Hi, I was riding out in the HWY today and lost all forward power while passing a car. Had to coast to a stop on the side of the road. The bike starts up but acts as if the clutch is engaged and won’t run. Drive belt is intact. I can shift through all the gears easily with the clutch lever engaged or not. Starts up in gear with clutch lever engaged. Was running fine up to this point.

Sound like clutch cable issue? The clutch was fine before- maybe very minor slippage. 12k miles and i out on about 1k.

Any thoughts?

thanks,
johann

 

You make no sense.It was in gear running and then went to neutral? Now you say it starts in gear but it dosent move? Then you say it shifts?
If the clutch cable was broken it would be in the last gear it was in all the time . Pull the primary for an inspection and report back with pics too

The biggest issue is having to split the crankcase to get into the trans. maybe its just the primary chain broken

 

Thanks!

I can shift through the gears but it’s acting as if the clutch is engaged or transmission isn’t providing power to the drive belt. Clutch lever does have tension and it starts in any gear with clutch lever in or out.

-jb

 

Remove primary chain inspection cover and see if the chain is still there.

Does the pull of the clutch lever feel right? You ought to know if it takes more or less force to pull the lever.

As you have mentioned the clutch might of given up on you.

Does it have the spring plate? Maybe that has failed.

 

Hi and thanks. The clutch lever tension does feel right and I can hear the primary chain turning. It sounds like it has for the past couple months anyway.

I can roll it easily as if it were in neutral no matter what gear I shift it into.

I’ll check the primary inspection cover to see about the chain.

I did a clutch job on my Honda and that was pretty easy so hope this is similarly easy if that’s the issue.

i’ll just note that it feels to me like it failed more all of a sudden and didn't have similar clutch slippage issues that I experienced on the Honda Rebel and an Indian Roadmaster in the past. The Sporty may have been slipping in 5th a little. Ie; increased RPM with throttle but minimal increase of speed.

cheers,
jb

 

Have you pulled the derby cover and adjusted the clutch?

Not just adjust the cable like your Japanese bikes, there is a clutch adjustment procedure. Check you-tube for some how to videos.

 

Clutches don't fail so completely and as suddenly as you described . Usually they start to slip a little under load in the higher gears and get gradually worse if not attended to . I'll take a wild guess that your front pulley has come off the output shaft .

 

I`ll have to revise my earlier post too, he says the motor starts so starter ring and primary chain are in place. So either clutch hub failure os a shaft failure. But again the primary must come off
Also check the belt hub to see if it sheared or the shaft went

 

Sorry, but I can't help myself. No forward drive, does the reverse drive also not work?

 

Pull the right side cover over the front belt pulley and verify the pulley has not stripped

It will take 15 minutes