Clutch cable loose. No it isn't.

Confused? Yes so am I.

The clutch cable had a little too much free play. No bother I thought, I've adjusted the clutch a million times before, I know how to do it.

Adjusted clutch and got it just the way I like. Go for a test ride. Get to the dual carriage way and open up. Up through the box no problem. Go to change back down and find clutch is completely loose. I mean the lever is banging back on the grip. It's flapping about all over the place. Pull over and find the clutch cable is loose to the extreme. Now my initial thought is the grub screw is loose and I must have forgotten to tighten the lock nut. A quick check confirms this is incorrect. The nut and grub screw are firmly secured in place. OK so it must be the actual cable adjusters. Wrong again. Cable is secured firmly in place.

I give the lever a tug again. No idea why but just do. WTF. The tension is back. The clutch is working fine again.

I ride back home, go through all the clutch adjustment routine again. Have everything covered. Clutch bite is perfect. Off I go again. This time I go the opposite direction through the twisty back road. Same thing happens again. Clutch lever is banging against the grip and I've lost all clutch function. Ride it home again, check all the adjustments are tight, shrug my shoulders, go in have a coffee. Come back out and he clutch seems fine again.

So please, someone tell me, WTF is wrong with my clutch. I have a possible scenario in my head, but wont mention and see if anyone else thinks what I am thinking.

Pull the worm drive behind the casing apart, you'll probably find the ball bearings are all over the shop and it's worn out. I had similar happen to my Bandit 600, a new worm drive was about 25 quid

Originally Posted by Lozzo

Pull the worm drive behind the casing apart, you'll probably find the ball bearings are all over the shop and it's worn out. I had similar happen to my Bandit 600, a new worm drive was about 25 quid

Nope. All of that is new. Replaced only about 1000 miles ago.

But I will pull it apart and double check.

[yorkie_chris]

Something loose around the worm drive, possibly clutch center nut has backed off?

[punyXpress]

Is clutch outer snagging on the adjuster nut?
When it's tight it's gainst the side of the nut with inner sliding in the cutout & when it's slack it's inside it?
If inner is binding in outer, it can move it to this point.
Not a very good explanation, but I THINK I know what I mean!

Originally Posted by yorkie_chris

Something loose around the worm drive, possibly clutch center nut has backed off?

Nope. This is what I was convinced was wrong. I assumed almost as 'matter of fact' this was the case. I checked and double checked. Everything was tight as it should have been.

Originally Posted by punyXpress

Is clutch outer snagging on the adjuster nut?
When it's tight it's gainst the side of the nut with inner sliding in the cutout & when it's slack it's inside it?
If inner is binding in outer, it can move it to this point.
Not a very good explanation, but I THINK I know what I mean!

I'm glad you do because I don't.

Have you checked the push rod behind the worm drive? I had similar problems to this; turned out the rod had sheared through!

Originally Posted by chakraist

Have you checked the push rod behind the worm drive? I had similar problems to this; turned out the rod had sheared through!

So now we are getting warmer to what I think may be the problem. But I am still puzzled how come the cable can come so loose and then tighten up all on it's own.

I had clutch issues before and the diagnosis of that was a worn push rod. The solution was to add a ball bearing at the end of the push rod to extend it. Along with this the worm mechanism was renewed. I did wonder if the ball bearing had either broken or worn down? But this would have given me the symptoms but it wouldn't have 'fixed itself.'

This is the bit I am finding difficult to understand. How is it doing this? This is also making me think it has nothing to do with the push rod.

[jambo]

OK, we've checked one side of this mechanism, had the clutch cover off the other side and checked that the main nut that holds the clutch basket is still tight?

Any wear/slack in this side of the mechanism tends to manifest itself as a clutch adjustment problem. When me and Grinch left a thrust washer out that should live behind the clutch basket it essentially moved the clutch toward the worm drive, throwing all the adjustment out.

Jambo