1980 xs 400 special clutch problems

firegatejeeyamaha

XS400 Enthusiast
Messages
76
Reaction score
0
Points
6
Location
Phoenix Az
Hello all fellow riders and xs owners well I am a new member to the xs400 site finally after all these years.

Well i have a quite a few xs 400 in the past and have another one yet again i feel that i am mechanically inclined but am having troubles with the clutch i have tried to adjust it every witch way i can and it is always it tight to loose so try to see if you guys could give me a pointer to getting the clutch to feel good and work great and help well appreciated/
 
first make sure your cable is well oiled and is routed correctly. even slightly out gives a real crappy clutch.
Have you recently stripped, cleaned and greased the actator in the left cover?
The push rod also gets whacked by crud off the chain run and can get rust pits which will make the action rough!

Have you adjusted the clutch at the cover end first?
 
I did i took the cable off strapped it to a pole filled a zip lock bag with some lubrication oil in it and sealed it shut let it all run through the line into a cup slid back and fourth like a champ took the cover off cleaned it all out and had oiled it already put it all back on and same thing and i did adjust at bottom first
 
What exactly is the problem? It feels too tight or too loose? Or one or the other and you can't find the sweet spot?
 
Well it is either to tight to where the clutch is engaged all the time and when i mean tight the rod is so far pushed forward or it is to loose to where you cant do anything with it and right now it works just i have to hold it all the way out to where it all most stalls out then it engages
 
I still don't know what you mean... and I've read your post 4 times.

What rod is so far pushed forward? What do you mean forward? I think you need to make a video of your problem and put it on youtube! :D
 
ok ill put a video on and when i mean so far forward the rod that is in the lower case that pushes the clutch it is either so far pushed in to where the clutch is engaged all the time
 
When the rod is pushed into the engine (by pulling the clutch lever in), that will disengage the clutch by pushing the pressure plate out and allowing the friction plates and steel plates to slip between each other.

When the rod is not being pushed into the engine (clutch lever out), the clutch springs are pressing on the pressure plate which will squish the friction plates and steel plates together and engage the clutch.

I know that may seem intuitively backwards, but pulling on the clutch lever disengages the clutch. When you are not pulling on the clutch lever, the clutch is engaged.
 
Eureka!
got an idea
the clutch basket "teeth" wear little grooves in them due to the plates hitting it on de/acceleration. This will keep the clutch plates in different positions when it is used. it will be random where they sit.
you can gently file them smooth, but watch out if you go too much the plates will whack the basket making it even worse.
 
Well i am pretty sure my problems are solved i had ordered another clutch cable just to be safe but it on and adjusted it and it seems a lot better so i assume the cable was just stretched out to far
 
You'd think between the adjustment on the "worm gear" and the adjustment at the clutch lever, you'd be able to make up for almost any amount of stretching of an old cable. Maybe you should cut the old cable and see in there were any frays in the cable or anything. On the other hand.. you might want to carry it as a spare since it still works.
 
Back
Top