Ok so I have always had issues with the adjustment on my 78. I cant really find nuetral at a stop light and the lever has always been like pulling back the gates of hell!. I put in a new cable and followed the instructions in the manual.... or so I thought. I get slack in the cable turn the adjuster screw in until i feel the clutch disengage then 2 more times to make sure the clutch is disengaged. Then take the slack out of the cable with the adjusting sleeve. Ok now on to step 5 back off adjusting screw until i feel the clutch engage then 1/4 turn. At this point I dont have enough thread to install the lock nut, also the clutch doesn't seem to work at all after step 5. The pull on the lever seemed better but I know I am doing something wrong. I know that from the factory you could find neutral and not have such a hard pull on the lever!!

Thanks for the help
T-Ron

 

You have done the adjustment correctly. There is no step that you missed.
When you say the adjustment screw goes in too far to get the lock nut attached it makes me think of only one thing. Have you looked at the end of the adjustment screw?
Yours must be worn down...... a lot. I have seen one case of this happening and the owner had a similar problem. His was worn so much that the screw face was flush with the face of the release ramp. Not going to get a lock nut on that one. A new screw fixed the problem.
pg

 

https://www.hdforums.com/forum/ironh...ml#post4128896

Pat

 

I've had similar problems in the past when I used a clutch tamer instead of the stock thrust collar. The adjusting screw actually drilled itself into the tamer. Look at your thrust collar and see how far the adjusting screw is penetrating. Good luck!

 

Also I don't think not finding neutral at a stop on an old Ironhead is that unusual. Things have to be moving in there to align. I tend to go into neutral while I'm still rolling a second or two before coming to a full stop. That's just my habit.

Afterall...that ain't a Honda you're ridin'! Don't expect it to act like one. Riding old Iron is a celebration of the primitive.

 

i know that there is a clunk from nuetral to first

 

like pinion said somthing has got to be wrong with that adj screw.also with mine on step five i had to turn it in a touch more or going into gear would be way worse than a loud clunk.....point i am trying to make is you might have to tweak it a little for your bike.....but in your case there is somthing more than tweaking that it needs.also i cannot find neautral when i stop.at fuel ups i just use my hand.

 

I've never been able to find neutral while I was on my bike. And finding it when I'm pushing it, it has to be moving.

 

OK The adjuster screw isn't worn at all. I did get it ALOT better. I think since I have sort of basterd set up, I am using the stock cable with a clutch perch and lever from a late model softtail I was starting off with to much slack at the lever. The lever pull is much better,still cant get nuetral from a dead stop but it sounds like that is more common than not. I have always been in the habit of kicking it in to nuetral before i stop so no big deal. The nut did go back on. It still pulls a little sitting with the clutch in but not much... is this as good as it gets? or should i keep adjusting?

Thanks
T-Ron

 

You need to keep adjusting.
It sounds like you have the cable slack problem fixed but the clutch should not make the bike creep when the lever is pulled in all the way.

A Sportster clutch is always going to drag slightly, but you should be able to find neutral when stopped.
This tells me your clutch is dragging more than it should.
Question:
Have you had the clutch apart recently?
If so, did you have the (6) sleeve spacers on the 6 studs? Models before late 1974 did not have these spacers.

After the cable/ ramp has been adjusted correctly (sounds like yours has) the only thing that can cause drag is the outer pressure plate using the 6 nuts is out of alignment.
That is what the 6 spacers are for. These were added in late 1974 to automatically align the outer plate as well as put the proper amount of pressure on it by simply snugging down the 6 nuts against the spacers.
pg