Help please! Clutch is acting weird.

[ramennoodleking]

Sometimes after shutting down my bike for a while, even sometimes just for a few hours, I will come back to my bike to ride and find Im having problems with my clutch.

Ill start the bike in neutral, then hold down the clutch handle all the way down, and downshift into first gear (the shifting pattern is one down, four up 5 speed), but as soon as i downshift, the bike lunges forward as if i didnt have the clutch fully engaged.

Ill restart the bike several times, keep trying, and then before long the bike works again as abruptly as it stopped working.

Any ideas?

 

[J-man]

(the shifting pattern is one down, four up 5 speed)

Yea I think most of us understand a 5 speed.

As for the clutch you might want to check if the cable is fully engaging. My bike was doing the same thing when i first got it, I adjusted the cable and it was good to go.

 

[ramennoodleking]

Sorry, i was dumbing it down because, frankly, im stupid when it comes to mechanics. this is my first bike or atv of any sort.

I know by the clutch handle, there is a rubber sleeve that covers over a screw and plate thing. I was told, but vaguely remember, that you can adjust the clutch from there. In what way does it need to be adjusted? Screwed in tighter or more loose?

 

[_JOE_]

Have you ever owned a bicycle? It's a standard cable slack adjuster with a barrel and lock ring. You should have a small amount of free play at the lever. If the lever travels more than about a quarter inch or so it could be tightened up a bit. It sounds more like an issue of the clutch plates sticking together seeing as how it goes away when warm. How long has it been since you changed the tranny oil and what oil did you use?

 

[ramennoodleking]

no, this is my first bike, and i bought it about 2 weeks ago. Ive road it about 30 miles, and it had about 400 on it the owner said.

So no, ive personally never changed the transmission oil. So i basically need to loosen the lock ring, tighten (screw in) the cable slack adjuster, and then relock the lock ring?

 

[m4i2k2e2]

like joe said there should be about a quarter inch or so. so when the lever is full released, if your pull it your should feel the cable tighten up. at that point it should be about a quarter inch gap. if there is more slack you can adjust it by spinning it out so it closes the gap to the quarter inch or so.
what kind of bike is this?

-mike.

 

[FruDaddy]

Keep a minimal amount of pressure on the clutch lever and screw the adjuster out until the end of the lever is about 1/8 inch from the perch. Then tighten the stop nut against the perch. After that, change the tranny fluid.

 

[_JOE_]

I should have been more specific. Quarter inch at the ball end of the lever. Basically you need to leave just enough slack so that the clutch springs can fully engage the pressure plate. If the play at the end of the lever is excessive it will prevent the pushrod from being able to push the pressure plate away from the clutch pack. Too thick a tranny oil could also cause some dragging.

 

[rmc_olderthandirt]

but as soon as i downshift, the bike lunges forward as if i didnt have the clutch fully engaged.

Ill restart the bike several times, keep trying, and then before long the bike works again as abruptly as it stopped working.

This behavior is common, and in fact might be "normal" based on how severe it is.

The clutch operates in an oil bath, and the viscosity of the oil will provide a little coupling between the plates even when you are squeezing the clutch lever. This coupling is enough to get the gear sets spinning when you are in neutral and then when you shift into gear there is a significant "clunk" and the bike can lurch a bit, especially if you had been revving the engine a bit.

With the transmission in gear half the clutch plates will be held still which results in a significant load on the engine due to the "clutch drag". If your idle is set too low or if the carburetor idle mixture is incorrect for the conditions (like when the engine is cold) it can kill the engine at idle.

Once the engine heats up, however, the oil thins out and the coupling between the clutch plates due to the oil reduces. Your bike might idle a bit better warm as well so you don't experience the problem.

One thing you can do that might improve the situation is to run a multi-weight synthetic oil, or simply a much thinner oil. I have been using a 5W-20 synthetic which has helped my bike a bit.

Rod

 

[FruDaddy]

I should have been more specific.

I wasn't trying to contradict you in any way, I was just trying to simplify the adjustment process. In fact, I probably should have mentioned that if the cable is adjusted in such a way that the lever is held tightly against the perch, then the clutch might not be fully engaging and could slip, which is why there must be some slack.

 

[m4i2k2e2]

This behavior is common, and in fact might be "normal" based on how severe it is.

The clutch operates in an oil bath, and the viscosity of the oil will provide a little coupling between the plates even when you are squeezing the clutch lever. This coupling is enough to get the gear sets spinning when you are in neutral and then when you shift into gear there is a significant "clunk" and the bike can lurch a bit, especially if you had been revving the engine a bit.

With the transmission in gear half the clutch plates will be held still which results in a significant load on the engine due to the "clutch drag". If your idle is set too low or if the carburetor idle mixture is incorrect for the conditions (like when the engine is cold) it can kill the engine at idle.

Once the engine heats up, however, the oil thins out and the coupling between the clutch plates due to the oil reduces. Your bike might idle a bit better warm as well so you don't experience the problem.

One thing you can do that might improve the situation is to run a multi-weight synthetic oil, or simply a much thinner oil. I have been using a 5W-20 synthetic which has helped my bike a bit.

Rod

your not suppose to use any type of synthetic in the clutch.
your suppose to use a gear box oil such as belray, right now i run honda and in there manual they recommend 80w. other oils can cause the clutch to slip. the oil for clutches and gear box's is a special blend that allows the tranny to be lubricated and cool, cools the clutch but allows the plates to grab. i read a big article about this in a magazine one time. i used to run synthetic oil in my cr.

-mike.