Is my clutch failing?

[ukrobuk]

Hi all, in need of some help.
I think my clutch is on the way out but it’s not acting the way I’d expect it to.
So I thought I’d tell you what’s going on and you could tell me what you think.

1st - When stopped at traffic lights it’s very hard to find neutral, keep jumping from 1st to 2nd or 2nd to 1st, but if I turn the engine off it’s easy to find neutral.

2nd – When coming to a stop if I’m in 1st or 2nd it drags and it feels like the bike still wants to keep moving, when I do stop the engine almost stalls but wont. Engine runs fine if i stop in Neutral

3rd – When at a stop and in neutral, if I click into 1st the bike jumps.

4th – Happened 2 days after oil change, correct oil and filter used and dead on the max line.

I thought if the clutch was on the way out it wouldn’t move, thought it would just rev like my car did when it’s clutch went, but I don’t know how a bike clutch works.
Could it maybe be the springs or something?
What’s the difficulty in changing a clutch assembly on a scale of 1 to 10?
1 being easy like break bleeding and
10 being hard like getting a old Micra to run nicely.

[petevtwin650]

You don't say how many miles your bike has got but unless it's high mileage I would guess not.

Hopefully you used the correct oil. Semi synthetic suitable for bike wet clutches.

I would check the adjustment on the clutch lever.

Could be the chain adjustment is wrong too.

[Biker Biggles]

Also check the clutch adjustment at the sprocket end,(the worm gear bit)
Having said that if you have just changed the oil and it was ok before,that might be a clue.Double check the oil level and what oil you put in it.

[Baph]

Most of your comments sound to me like chain adjustment issues, but also search for posts by Sid Squid on clutch adjustment.

About the clutch drag, I had this on my old CG125, right before the engine blew due to lack of oil. Despite the fact it had an oil change a couple of days ago, double check the oil level.

[Beenz]

Sounds to me like clutch drag. Check the free play at the clutch lever, too much and the clutch will drag. Also if the clutch lever judders when you use it you should lube the cable.

Good luck.

[ukrobuk]

my bikes done 29k now on the original clutch. i'll re check everything tomorrow. i best get some sleep now, so tiered

[embee]

Just sounds like adjustment to me, though it could be either the worm drive down at the engine end on its last legs, or the cable ditto.

Start down at the engine end and check it out, behind the sprocket cover. Simplest thing is just work through each item, grease the worm drive well, lube the cable if you think it's still serviceable (not overly expensive to replace, around ?12 IIRC), lube the handlebar lever, and do the adjustments according to the Bible (Testament according to Sid Squid) :smt031 , worm drive pushrod adjustment first, then lower end of cable, then top end.

[laptraffic]

I'm gonna buck the popular trend and say you should probably change your oil. Clutch adjustment would be second on the list, but I'd say your oil is old/dirty.:winner:

[muddycoffee]

It sounds like you might need a new clutch cable to me.
You have to be really careful when adjusting your clutch it can cause all funny things like that.

[ThEGr33k]

I think the clutch cable needs adjusting it does simply sound like clutch drag as someone has mentioned. If its not disenguaging then it causes the engine to be working with clutch in so will make it "almost stall" and it will also make gear selection clunky and finding neutral a real pain in the back side!

Hope that helps :)

[jimmy-james]

Mines the same but it only does it occasionally. I changed the oil and it was a bit better and have cleaned the worm gear, tensioned and lubed the chain but its still doing it although its much better than it was. Next thing will be the adjustments hope that will solve it:-k

My bike has been standing since 2007 and my local dealer said worst case senario is dismantling cleaning and re-oiling the clutch plates or replacing them as the plates can stick together with lack of use causing it to drag, apparently!

[jumjum_0214]

Check your oil level.

[ukrobuk]

I'v checked the oil leval, evan changed it for the same oil i used befor the problem, oiled the chain and cleaned everything else and adjusted everything. Still no hope, might have to sell my Wii to fund a garage to fix it for me. Anyone want a Wii? The console sort that is. Right i'm off to sulk a bit in the garage, in the nice sun

[aadeyc73]

I'v checked the oil leval, evan changed it for the same oil i used befor the problem, oiled the chain and cleaned everything else and adjusted everything. Still no hope, might have to sell my Wii to fund a garage to fix it for me. Anyone want a Wii? The console sort that is. Right i'm off to sulk a bit in the garage, in the nice sun

I'd see if someone could cast there eyes over it before going to a garage, where abouts in Oxfordshire are you there might be someone nearby that can help you.

