I am working on my dad's 2003 Fatboy and I'm having trouble with the clutch after reassembling it. It's been sitting for a little over two years with the primary drive removed. He had some primary noise he was diagnosing before other priorities put the bike on the back burner. Over the past few weeks, I have put it back together with some new bits. I had to reinstall the clutch inner primary cover, front sprocket, belt, compensator, clutch basket, clutch adjuster clutch pushrod, and starter. I replaced the primary cover bearing for the mainshaft, the clutch hub bearing, all the primary seals and a few other unrelated parts (brakes, tires, etc).

I'm getting ready to put the outer primary cover on and put fluids in it, but I can't adjust the clutch. I've double and triple checked the clutch friction plate install and I've tried adjusting the clutch multiple times, but I have too much play at the lever and it feels hard when I try to pull it. I've followed the manual and tried other suggestions on how to adjust it without any luck. The lever feels hard and there's more than 3/4" of play at the ferrule on the lever when I've adjusted the cable adjuster all the way out. I cannot pull the lever in to make sure the ***** are seated on the ramps.

Am I missing something simple? Do I need to open up the clutch release cover on the transmission? Is there something else I should check? Do I need to have fluid in the primary?

 

Figured it out!

I tightened up the clutch spring before adjusting the pushrod endplay.

Loosened up the clutch spring bolts, adjusted the pushrod, adjusted the cable, and then tightened the spring back up.

All is good again.