when releasing the clutch

[Josh_kcco]

I barley have to pull the lever back to engage the clutch. and when releasing it the lever feels as if its all the way forward(?). not to sure how to explain this but I do know the slack is up to spec.

[alex.s]

sounds correct to me

[dcj13]

Originally Posted by Josh_kcco

I barley have to pull the lever back to engage the clutch. and when releasing it the lever feels as if its all the way forward(?). not to sure how to explain this but I do know the slack is up to spec.

Do you mean "pull the lever back to disengage the clutch"? Terminology is important. Sounds like you want to adjust the cable sheath to obtain a bit of freeplay.

[Josh_kcco]

Originally Posted by dcj13

Do you mean "pull the lever back to disengage the clutch"? Terminology is important. Sounds like you want to adjust the cable sheath to obtain a bit of freeplay.

like if I wanna shift gears I barley pull back the lever. so little that I can use to fingers and there enough room to leave the other fingers on the handle bar. some one told me that my clutch is wearing down. there is freeplay.

[choneofakind]

maybe it will be better on a bigger bike.

[dcj13]

Yeah: you need to add freeplay by adjusting the clutch cable sheath (make it effectively shorter) using the thumbwheel adjuster up on the handlebars.

As your clutch wears, the freeplay gets reduced. So you need to adjust it.

[Josh_kcco]

Originally Posted by choneofakind

maybe it will be better on a bigger bike.

yea cause at least ill have other option for levers... 8==D

[Sirref]

$30 or less gets you adjustable levers on ebay/amazon

[Josh_kcco]

Originally Posted by sirref

$30 or less gets you adjustable levers on ebay/amazon

ive looked there all for the newgen..

[Sirref]

the levers are all the same size, they're just marketed for the newgen. They should fit without issue.

[choneofakind]

Originally Posted by Josh_kcco

ive looked there all for the newgen..

Get the ones for the ex500. The brake lever is a direct swap. The clutch needs an ex500 clutch perch and lever bushing.


Try some searching.

[Josh_kcco]

Originally Posted by choneofakind

Get the ones for the ex500. The brake lever is a direct swap. The clutch needs an ex500 clutch perch and lever bushing.


Try some searching.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2x-Short-Clu...15208e&vxp=mtr

[flitecontrol]

Don't have enough ride time on the Ninja to know if this applies to them, but most bikes can be upshifted without the clutch if the rpms are correct. Maybe you aren't pulling the lever all the way, but enough to initiate a shift?

In your first post you said the slack is up to spec. Assume you mean there is some freeplay in the lever once it is released.

[alex.s]

Originally Posted by Josh_kcco

I barley have to pull the lever back to engage the clutch. and when releasing it the lever feels as if its all the way forward(?). not to sure how to explain this but I do know the slack is up to spec.

if you have at least 1-2mm of play when the clutch is let out, then there is nothing wrong. the person who told you your clutch is broken doesnt know what they are talking about. if they did they would have given you real information, not just "your shits broke bro"

[Finesse]

I have this same problem. to the point where my friction zone has been reduced to about 1 inch and there is 1mm of free play in the cable. I barely have to touch the clutch to switch gears and when I'm starting from a stop it's actually getting hard to start smoothly because the clutch is either all the way in or all the way out. I'm going to try adjusting it tomorrow and see what happens, not at the handlebar but down near the engine...

[choneofakind]

Clean and lube everything. Check the whole length of the cable for any fraying or excessive wear. When in doubt, replace that cable.

[dcj13]

Originally Posted by choneofakind

Clean and lube everything. Check the whole length of the cable for any fraying or excessive wear. When in doubt, replace that cable.

If you do replace the cable, routing is very important.

Handy clutch (or throttle) cable replacement trick:
Disconnect both ends of the cable; duct tape one end of new cable to the other end of the old cable; pull out old cable. Voila! The new cable is routed correctly!

