Intro & Question on clutch

Hi guys and gals. I am new to the forum having just bought myself my first SV650. It is a 1999 SV650 SY in metallic red. I bought the bike as my 2nd bike that I am going to use for winter riding, tinkering about with, and also now as my day-to-day transport after losing my job last week and losing my company car.

Here is a pic of the bike:



The major problem though is with the biting point on the clutch and that is what I need some help on. When I first set off this morning the biting point was quite far out (i.e. you had to let the lever out about half way before you got the bite). By the time though that i pulled up at my mates the biting point was literally right back at the bar (i.e. you didnt really have to let it out at all to get the biting point). At this point I was worrying as it was struggling to put it in to neutral or in to gear when it was stationary and parked outside my mates.

I stayed at my mates for an hour or so and when I came to ride it home the biting point had gone back to about half way out again. Being concsious about it though I kept feeling for how it was changing and I got about 90% of the way home and I lost the clutch completely and couldnt change gear at all as when i pulled the lever in it just didnt engage the clutch. So i stopped and reckoned it must be something to do with the bike getting warm or clutch getting warm, so stopped to let it cool. I also twisted out the adjuster on the lever to help give a little more scope with the lever. I let the bike cool and then managed to get home.

So what is wrong with it? Do i need a new clutch? Would it be the cable that is stretching? I just want to make sure that I get the right bits to replace and not just guess at it being the clutch plates and find it doesnt solve the problem but i have spent my money. Whatever it is I will attempt to fix it myself with the aid of a Haynes manual but just dont want to waste money.

To give you an idea of how far i rode before i had no clutch, it was about 12 miles of 30, 40, and 50 speed limits.

Here are some pics of how far out the cable adjuster on the lever it, and also showing the cable doesnt look frayed:

do a search on worm drive

I'm not sure why the biting point would change with use, but someone who knows more than me should be able to help.

My only input would be that your clutch cable bends quite drastically in the photos. Is it routed correctly?

Originally Posted by husky03

do a search on worm drive

Just tried lookng for worm drive and cant seem to find out what exactly it is, what it does, or where I can buy one from. Can you please give me some more info.

I am currently planning to replace the cheap aftermarket levers and the clutch cable and also do an oil change to see if any of those things help with the theory of replacing the cheap parts first before diving diving straight in with a full clutch replacement.

Originally Posted by sam hagger

I'm not sure why the biting point would change with use, but someone who knows more than me should be able to help.

My only input would be that your clutch cable bends quite drastically in the photos. Is it routed correctly?

I cant understand it either. My immediate thought was that the clutch must be knackered, but that is pretty expensive so trying to replace the cheaper items like levers, cable, and oil first.

I dont know what the proper routing of the cable should be for me to check if it is right or not. Where could I find this out?

Originally Posted by jonabonospen

Just tried lookng for worm drive and cant seem to find out what exactly it is, what it does, or where I can buy one from. Can you please give me some more info.

I am currently planning to replace the cheap aftermarket levers and the clutch cable and also do an oil change to see if any of those things help with the theory of replacing the cheap parts first before diving diving straight in with a full clutch replacement.

The worm drive is under the front sprocket cover. Your Haynes manual should go into how to remove, clean and install it. There are small ball bearings in there that can drop out, so be careful.

Originally Posted by jonabonospen

I cant understand it either. My immediate thought was that the clutch must be knackered, but that is pretty expensive so trying to replace the cheaper items like levers, cable, and oil first.

I dont know what the proper routing of the cable should be for me to check if it is right or not. Where could I find this out?

Not sure how you can check the routing, other than another SV. Just make sure it takes a smooth route and doesn't interfere with the steering.

Have done some reading about clutch problems and there seems to be a lot of talk of the clutch release mechanism. Could it be a problem with this that is causing my issue? The bike is currently in bits after stripping it all for painting so cant test it just yet after the oil and clutch cable change, but whilst it is up on the workbench I want to try get this issue solved. I just dont want to buy replacement parts that maybe are not necessary.

So is there a logical chance that it could be the clutch release mechanism? Or is this what you meant before by worm drive?

Also, if you do think it could be this then where can you buy / get prices for one online?