Hi everyone. I was in an accident a while back and decided to take the insurance money and repair my 2004 1200 custom myself. Everything turned out great except i can't get the clutch to release.

I replaced the primary cover and got a new clutch cable. Everyones first thought will probably be that its out of adjustment, but no matter how much i lengthen/shorten the cable, i still can't get it to roll when in gear.

I then started messing around with the components under the derby cover. Adjusting the long bolt with the flathead cut-out doesn't help either.

From my understanding, the way the clutch works is that when you pull the lever, the clutch adjuster pulls this long bolt outward, releasing pressure on the clutch. I can see this action happening, but still can't roll the bike in gear.

I've seen on cars where the clutch melts to the flywheel, causing this same problem. could that be the issue? Any insight on what to do would be appreciated.

 

I have only 2 questions.

Do you have the factory Service Manual for your bike?
Have you done the full factory clutch adjustment procedure as spelled out in the Service Manual?

 

no and no

 

My bike is in the dealer right now for almsot the same issue, but no accident here. Last season my bike every now and then would want to move forward when the clutch lever was pulled all the way in. Well it got worse as time went on so when the bike was in for the rocker box gaskets I had the dealer look at it and they said the clutch was out of adjustment. They did a clutch adjust and it was better, but ever since the start of this season it's been real bad and on fast idle with 2 people on it will move arcross a parking lot with the clutch lever pulled all the way in and will not go in to N with the bike running-when it warms up it's not as bad and will go into N while running. I adjusted the clutch twice per the manule and the lever free play a bunch of time and it gets worse. I have read there is a spring plate in the clutch pack that the rivits can break and will cause this issue. I'll let you know what they find on my bike here soon once I know.

 

Well just go off the phone with the dealer and I was right-the spring plate rivits broke off, but I got lucky and it did not tear up the basket. I'm having a SE clutch kit, but the bike will be down over a week. My bike is an 07 with 14.5K on the clock.

 

Have you tried running the bike and shifting yet?? You can get a pretty heavy oil drag on the clutch discs which will make it very hard to roll, or even roll at all when in gear with clutch pulled in and the motor is not running. This drag is also the reason you get a heavy thump when shifting out of nuetral. So start the bike up and make sure your holding the brake and shift it in first, it'll probly free up and be just fine. But if it stalls the bike, then you know for sure you have a clutch problem. Different oils and the level of the oil will have an effect on how much disc drag will happen. And just to clarify, i'm not refering to clutch drag caused by worn discs or maladjusted clutch, i'm just saying "drag" as a term to describe what is happening with the clutch plates/oil which causes them to stick together.

 

I have been afraid to start the bike and throw it in gear with no clutch. I figured it'd either grind the gears, pop in and stall, or worse case the bike launches forward and i drop it. Its definitely not drag though, the engine is trying to turn when i push it.

I brought it to the dealer today because i couldn't think of anything else to check.

From what XL50 is saying, it might be possible that the impact from the accident broke my rivets. I have 12k on my bike, and if his went at 14, then maybe it was on its way out. I'll be sure to post what the problem was when they get back to me.