I got it. I finally got the readjustment right. Thanks for all the help.

Rob

 

I've got about 27,000 on my EGC and have only adjusted the cable once. Everything feels fine. What is the down side on not adjusting the clutch if everything feels fine?

 

As the clutch plates wear, the stack gets shorter and push rod endplay is reduced. If the endplay is reduced to nothing, the throwout bearing would
start to be loaded continuously and would start to release the pressure off the clutch pack. Your clutch could start to slip, but I would expect the throwout bearing to fail first, blowing little bits of ball bearings into the transmission. Granted, with a cable type clutch, you will notice a loss of freeplay at the clutch lever as well, but with the hydraulic clutch, you would not have any warning.

HogDoctor

 

I have a quick question. I may try to adjust mine this weekend. My clutch releases very close to the grip, almost instantly as soon as you start to move the lever.

Does that mean the shaft is too far in or too far out? Or that the clutch is just worn out? Only 7300 miles on the bike. I just want to move the friction area out a little bit from the grip. Otherwise it seems to grab fine.

 

If you have to pull the lever back almost all the way back to the grip to get it to release, the clutch must be very soft.... my '99 bone stock, I only have
to pull it back maybe 25% of it's travel to get to release...

the pushrod freeplay has nothing to do with where it releases or engages, look at the cable slack instead. If it's a hydraulic, you might have a bubble
of air in the line making it squishy.

Hogdoctor

 

It's a '99 Night Train, no hydraulics on the clutch. So what does a 'soft clutch' mean?

 

Here is what I've experienced. There are two ways to affect the clutch adjustment. The first is via the cable the other is the clutch push rod. If your handle is fairly tight (not a lot of play or wobble) then you probably need to adjust the push rod. If you want the clutch to disengage sooner on the handle pull, then you want to in, effect loosen, the nut you see after removing the derby cover. This will move the part the Rod pushed against deeper into the clutch, so when the clutch is pulled the rod is pushed the clutch move out and away from the flywheel sooner. You will have to play with the adjustment to find your preferred sweet spot. However, if you make it too loose, then the clutch never really lets go and there will always be a slight bit of power to the transmission and that’s bad. It makes it hard to back up etc. If you make it too tight then it disengages too quickly and you lose your sweet spot. Also , if the clutch seems to grab too quickly or abruptly, you may not have the proper oil levels or the proper oil in the clutch housing. Hope this helps.

 

What I mean by a 'soft' clutch is one that starts to engage when the lever is near the grip and is easy to control, and hooks up solid when the lever is nearly fully released. A 'hard' clutch doesn't start engaging until the lever is
nearly released and hooks up like a hammer, harder to control. Most clutches have mechanisms built in to make them softer, ie warp plates, or spring plates, so they start to engage sooner.

A clutch has two primary jobs, on one end it has to hook up solid and deliver all the torque to the transmission, and on the other end it has to release fully to allow for shifting and stopping. A soft clutch needs a lot more pressure plate (and thus lever) travel to accomplish this, a hard clutch does not need nearly as much.

A hard clutch is easy to adjust, you can put the point of engagement anywhere in the lever travel you want... I typically put about a quarter inch extra cable free play in there so it hooks up closer to the handlebar, makes it easier to control. The softer it gets, the point of engagement and the point of release get further apart, so you can't afford to leave as much slack in the cable.. you need more pressure plate travel to get it fully released. If you've got the cable freeplay down to nearly nothing and it's still dragging, then you've got a problem to solve. A cheaply made or failing clutch cable will make your clutch feel soft. warped, swollen or dished clutch plates will as well. Another thing to watch for is clutches that float laterally, ie the bearing that controls the mainshaft could be floating or getting sloppy or there may be too much lateral slop in transmissions that are mounted on a spline with a clip.

Push rod adjustments are overrated. As long as you maintain some free play there, your throwout bearing will not be loaded constantly when the lever is released. The only thing the push rod adjustment really changes is what part of the ball and ramp release mechanism you're using.

Hogdoctor

 

Im having trouble adjusting the clutch on a 49 panhead I cant seem to get the right combination. Im almost thinking I am missing something. Anyone got a schematic?

 

If I recall right the the plate the three nuts hold on need to be 31- 32nds of an inch away from the clutch cover. then set the hub adjustment, then take the slack out of the cable. If you have an old mouse trap set up and someone messed with the adjustments, it can take a while to get the tension set up so you don't need a Popeye arm to work the clutch. One other thing, I had a warped pressure plate one time and you couldn't stop the bike at a light when it was hot. If you gave it gas it took off like you let the clutch out.