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Now I want to change out my levers. I have the snap ring pliers, will go get extra couple sets of rings.....no worries about the ***** (seems like whenever I need help, and I buy beer.....the '*****' show up).
I did both sides on my bike. Absolutely get more of the snap rings. Start with the brake side. Just an easier side to do. The clutch side - you must maintain the amount of pressure - or else you could end up tightening the clutch and burning it out because the lever tension was adjusted.
They say you need special tools - I didn't - but you will end up using your chin - teeth - (*****) I am a girl so they came in handy or a really good friend.
Maintaining that clutch tension is just very important. Those snap rings - just buy 3-4-6 more because in the process of changing it out - you will have them fly into an unknown realm. You will find them some time later when cleaning your garage - but that will be months if not years from now. I have yet to find mine.
Good Luck !!!!!!
I just changed out my levers but at the same time I put on new cables... whats the sience to the clutch cable adjustment? I just did it to feel? tightned it up till it felt about the same tension the lever had before? working on bike in winter months...won't see the road for a few more months
found my own answer with alittle searchhttp://www.expertvillage.com/video/18212_motorcycle-clutch-two.htm
I just changed out my levers but at the same time I put on new cables... whats the sience to the clutch cable adjustment? I just did it to feel? tightned it up till it felt about the same tension the lever had before? working on bike in winter months...won't see the road for a few more months
Well, first off - the cable (if you are not changing it out) will want to pull back - so I put vice grips on that to hold it in place. But a friend of mine - when he put his new levers on - he did not hold that cable in place. So when he went to hook it back into the clutch lever spot - the cable was too tight. He drove it - thinking well - the levers are new and probably will take some time to adjust. Well that whole time he actually was running his bike with the clutch slipping - he could feel the power loss - Course this was on a road trip to Arkansas and had to find the nearest Harley dealership. Due to the lever pulling the clutch tension too tight - he burned out his Clutch. Made for a wonderful day sitting out front of this dealership. At least they were nice enough to get his bike in right away.
I am not a mechanic and certainly don't know how to explain this right - but the tension on that cable that leads from the lever down to the clutch mechanism has to be adjusted properly. If you think about it like a car - if you rode the clutch half way out all the time - eventually something would go wrong. Well the tension running from the lever to the clutch is what either engages the clutch fully or not.
Heck - I don't know. I just know that I threw more tools. Dropped more crap - got madder than anyone should - had to use body parts as tools. Hopefully someone will come along that can explain it better. Sorry.
I just changed mine on my cross bones, took under ten minutes and thats with getting the tools out. but I tell you right now if i had a set of ***** to help me out it would of took a lot longer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I had the same present for x-mas... I started switching them and when arrived to the clutch side I followed the procedure in the box: Loose the bolts under the dust cover and pull the cable out of the lever.
Well, I pulled the cable too much (well, the cover) and broke the cable cover. No problem, I took the chance to get new covers (chromed ones), too bad they'll need a week to arrive!
So, my .02: apart from getting the pressure of the clutch back as it was, be sure you don't force the cover too much when getting the old lever out!
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hmmm. im thinking this may be a job for the dealer. i would feel better about it.
Don't think so, it's just that I'm not a "fine person" when it comes to pushing or pulling things. Just be careful! My brother did it twice (on his sporty and on his wife sporty) without trouble. The main issue was that I pulled the cover without releasing the clutch cable enough.
Anyway if you go to the dealer don't let him charge you more than 20 minutes of labor for it, it's a 10 minute job as said before.
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