[muddycoffee]

I'v checked the oil leval, evan changed it for the same oil i used befor the problem, oiled the chain and cleaned everything else and adjusted everything. Still no hope, might have to sell my Wii to fund a garage to fix it for me. Anyone want a Wii? The console sort that is. Right i'm off to sulk a bit in the garage, in the nice sun

Yes but have you actually changed the cable for a new one ?

[chakraist]

If you take off the little clutch cover on the left hand side of the bike, give that all a good clean out as there tends to be a lot of crap that gathers in there. Next thing, pull the clutch lever in and check it to see if it's moving at the correct rate down the left hand side. Failing that take the worm gear out and adjust that, it's quite easy to take it the other way so that the clutch is permanently engaged. Sorry if you already know all this.

Ooh also you should check the push rod as mine sheared in half once.

[Sid Squid]

Your description has 'clutch drag' written all over it - there's almost certainly nothing wrong that won't be solved by being adjusted right.

If your clutch were failing it wouldn't grip enough - yours is gripping too well.

[ukrobuk]

Hi i'm in Witney West of Oxford, The only thing i havn't tryed is changing the cable, i'll try it today, but thats the last of the things to try, got myself a haynes book, says somthing about the plates could have stuck together or somthing?
Thanks for all the help i'll be giving my clutch another go today. 3rd time lucky
Also my net seems to be nackered 2 so having problems getting onto the site at the mo.

[chakraist]

If you remove the clutch mechanism, worm gear etc and then the push rod, you can spray some wd40 or similar in the little 'ole that the push rod fits in, adjust it all properly and it should be fine.

[ukrobuk]

Ok i made some progress today, i took some engine oil out so its now halfway between Max and Min instead of being on the max line. Anyway left the plastic cover off while i went for a 10min spin. I can now get in N with ease but if i'm in 1st and stopped the bike still wants to move, at this point i looked at the side and noticed somthing i hadn't befor.
The small rod was spinning sort of, it was trying to spin but getting stuck sometimes. Ok i don't know allot about this but i guess the rod is ment to spin freely, but when? Is it ment to spin 100% of the time or what? Anyway i'v marked the rod on the pic and could this be my problem? I'v currently taken bits off the bike and following what chakraist says i should do (post above this 1). Never noticed it spinning befor i think it must have been well and truly stuck befor.
Also i got a new clutch cable in the post.

[aadeyc73]

I could be seeing things wrong but to me it looks like you need that new cable as it is already on full adjustment and therefore its possible that when pulling the lever it doesn't have sufficient movement required to work the clutch properly.

[yorkie_chris]

No, they should be adjusted using the worm drive. The cable adjusters are not an indicator of the state of the cable.

Now I can see why sid squid gets annoyed at reposting his guide to it 10 times a day....

[aadeyc73]

No, they should be adjusted using the worm drive. The cable adjusters are not an indicator of the state of the cable.

Now I can see why sid squid gets annoyed at reposting his guide to it 10 times a day....


Oops admittedly I was basing my comments on dealings on other bikes as I haven't had to do anything on the SVs before. I tried to find Sid Squid's post on adjustment but couldn't find what I was looking for in the posts I saw from him on the subject.

I'll look further next time.

[yorkie_chris]

Lot's of other bikes use a lever arm type adjuster where the mechanism is on the same side as the clutch, the SV's goes through the middle of the gearbox input shaft.

It's the worm drive which many bikes dont have as the lever pushes directly onto the release bearing. On these the cable adjusters matter.

HTH

[ukrobuk]

Its fixed, i was buggering about with it again yesterday and some how i fixed it. Still need a new cable though as i'm loosing 3mm on travel.
I cleaned the worm drive and the metal tube that holds the ball bearings in wasn't fitted correctly (didn't realise the first time i looked), it was flapping about so i pulled it out and cleaned it, noticed some ball bearings were missing. Anyway I re bent the tab at 1 end to stop it flapping about and put some more ball bearings in it. Gave the grub screw some tweaking and hey, it worked woo hoo.
Still not 100% though, small amount of drag but i hoping a new cable will sort out this last little bit.

Many thanks all, you all been a great help.
I'm off to do a Sun dance now.

Cheers

Rob

[Ceri JC]

Any recommendations on where to get new clutch cables folks? Thanks.