SV650 K3 Clutch Drag & Front Brake issues

Hi,

I have read through previous posts and tried the different adjustments and Oil levels but cannot seem to get rid of clutch drag when engine warmed up

When cold it goes into 1st gear perfectly, absolutley no clunk or anything but once warmed up its a pain, sometimes have to switch engine off to get out of 1st gear, tried running with oil level at halfway between low and full and although it improves it still has some drag, I've run with Motul semi synthetic and silkolene comp 4 full synthetic and both the same, cleaned and checked adjustment to no avail, my next thoughts are checking the clutch plates, on the K3 it seems you have to remove the whole side cover to access clutch, can this be done without any draining off of Oil & Water

My next problem is the front brake, at speed the brake is ok, no judder or anything but when coming to a halt I get uneven braking as though the discs are worn uneven, all the floaters seem free and the discs look ok and when spun they look nice and straight and they haven't got that much wear - before I think about replacing the discs is there anything else I could try?

Should I need to replace either of the above does anyone have any recommondations for makes and suppliers

Cheers in advance for any help given

Longway

[DJ123]

Longway, try filling the oil so it is half way up the window. Remember to have the bike completely upright when doing this so its an accurate refill. Both of my K3's got clutch drag when the oil was filled up over halfway. Regularly keep an eye on the level

Originally Posted by daddyjob

Longway, try filling the oil so it is half way up the window. Remember to have the bike completely upright when doing this so its an accurate refill. Both of my K3's got clutch drag when the oil was filled up over halfway. Regularly keep an eye on the level

I've tried this and although it does improve the gearshift alot it still has some drag once warmed up, yet when it's cold the gears shift perfectly -very strange, all the bikes I've had are usually the other way round

[Geodude]

Originally Posted by Longway

I've tried this and although it does improve the gearshift alot it still has some drag once warmed up, yet when it's cold the gears shift perfectly -very strange, all the bikes I've had are usually the other way round

Although i have a curvy mine did the same when warmed up. Usually after about ten minutes of riding. I changed the clutch plates and steel's did the sid squid clutch adjustment and it stopped. Don't know if you already looked at that though.

Originally Posted by Geodude

Although i have a curvy mine did the same when warmed up. Usually after about ten minutes of riding. I changed the clutch plates and steel's did the sid squid clutch adjustment and it stopped. Don't know if you already looked at that though.

I've tried everything other than changing clutch plates, looks like that will be the next thing to do - on a good note it went straight through MOT yesterday, wasn't sure if they'd say something about the front brake being a little uneven

[Geodude]

Strangely my mot place said that they wouldn't pass my bike with the clutch creep issue so you've done ok there i think.

[Sid Squid]

Clutch drag that persists despite correct and obsessive adjustment most probably indicates one of two things:

1. The lifter is goosed. Once worn the lifter's ability to provide plate separation is reduced, it might be enough when the plates are cold and thus thin, but not enough when the clutch has heated up and the plates have expanded, this is a common fault.

2. The clutch outer basket is notched, this cause the plates to hang and not separate cleanly. When cold they're thin and don't need to move far, when hot they can't move far enough.

There are other possible problems - but those two are the most likely.

Originally Posted by Sid Squid

Clutch drag that persists despite correct and obsessive adjustment most probably indicates one of two things:

1. The lifter is goosed. Once worn the lifter's ability to provide plate separation is reduced, it might be enough when the plates are cold and thus thin, but not enough when the clutch has heated up and the plates have expanded, this is a common fault.

2. The clutch outer basket is notched, this cause the plates to hang and not separate cleanly. When cold they're thin and don't need to move far, when hot they can't move far enough.

There are other possible problems - but those two are the most likely.

Thanks Sid, by lifter I assume you mean the worm gear that pushes the rod in, is there a measurable amount that this should go in to check it is working OK, I've had this out and it looks OK, but it would be a lot cheaper and easier fix than a clutch replacement

[Sid Squid]

Originally Posted by Longway

is there a measurable amount that this should go in to check it is working OK.

Not a measurement as such, no. As I'm sure you know, the lifter is a threaded drum that transfers the pull of the cable into the push of the rod, if the lifter rotates but does not push the rod then there is clearly wasted motion in the assembly. The cable can only pull the arm by a certain distance and thus turn the drum only a given amount, if any significant fraction of that cable pull isn't achieving push of the rod there may not be enough clutch lift to cleanly separate the plates under all circumstances.

To ascertain wear try this:

Slacken the cable adjusters so the cable doesn't interfere with the movement of the lifter arm. Loosen the lfter locknut and turn the adjuster screw in until it just touches, and then hold it there and just nip the locknut up. Now try to move the arm up and down as the cable would when you pull the lever, if it moves more than a few millimetres then it's certainly worn.

Of course how worn is too worn? As a very rough guesstimate I'd say if it moves more than 5-7 mm without pushing the rod then it's probably too far gone to be reliably adjusted - but I've seen worse being used.

Put the adjustment back as it should be, and don't be tempted to overtighten the adjustment in attempt to make it work if the lifter is worn, overtight adjustment can cause excessive wear of the other parts of the lifter mechanism and clutch itself.

Cheers Sid, I'll give that a go