[choneofakind]

Originally Posted by dcj13

Handy clutch (or throttle) cable replacement trick:
Disconnect both ends of the cable; duct tape one end of new cable to the other end of the old cable; pull out old cable. Voila! The new cable is routed correctly!

It's actually not a bad idea to do this if you suspect your current clutch cable is less than 100% fine. That way, whenever your cable does go bad, you have a spare in place, just in case. 10 minutes at a gas station to swap to the new cable and you've got a perfect bike again.

[thumper64]

I had my cable snap at the bottom of a hill after it was feeling kind of gritty and it only engaged with the clutch about all the way out. You can up and downshift a car or bike without using the clutch, its just a matter of rev matching. I do like the duct tape trick, that's a really good idea.

[adouglas]

This is not a problem. As long as you have free play set correctly with the clutch lever fully out and the clutch isn't slipping, then you're good to go.

You can test clutch slippage easily. Put the bike's front tire up against a wall. Fire it up, put it into gear and let the clutch out. It should stall immediately.

On my brand-new gixxer, the clutch fully disengages at less than half the lever travel... and that's with the free play set to proper spec. I can shift gears with just a small pull , exactly as you describe. In fact, it's even easier on this bike than it was on the Ninjette.

All too common in threads like these to instantly recommend buying something to fix a "problem" that doesn't exist. You don't need levers. You may WANT levers, but that's a different discussion.

[thumper64]

I have small hands. Spec may be fine, but it doesn't fit me...

[Josh_kcco]

Originally Posted by adouglas

This is not a problem. As long as you have free play set correctly with the clutch lever fully out and the clutch isn't slipping, then you're good to go.

You can test clutch slippage easily. Put the bike's front tire up against a wall. Fire it up, put it into gear and let the clutch out. It should stall immediately.

On my brand-new gixxer, the clutch fully disengages at less than half the lever travel... and that's with the free play set to proper spec. I can shift gears with just a small pull , exactly as you describe. In fact, it's even easier on this bike than it was on the Ninjette.

All too common in threads like these to instantly recommend buying something to fix a "problem" that doesn't exist. You don't need levers. You may WANT levers, but that's a different discussion.

i kinda tested the clutch by sitting idle on flat, shifting to first, then just letting the clutch go to see if the bike jumped. which it did. but ill give your test a try as well.
this may not be related, but at times going from first to second i sometimes end up in neutral. not sure sure if it cause my foots relaxed or not shifting up hard enough.

[choneofakind]

Shifts shouldn't be from kicking hard. They should be from pressing firmly and confidently. That said, if it's falling out of 2nd into neutral or never getting to 2nd in the first place, press it firmly rather than just tapping it. Try pressing it and using your foot to hold it up in 2nd until you've let the clutch out completely. It should be about 1 second of total contact with the shift lever. Just enough to make sure it's not going to pop out again.

To test slippage, just use some constant rear brake to add apply load to the engine. Keep an eye on the tach and speedo at the same time. Add throttle as needed to keep a constant speed. If your engine starts revving up without you accelerating and/or you're unable to keep a constant speed (without going uberhulk on the rear brake), you've likely got some slippage (or poor coordination, in which case, my method won't be valid for you ).

Don't ride the rear brake for a really long time though. it has a nasty habit of getting really really hot when you do that.

[Finesse]

I went to my local shop today and asked about this. he looked at my clutch cable which is already adjusted correctly and said it's probably that the clutch on my bike is wearing out. I don't know about yours.. but mine is a 99 with 13k miles that's probably been abused... he knows my bike and said he wouldn't be surprised if I will need a new clutch sometime soon, I will start noticing that the bike will just rev instead of accelerate. I haven't noticed that yet. I'm guessing it's less of an issue with your bike because it's newer and probably hasn't been beat up a lot. I'm not getting a new clutch, F that, I'll just ride it until I can't and THEN I'll spend more money