Clutch adjustment (forum scoured but no answer found)

johnny gaijin

johnny gaijin

Been Around the Block
sorry i realize this has been covered before but i've read all i can find about it and i'm still having no luck.

replaced the clutch cable on my '75 cl370 recently.

the loose ball bearing is greased and in place.

following the manual i dialed both ends barrel adjusters all the way in to make the cable as slack as possible.

again following the manual i dial the adjustment screw counter-clockwise until i get resistance and then back it off 1/4 of a turn.

at this point i pull on the clutch lever and when it gets near the end of the pull POP the cable goes slack.

so i try again (and again and again) and find i can get it to not pop if i dial the adjustment screw in until i get resistance and then dial it another couple of turns past that point.

doing it this way though the clutch disengages at the very beginning of the lever pull. i only use maybe 10% of the pull.


when i replaced the cable the piece w/ the 3 ball bearings popped out and i'm not sure which direction it's supposed to go.

crazypj had this to say about it:

There are 3 ball bearings in lift mechanism and a fourth inside center hole (where pushrod fits)
The plates have a sharp edge and a rounded edge (because of the way they are made, stamped out from sheet )
Theory is,
rounded edge 'out' clutch is easier to lift but may engage more abruptly.
rounded edge 'in' clutch has smoother engagement but slightly more drag when lifting.

but i'm not sure which way 'out' is or which way it should go to solve my problem if indeed it were the solution.

i'm stumped!

thanks in advance!
 
You're stumped??!.. I'm stumped..

What bike are you taking about?... At first is seems that you are talking about an xs650... then you mention a plate with 3 ball bearings then Im thinkin a cb360.

Each bike has a different way to adjust the clutch...
 
locO leoN said:
You're stumped??!.. I'm stumped..

What bike are you taking about?... At first is seems that you are talking about an xs650... then you mention a plate with 3 ball bearings then Im thinkin a cb360.

Each bike has a different way to adjust the clutch...
Click to expand...

gah! i'm a bonehead. sorry yeah it's a '75 cl360.
 
Do you understand what's happening? You're lever's adjusted to a point that it's essentially pulling too far and the three ramp eccentric is turning so much that the bearings run all the way up the ramp and fall into the next trough. So you have to limit that travel so that it pulls less.

That may be entirely basic and useless, but I'm not sure at what level you're confused. I had a hell of a time doing it the first few times, it's still a chore.

Kit
 
johnny gaijin said:
since we're getting basic... what am i doing when i turn the adjustment screw?
Click to expand...

Moving the entire lift mechanism closer to the pushrod.
Make sure it's properly seated in outer cover, the slot has to fit onto the 'square' to prevent it rotating (sounds like that bit is right)
I had my first experience of clutch release going 'over center' a few months ago (posted about it at the time)
 
I had this same problem when I added the clubman bars on my cb360. It is actually a common problem. All I had to do was remove the large lock nut from the clutch lever adjustment to gain that extra 3/16 of an inch. Make sure the adjustment screw is turned all the way in. The more bends you put in a cable the "shorter" the cable gets inside the sleeve. you can also cut down the cable jacket if you have the right tools.

This isn't my lever, I borrowed this pic from the interweb
ClutchLeverAdjust.jpg


And the 1/4 turn is just a guideline, I think I only turned mine out an 1/8th. You can also google cb360 clutch pop, that's where I found the answer when I ran into this problem.
 
Oh also, another really basic thing. Make sure the whole sprocket cover is bolted down tight when you adjust the clutch... otherwise it's pointless ;)
 
Feed_Sparky said:
I had this same problem when I added the clubman bars on my cb360. It is actually a common problem. All I had to do was remove the large lock nut from the clutch lever adjustment to gain that extra 3/16 of an inch. Make sure the adjustment screw is turned all the way in. The more bends you put in a cable the "shorter" the cable gets inside the sleeve. you can also cut down the cable jacket if you have the right tools.


And the 1/4 turn is just a guideline, I think I only turned mine out an 1/8th. You can also google cb360 clutch pop, that's where I found the answer when I ran into this problem.
Click to expand...

this sounds like some winning advice. thanks!

mysta2 said:
Oh also, another really basic thing. Make sure the whole sprocket cover is bolted down tight when you adjust the clutch... otherwise it's pointless ;)
Click to expand...

figured this one out on my second or third try ;)
 
Feed_Sparky said:
I had this same problem when I added the clubman bars on my cb360. It is actually a common problem. All I had to do was remove the large lock nut from the clutch lever adjustment to gain that extra 3/16 of an inch.
Click to expand...

this was the solution! thank you so much i was starting to get frustrated!
 
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