to adjust it well enough, and could lend some advice or point me in the right direction. Any and all advice would be very helpful.

Thanks,
-jordan

Your doing it backwards.
Loosen the cable adjusters, adjust sprocket cover 'screw' then do cable

crazypj said:

Your doing it backwards.
Loosen the cable adjusters, adjust sprocket cover 'screw' then do cable

Click to expand...

True, to elaborate a little:

-Loosen the cable adjusters
-Turn the sprocket cover screw to the left until you start to feel tension, then back it off 1/8 of a turn
-Finish up by adjusting the cable.


It takes a bit of practice but you'll get. The popping sound is the worm gear pushing out to far causing the little plate with the three balls in it to slip into the next groove.

thanks for the replies!

Having that problem too.


1969 Suzuki M15-2
1971 Honda CB350
1974 Honda CL360
2012 Triumph Bonneville T100

Almost 4 yrs on and you couldn't find the how to?
Shape up sunshine :

gentleman, I'm new to the Forum but have been reading for quite a while. good stuff. I wanted to add an item to this thread because after having the exact same issue I went with a less technical and more redneck solution,and I must say I'm very happy with the results. essentially my bike (75 360) seems to need an exact length not on the overall cable, but definitely the exposed portion of cable. I bought the motion Pro cable that seemed to be the exact length needed but when installing I spent some time examining the difference between two cables -and noticed the exposed cable length seem to be slightly shorter and cable housing was longer. I built a lot of bicycles when I was a kid and playing with cables and levers frequently, and I know how important exposed cable is in the function of a lever pull. in any case I immediately encountered some popping about two-thirds into the clutch pull, which I couldn't completely fix even after a few dozen attempts. I found this thread and did a little of reading elsewhere, and it seems the entire mechanism it's highly dependent on the exact exposed cable length to start - before adjustment. in any case my fix only involved removing the 'lock nut' portion of the cable adjuster on the clutch handle. this gave me an additional length of exposed cable, and the perfect tension in order to adjust the clutch mechanism to that 'new bike' first gear click. I kid you not, it was a night and day difference and took all of 4 minutes to complete, incuding the cluch adjustment. I thought about cutting the cable housing & shortening it the right way, but for now I'm happy with the shift and the cable will likely stretch out anyway and I can put the nut back in.

Make sure you have not lost or misplaced the ball bearing on the inside of the clutch actuator plate. This is the most common reason for not being able to properly adjust these clutches.

It's well know by 360 owners that the Motion Pro inner wire is about 1/4" too short. (after 6~7 yrs they still haven't done anything to fix it) Most people remove the locknut on the other end of cable.