Last weekend, I had to replace a shredded rotor and stator, thus I had the entire primary case completely off my bike(which included the clutch basket).

Last night, I went to adjust the clutch. I've RTFM, watched videos on the subject until my eyes bled and I still think I'm doing something wrong.

First, I backed off the jam nut on the clutch cable, and loosened the adjuster nut so there was a ton of slack in the clutch cable.

I took the derby cover off, loosened the clutch hub nut and backed out the adjuster bolt/screw(whatever that threaded thing is called). It seemed really tight as I had to use a 7/32 hex wrench to back it out. I started turning the adjuster back in and it seemed really tight. I screwed it in until what I thought that it made light contact, and then backed it off 3/4 of a turn. I then tightened the clutch hub nut.

I went back to the clutch cable and started turning out adjuster nut until the clutch lever was where it needed to be(with a little play in it. I then tightened the jam nut. I pulled on the clutch lever and watched the clutch basket and it didn't move.

So, I started over. Loosened everything back up, turned out clutch adjuster and screwed it in by hand until it made contact. I then backed it out 3/4 of a turn and tightened the clutch hub nut again. I then proceeded to tighten everything back up

At that point, the clutch basket looked like it was moving correctly, so I buttoned everything back up and went for a ride.

The clutch lever feels a little "spongy". It seems like the clutch is engaging and disengaging correctly, but it doesn't feel the same as before.

What am I doing wrong??

BTW - My bike is an '07 EG UC.

Thanks guys.

 

Could be a couple things.. The center adjuster in the clutch should rotate reasonably freely when adjusting with the 7/32 allen.. If it's binding, it's possible that the threads may be stripping out. Anyway this extra drag on the adjuster could be causing a false reading on the adjuster.. You may need to replace the threaded plate, nut and adjuster. Second, if you filled the primary with the prescribed amount of oil, you might have added too much causing the clutch to become flooded with oil and clutch drag.. With the bike upright the oil should just barely touch the bottom of the clutch basket, if you peer in with a flashlight.

One thing that is worth doing is replacing the original center clutch adjuster nut with a new standard 7/16 nf nut.. It's taller and easier to get an offset box wrench on and not have it slip off...

 

I don't think the center adjuster is stripped out because when I backed it out with my hand, it backed out very easy. When I started turning it in with my hand, I felt a little resistance and I turned it in until I thought it made contact. The only way I thought I had turned it in properly was by using my hand vs. using a hex wrench. When I used a wrench, it seemed like I had to force it a little, like it wasn't screwing in smoothly. It's a little hard to describe. Either that or, I just don't have the "touch" when I used the hex wrench. It seemed as though when I turned it in using my hand, I was better able to feel when it made contact(I hope that made sense).

The thing that I feel is different is, the clutch lever just feels a little "spongy". The clutch seems to be engaging and disengaging properly. Before I started all of this, it seemed as though the clutch lever was a little firmer when pulling on it.

 

I don't have much experience yet doing clutch adjustments on these bikes, but I was messing around with mine earlier this summer...

If I understand the adjustment process correctly, the more you back off the adjuster from the 'contact' point, the larger, or wider, your friction zone becomes. Is it possible your clutch was adjusted to say, 1/2 turn out from contact (rather than the 3/4 turn you are at now) before you took everything apart, and what you are feeling in the lever now is a wider friction zone?

Just a guess on my part....

 

That's a great suggestion. I think I'm just going to have to play around with adjustments until I think it feels correct again. I didn't think that the adjuster screw had anything to do with how the clutch lever feels, but I could be wrong.

Thanks again!

 

You want to use the Allen wrench. With the long side in when adjusting. If you keep moving it in and out you can feal when it contacts the clutchs. You can turn it in and open the plates some but you don't want to go that far. So when you find the spot where it just gets some resistance this way back off half turn. This will give you the most firm feel. This is the main thing to get your clutch right. The cable adjustment is secondary to get the handle where it needs to be to release all the way and grap all the way on the other end, it's a wider area and some preference here can be taken into account, there is spec think 1/8 cable space but it's hard to measure as its at a angle so eye ball works good and check for feal.

 

keep us posted

 

As mentioned you can try different center screw adjustments, anywhere from 1/2 to 1 turn out.. Less may help take some slack out of the system.. The sponginess could simply added flex somewhere in the clutch system. 2 common places to get extra flex in the system is the adjuster plate in the pressure plate and cable routing. The adjusting plate has an OUT on it but most notice that. The snap ring that holds the adjuster plate in place can flex. They tend to bend on the ID outward. If you reverse it thinking that it will hold better, it flexes when you pull in the clutch. Try reversing it. Also if cable routing has been changed slightly so that the outer cable needs to flex a little before the inner part starts pulling a load, you'll get some sponginess. While pulling the clutch lever in and releasing, look for cable movement. If there is some, try shifting the cable around some to reduce the movement.

 

That's just it.... when I use an Allen wrench, it feels like a lot of resistance. Maybe I just don't know what it's supposed to feel like. From all the vids I watched, it seemed like when using and Allen wrench, when the adjuster screw was being turned in, it would turn in really easy and by letting gravity take over, then the long side of the Allen wrench would just stop when it made contact(I hope that made sense).

I'll give it another shot tonight. As of right now, when I pull in the clutch lever, I can see the clutch basket move and I can sort of see the plates separating. I'll try adjusting again and back it off 1/2 turn instead.

Thank you for the advice!!

 

It takes more than gravity & fingers to get past the sponge area. Keep going back and forth for the resistance to start.