Montreal Manchild with an '81 Honda CB750K

I have had to unstick clutch plates manually a couple of times. Sometimes you can put the bike in a high gear and rock it back and forth to unstick 'em but it takes 15 minutes to do it the right way if you don't have luck with adjustment.

Also, the bike looks fantastic. I thoroughly enjoy the sidecover/bags. Looks like a steampunk-esque holster.
 
If you are going to let it run for a bit, have a fan blow air onto the engine. As previously stated, adjust your clutch and cable, see if that does the trick. It would not be too difficult to pull the plates off clean them as try them with fresh oil on them, also you could inspect them at this time.

Your seat looks great!
 
Thanks again fellas - Cookie, last night I tried to adjust the clutch system itself by following the Clymers, pretty sure I did it correctly but still no dice.

I've had the bike running for a good 10 minutes in the past, but not recently. I have a friend coming round tomorrow to take a look who's well versed in all things 80's Honda, with any luck it won't be a big issue
 
Looking good Jimbo. The clutch will not be hard to sort out, my guess is it is gummed with old oil and a quick pull apart and cleaning will put you right, worst case you will need new friction plates and they are cheap and easy to swap.
 
That's the kid of vote of confidence I like to hear, good man =)

Dude what's the story on GL's - found a 1980 gem on kijiji and was told you were the go-to guy on all things goldwing

https://www.kijiji.ca/v-touring/laval-rive-nord/for-sale-1980-honda-gold-wing-gl-1100-neg/1285989184?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true
 
I love my GL, It's the one bike I will keep forever, if they are not molested or left with bad gas in the carbs they are pretty much bullet proof. Check out Randaak's cycle shack, he has a post on his site, What to do with a new to you GL1000/1100 has lots of tutorials on getting old GL's back to shape. I hate the big ol bags and fairing though, I like the naked versions better. But the fairing can keep the wind and weather off you pretty good touring.
 
Very likely your clutch is fine, just stuck as has been commented. Letting the bike get completely warmed up can help getting it free as has also been mentioned. The thing to understand is that this has nothing to do with any adjustment, but it is good to make sure that the pressure plate is allowing for as much free space within the clutch pack as possible. That means that you would like to push the pressure plate against its springs the greatest distance you can to allow for the most free space within the clutch, or in other words make the clutch pack as loose as possible so the plates can separate. So until the clutch is free, it can help to take all the slack out of the actuating mechanism, which is the throw-out mechanism and the cable and lever that operate it. Once the clutch is un-stuck, you can adjust the cable and throw out.

Aside from taking the clutch pack apart to separate the plates manually, all the methods to jar them free are pretty abusive to the drive line. That said, I have not experienced any actual damage, and I have seen this problem a LOT as it seems that this can happen to any multiplate wet clutch if it is allowed to set up for long enough. I have always had at least a few bikes that did not get used for too long and so have had plenty of stuck clutches. Most of the time they break free pretty easily - just putting the bike in gear while stopped. Or with the brake on hard if that does not work. I had a friend long ago that promoted putting the front wheel up to a wall putting it in gear. And of course center stand and rocking the wheel while the engine is off (clutch pulled in) or just repeated placing in gear while on the stand engine running which is no doubt the kindest to the drive-line but places the least impact on the clutch to knock the plates apart.

If it was me, I would do the following: I'd tighten up the throw out to make sure I had good movement of the pressure plate. That is the adjustment on the engine case, usually with a lock nut on an adjusting screw. Take the lock nut loose, then tighten the adjusting screw until all the slack is gone and then re-tighten the lock nut. You'll have to go back to adjust this correctly after the clutch is free. Then take all the slack out of the cable. You'll have to readjust this properly later. Now when you pull in the clutch lever, you will be sure to have the pressure plates clamping pressure sufficiently removed. It you still cant get it free, it is time to take the clutch side cover off so you can access the clutch pack. Look at the pressure plate while operating the lever. The pressure plate is the center outermost disk shaped casting on the top of the clutch assembly. You should see it move slightly - maybe 1/32" or so as you pull the lever. If you do, the plates are just stuck. If you don't, it is time to start taking things apart (throw out mechanism first) to find out why the pressure plate is not releasing. If it is moving, you can try to separate the plates manually by trying to pry them apart with a feeler gauge. Or you may be able to coax them apart just by pulling on the friction plate fingers toward the pressure plate one friction plate at a time. Obviously you have to have the lever pulled all the time while doing this. You should be able to get the top friction plate loose and move on to the next until all are loose. The friction plates are separated by steel drive plates, so if you get all the friction plates to move, each steel drive plate could still be stuck to the adjacent friction plate so only half of the assembly is necessarily free. Getting a feeler gauge between each friction plate and the drive plate on both sides of it (except for the first and last plate) will ensure that all the plates are not stuck. Alternatively, you can simply unbolt the pressure plate and pull out the friction and drive plates one at a time, inspect them, coat them with new oil and reassemble.

