Hey all,

New to the forum and new to Harleys. After 12 years of marriage, my wife finally gave me the green light to get a bike. I've been working on cars all my life but there are some big differences between what I've been working on and what I bought.

So here's my question: Just bought an '82 Sportster (ironhead - wet clutch). Was looking for a project I could tinker with and found this runner/driver fairly reasonably priced. Owner just had about $1000 worth of work done to the transmission and had the receipts to prove it. Included in the work done was new clutch disks (he showed me the old ones that he kept in a box). When I showed up to look at the bike, the seller and his friend had just adjusted the clutch (adjustment under derby cover - not adjusting the cable). When I took it for a ride, I noticed that when stopped at a stop sign with the clutch lever in and the tranny in 1st gear, the bike would feel like it wanted to roll forward and I would have to keep a brake engaged to keep it from rolling. This obviously puts pressure on the tranny gears and doesn't allow you to put the tranny in neutral. It felt like the clutch wasn't adjusted properly and was "dragging" or allowing power from the engine to still be tranmitted to the transmission. When I got it home, I pulled the derby plug off and re-adjusted the clutch - starting with 1/2 turns on the adjusting stud, then would fire the engine up and try it out. Then I went to full turns. Eventually, I had adjusted it all the way clockwise and had backed it off all the way counterclockwise and I couldn't find a spot where the bike didn't want to roll forward. Then I went to the cable and adjusted that. I adjusted the cable up tight enough to where there is no slop in the line but wasn't turning the adjustment stud/nut (I know the book says keep 1/8" of slop in the cable). Still no luck.

So now I'm scratching my head. What am I missing here? Is this something that is normal and I should learn to live with it or does something not sound right? I've read the DIY post about adjusting the clutch cable but how do I set the clutch (derby cover) to where it should be?

 

First, congrats on the new bike! There's nothing like those old Sportys! I have a 1976 XLCH and love it! Over 300k miles in 14 years. And that thing is FAST!!!!!!!

As a FNG, there's one thing you should know..... Buy and read the factory service manual. If you don't have one, GET ONE before messing with anything else.

To answer your question, you could also try different oil in the primary. If it's too thick, you'll have clutch problems.

For the adjustment, just follow the manual. Do you know if he put an extra-plate clutch in it? That might cause what you are experiencing. As long as the clutch adjustment screw (on the clutch) is backed out 1/2 turn or so from the lightly seated position, then the problem is most likely the lever adjustment.... not completely disengaging the clutch plates themselves.

 

You still there? Any luck?