crazy clutch

[saltydog]

i finally got the bike to run after repeated boiling of the carbs in brake fluid and lemon juice for a few hours then blowing out the jets with compressed air. she fired up at one..lol all i had to do was point my finger at it and away she purrs. so that settled..i changed the old fusebox to some automotive spade connectors..that are insulated and the fit nicely under the seat complete with,you guessed it .automotive fuses..away with the cylindrical ones. well after getting the bike to run so nicely,its to my utter dissapointment to find that as soon as i shift to first gear it dies. tried again..same thing. in neutral i can spin the wheel with not resistance but in gear,even with the clutch lever all the way in..its as tight as a nun's ass to move. tried adjusting the cable..no go. took off the clutch basket and found that one of the naked iron bits was a bit rusted..changed that ,but back basket...same shit. tried the 12 nut and screwdriver thingy under theplug on the chain cover..it wont budge. the oil i am using is sae 40 grade premiuom motor oil....what am i doing wrong???? helllllp!!!

 

[drewpy]

sounds like the clutch plates have seized.

you need to free them and make sure its adjusted correctly too

 

[16VGTIDave]

I agree with Drewpy, sounds like the clutch plates are stuck.

That said, I have a question: When you shift into gear, does the engine stop instantly? With a good clunk? Or does it die like you turned off the ignition? Winding down until a compression stroke stops the engine?

The reason I ask is that you may have a problem with the safety system that later bikes have. The side stand is supposed to have a switch that will kill the ignition if the side stand is down and the transmission is NOT in neutral. My switch was broken and the wires just twisted together when I got it. It took some troubleshooting for me to get the bike to stay running when I put it in gear. I had to install a jumper wire into a connector under the seat near the battery. It was a 2 wire connector, a Blue with Yellow stripe wire and a Black wire, in my case, that I had to connect together.

Let us know what you find!

Dave

 

[saltydog]

well drewpy i took out the basket everything in there seems shiny and nice...when i installed it again and squeezed the clutch only the outer ones seems to be releasing i have to use a flat screwdriver to get the others to le go of themselves. yes dave it just gave a good clunk and the engine dies. i have seen the wire u are talking about it comes from the side stand..u think that could be the problem???

 

[16VGTIDave]

No, if it is clunking into gear hard and stopping dead, then it probably isn't wiring.

Have you tried shifting into gear with the rear tire off the ground?

 

[saltydog]

ok i went out there ..in the middle of frying a 6lbs tuna all sliced up..lol annd too a coal chisel and hammer and hacked off the switch cos the bolts that held it were way past their sell by date.. i now have it in my hand it is stuck in the down position...sidestand down position. so i am guessing that if i disconnect it at the connector it should be fine...soon come ill try again

 

[16VGTIDave]

LOL! That is one way to do it!

You will have to connect the 2 wires together or it will stall as soon as you shift out of neutral.

 

[saltydog]

tried it with the rear tire off the ground and the same thing bappened

 

[saltydog]

disconnected the wires..bridged them together same thing...i used my multimeter to probe the blue and yellow wire it goes in the loom to the headlamp where it is paired off with a black and yellow wire in a flat green connector but there is nothing connected to it so i am thinking maybe there is something missing?

 

[jmd_forest]

Use the adjuster at the cluthc lever to adjust the cable as tight as possible so you can disngage the cluthc better and then see if the bike dies when shifted into gear. If it does not, the clutch will likely slip if you try to ride this way but at least you will have narrowed the culprit to clutch adjustment. I had the same thing happen with our 1980 XS400 but only when cold. I'd adjust the clutch in the morning to stop the first gear death and the bike would ride fine unbtill you parked for a while and then the clutch would slip. Adjust again and you could ride all day but the next morning you would get first gear clunk/kill engine. This went on for a week or so and finally simply went away.

You could try changing the oil to a high quality MOTORCYCLE oil specifically designed for wet clutch bikes.

 

[saltydog]

thanks forrest will look into yer six pence in the morning and hope mine goes away as wll lol

 

[Liamthedevastator]

Silly question but did you put the ball bearing on the clutch push rod back into the whole assembly? It seems like that thing goes missing easily, maybe the 4mm would be enough to keep your clutch engaged?