Clutch woes! Advice needed....

Right, I took my bike to the shoppe today with a slow puncture...I pick my bike up and ride off. First gear:

release the clutch a smidgen...no power to rear wheel,
realease the clutch a smidgen more & still no power to rear wheel
as I release the clutch to nearly all the way out power goes to the rear wheel taking me by surprise....Thinking I'm just being a numpty I ride off.

Then after a minute head right back to ye aulde bike shoppe. I speak to the mechanic that touched my bike up about the lack of power to the rear wheel when I let the clutch out & he said he did it because: there was too much play in the clutch & the clutch either was dragging or could drag...Means nothing to me.

He advised me to give it a go & if I didn't like it bring it back tomorrow....but that it should be like he's altered it. Instead of demanding that he altered it there & then I sheepishly thanked him & off I went.

It feels like a different bike. The lack of instant power being delivered to the rear wheel when I start to release the clutch is a bit weird. I don't like it - but then it may be that I don't like it as I'm used to the bike being set up as it was before the garage touched it.

Now the question is: Should I alter it back or leave it & get used to the clutch as it is now. It's quite stiff.

give it a few days, its always best to have it correctly adjusted.

Sounds to me like you had the clutch adjustment was set wrong in the first place. If you have your clutch bite right at the beginning of the lever (most of the way out) then there is a possibility that the clutch was not fully engaging causing the drag that the guy from the garage was on about.

This would probably not show it's self except from hard acceleration. Over time your going to wear out the clutch quicker than it normally would.

cheers for the advice guys....I'll give it another couple of days, to try to get used to it.

The major lack of power when I release the clutch concerns me as I feel like I'm totally freewheeling it for longer when I change gears.

[JediGoat]

Ahhh.....I know exactly how you feel...since Mr Squid fixed my clutch on Friday.

Cue me trying to pull away from Soho Square only to think....'Bugger....I've lost first gear!'. It took a quiet word from Raf to convince me that this is how clutches are meant to be

After riding like a noob for a couple of miles, I've kind of gotten the hang of it, and it's much better than it used to be - although I still rev the engine like a fool when doing slow turns

I'm sure just as I get the hang of it properly, Ian will adjust the other end of the clutch and send me back to noobdom again

Jo

Originally Posted by shop_addict

Ahhh.....I know exactly how you feel...since Mr Squid fixed my clutch on Friday.

Cue me trying to pull away from Soho Square only to think....'Bugger....I've lost first gear!'. It took a quiet word from Raf to convince me that this is how clutches are meant to be

After riding like a noob for a couple of miles, I've kind of gotten the hang of it, and it's much better than it used to be - although I still rev the engine like a fool when doing slow turns

I'm sure just as I get the hang of it properly, Ian will adjust the other end of the clutch and send me back to noobdom again

Jo

Phew - a relief it's not just me then! When I first attempted to pull away & nothing happened. I peered over the side of my bike to ensure that the mechanic had put the chain back on the wheel!

my clutch bites right about the very first of the leaver what is the proper way of adjusting the clutch this goes to the sv gurus out there

Originally Posted by kcowgergmm

my clutch bites right about the very first of the leaver what is the proper way of adjusting the clutch this goes to the sv gurus out there

According to the mechanic you should tighten it all the way. If you undo the rubber cover thing that's on clutch lever you'll see a metal turny thing. Turn that will tighten/loosen the clutch somewhat.

[lukemillar]

Originally Posted by BigApe

Sounds to me like you had the clutch adjustment was set wrong in the first place. If you have your clutch bite right at the beginning of the lever (most of the way out) then there is a possibility that the clutch was not fully engaging causing the drag that the guy from the garage was on about.

This would probably not show it's self except from hard acceleration. Over time your going to wear out the clutch quicker than it normally would.

I read it differently - that now he has the bite point at the beginning of the lever (most of the way out), whereas before it was further back.

I found that there are some good posts on clutch adjustment on here - search: Sid Squid + clutch adjustment. It's quite a useful thing to learn how to do and takes 5 mins

Originally Posted by Sid Squid Previously
Slacken off cable adjusters at top and bottom, loosen lifter locknut, back out screw a bit, ensure that lifter arm is as far down as it will go, gently turn screw in until it contacts pushrod, then back it out a bit, (~1/8th of a turn), then nip up the locknut, roughly adjust cable with lower adjuster - not too tight - then with top adjuster, ensure that there remains a little slack all the way from lock to lock.