once you get the clutch sorted, you will have to adjust the mechanisms that operate it. Mainly that is the throw out mechanism. With the cable completely loose or unattached, loosen the locknut and turn the adjusting screw in and out until you can feel when it takes all the lash out of the mechanism. At this point, the clutch is completely disengaged and the engine and drive line are locked together. This would be perfect, except that as soon as a little more pressure is applied, the clutch will begin to engage and slip, which is fine if you are pulling the lever, but as the engine heats up/cools down and expands/contracts this could happen by itself so you need a little insurance. So back off the adjuster 1/4 turn to allow for a little space in the mechanism and then tighten the lock nut. Best to do this warm, and your manual may offer slightly different procedure.

Once done, adjust the cable. It can be any way you like, as long as there is at least some slack. If there is no slack, you risk pre-loading the throw out, which could remove the slack there which you created with the 1/4 turn. When that happens, you risk slightly engaging the clutch, allowing it to slip - maybe so slightly you don't notice, which ultimately will fry it.
 
The clutches on these cb’s had some issues with shifting. After I rebuilt my engine I found that it didn’t want to go into neutral when it was running. It would engage no problem when it was off. I opened up the shifter window, took out the two riveted pressure plates and replaced them with two steel plates. I also changed out the clutch pusher. It shifts no problem now. It’s worth the upgrade but you’d need to go to the cb1100f.net forum to find all the info.
 
Guys I really appreciate the help here, above and beyond. Thanks a million for going to such lengths to help a guy out - I'm hopefully going to have some time this eve to delve into Planet Clutch but armed with this info I feel a lot more confident about what to do.

I'll keep you posted, and thanks again
 
Good on ya' gents, thanks a lot

Managed to get the clutch to disengage - kinda - yesterday, warmed up the engine, cracked the throttle a few times and managed to get it in gear and take it for a little ride up and down the alley. Quite the moment, first time I've ever ridden the bike so I was grinning like a lunatic.

Clutch seems to be disengaging sometimes, sometimes not. Once it's in first it has no trouble moving through the gears, but other times it's still lurching forward and stalling when I try to shift from neutral to first. I'm going to try your suggestions and see what gives.

No bite on the front brake - hoping it's just the pads that maybe got contaminated by fork oil. I'll try sanding them down a bit and see what happens but will orders more pads anyway.

Such a great feeling to finally be twisting the throttle and going places - it's been a long time coming. Can't thank everyone enough


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Well balls to the inspection, couldn't wait any longer to take this thing for a spin. Clutch issue seems to be fine now, no problems at all, and took the bike to a mechanic mate who bled the front brake and refilled it which helped, cleaned up the rotor and now I'm at about 50%. Probably some crap on the pad - I'll ride the front brake to heat it up and see if that'll get rid of it.

The bike sounds absolutely amazing, man I'm stoked. And damn she's fast - can't believe this bike is mine.
 
Don't want to jinx anything but man the summer's been sh*te so far - the last few days have been great however and the honda has sprouted wings. I mean this thing is flying - tearing up to 140kmph no sweat and still feels like plenty left in her. Seriously falling in love with this bike in a big way.

Gonna sell the sportster and went to look at a KLR650c yesterday, man that's a fun ride. Good riding position and tons of go, bit of a hooligan. Thrashed it down the highway and my bunch of keys came flying out of my pocket - garage, house and only the only Harley key I've got. That sucks balls - will probably have to get a new ignition column. Hope it's not gonna run me too much.
 
A locksmith can make a new key for you, just remove the ignition column and take it to one that has the blanks. I have done this.

You Honda should be good for 200kmh.

Glad you are enjoying it.
 
CrabsAndCylinders said:
A locksmith can make a new key for you, just remove the ignition column and take it to one that has the blanks. I have done this.

You Honda should be good for 200kmh.

Glad you are enjoying it.

This is true unless he has the new key fob Harley ignition, that would be dealer only I think.
 
It's a '99 - just spoke to a shop here that specializes in Harley parts and they can sell me a new ignition column for about $30. Sounds like a deal
 
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