Have 1987 FXSTC. It has the soft pull lever attached to the inner ball ramp. Spacer is in place on cable.

I had to get and install a new inner ramp, pushrod bearing, and push rods.
Clutch tension adjusting plate is on "A" which is mid compression.

All installed to Harley factory manual.

I collapsed the cable adjusters. I opened the clutch inspection cover and ran the adjustment nut in, till rod contact. Backed it off half turn, and locked it with nut.

I expanded the cable adjustments untill I had microscopic freeplay at clutch lever. Clutch worked so, so. Still have lunge when dropping into gear. Cannot hit nuetral with running engine. Feels like clutch engagement/ disengagement is late in the clutch pull.

Been chasing this issue for a little while. Any advice?

 

Sounds like you need to pull primary side clutch cover off and adjust the clutch. Seems like you had slop before the new parts, now that slop has been taken up and needs to be compensated for. A half turn here and there can make a big difference on how your clutch engages/disengages. Not a major job to do.

 

I agree with 1screwsloose. It may take an adjustment a time-or-two to get all the slack out of the components. But, if you still have a real tight clutch lever, you may have something else bound-up.

You said "ran the adjustment in until rod contact". I tighten mine up until I can feel the bearing push the ramp all way in....then back off the adjuster....then adjust my cable.

 

Hi All,

That is what I meant to say. Thru the clutch inspection cover, I have run in the clutch adjustment screw, until it contacts the rod, which pushes the right rod into the ball ramp. No slack.

Then backed it off 1/2 turn. Locked the nut. Then expanded the clutch cable adjustment till I had about 1/6" freeplay at clutch lever.
I think that if I tighten it in like you describe above, I will be eating another bearing, and right rod end. BUT I COULD BE WRONG. Does this ever mess up your pushrod bearing?

Tried to follow everything right out of the manual.

I just can't seem to get enough clutch to 'fully' disengage. I can shift easily, but I get a lurch when dropping into gear and holding clutch. I also cannot hit nuetral with engine running.

I am afraid that if I keep expanding the cable adjuster, it will start loading pressure on the pushrod bearing continuously, or will continuously be applying pressure to the clutch.

I am losing throw somewhere. The clutch ,now, engages/ disengages after 2/3 rds pull on lever.

I am running out of places to look at.

 

I forget which way it goes, but try 3/4 turn, if that doesn't help try 1/4. You have to play with it a little. Are you doing the sqeeze the lever 3 times thing?

 

Yep....keep running the adjustment screw in and see what results you get. Run it on down and leave no free play in the adjuster and see what you achieve. The clutch simply is not lifting enough. If you have that extension on the end of the cable, it's going to take more lever travel to lift the clutch pack and the adjustment procedure "by the book" goes out the window. Did it work fine before you installed the easy-pull?

 

The bike is new to me. I inheritted it, as is. I have no way to ask any questions about what was done to/ with it. I can really only tackle issues as they show up.

When I first got it, and tried to get it running, I had clutch problems right from the start. Difficult to shift to any gear let alone hit nuetral running. I expanded the cable adjustment, which was getting close to the end.

I got it so that I could shift and SOMETIMES make nuetral with it running. I rode it like that for a little bit, working on more obvious issues.

I took it to work one day, and the clutched seemed to 'snap', leaving me with no clutch lever action. I was almost home, and power shifted the rest of the way home.

I could hear some clicking from the right side tranny cover, when I tried to work the clutch lever. Opened it up and found that there was the soft pull kit installed. I have no idea how it worked prior. I also found that the pushrod bearing had disintegrated into nothing, and that the right pushrod end had snapped off at the bearing. The broken end and what was left of the pushrod bearing destroyed the receiving area of the inner ramp.

I replaced inner ramp, bearing, and all new pushrod sections. Put it back together, had this clutch adjustment issue, and made the original post.

I followed the given advice, and this is where I'm at:

I turned in the adjuster (thru clutch inspection cover) and got it to press up against ramp. Set the ball/ ramps with clutch lever squeezing. I watched the clutch hub as I tightened it, and could see it start to press out. I worked it so that I have it just about to start to move. Didn't back it any further.

I expaned the cable adjuster so that there was just about no freeplay. Still had late clutch, lunge dropping it in gear, and no hitting nuetral while running.

I expanded it further, I now have no freeplay, and may even have a little pressure at the ramp. I now have slight lunge at dropping into gear, very easy shifting, and I can hit nuetral with engine turning. However, clutch is still very late, in second half of pull.

I am concerned that with everything adjusted as is, will the pushrod bearing and inner ramp self destruct again? It was definately hooked up, but if I further try to expand cable adjustment, to get clutch sooner in pull, will I cause damage?
Can that soft pull kit be causing this? I am tempted to remove it.

I was considering getting new friction plates and steels, but I don't want to just blindly throw $ at it to try to luck fix it.

Can the A B or C setting be affecting this. If I go to a lighter compression, could it fix this?

Help.......

 

Hang in there buddy....you will get this fixed sooner or later.

Now...we have discovered that you really don't know what you have over there in the clutch basket, but you do know you have an easy-pull.

I think you need to take out the easy pull and throw it away first...get the lift side back in stock condition for a starting point and make sure you have all the correct clutch pushrods. I would then go to the primary side and pull the clutch apart and see what I had in there. For all you know, you could be missing some plates or disk, or have them stacked wrong. I think you need to get back to square one with the service manual and start form there. You can change clutch springs to alter the lift you want, but we don't know what you have in there now. If the thing has been sitting-up for some time....disc and plates could be dragging due to gunked-up fluid. Take all that apart and clean it up.

 

OK, sounds like a plan.

I do know this. The clutch spring appears in good shape. I searched the web a little to try to identify the pull kit. It looks like my uncle bought a kit that included the arm/extension, cable spacer and the clutch spring. I just don't know when.

The first thing I had to fix on this bike was the inner primary case. Had a nasty crack that I had to weld up.

When I put the clutch pack back together, I cleaned everything very well, as it did sit for 8-10 years. I made sure that I followed the book, start and end with a steel, the correct count etc. There was some grooves still on the friction plates, but I should have measured them all anyway. I didn't,

Tommorrow, after work, I will perform an easy pull-ectomy, and post back.

Thank you for all the help, so far.

 

There will be a "reason" someplace. There are millions of clutches out there being lifted with the hand lever, cable, ball-n-ramp and pushrod sections and yours should too. I know the previous owner was your uncle, but I "am"a uncle and also "have" uncles and we can screw up stuff on occasion. Since it has been sitting-up for years and it appears that something was maladjusted or installed wrong from the broken pushrod bearing...etc. I think if you get it back in stock configuration you can work this out.

I had a similar situation with a 6-speed transmission and it took months to figure-out the crappy clutch engagement. It all bolied down to there not being enough room for the pushrod to move in because it was hitting the nut on the end of the trapdoor. It was a lock-nut and the nylon on the end of the nut was preventing full pushrod travel. I could make the clutch lever feel good and adjust it all day long to perfection and never could figure out what was happening until I saw the nylon on the end of the nut squashed-in. I installed a flat nut with some red loctite and two gaskets on the cover and the clutch worked just fine ever since.

If you have the tools and can perform this test, leave your outer primary cover off once you get the clutch parts back together and everything adjusted. You need a "minimum" of 65/1000 of pressure plate lift and something around 75-80/1000 will insure complete disengagement. You should be able to "see" the lift with your eye if nothing else when you pull the lever. You don't have to put the outer back on and fill it with fluid to make the clutch adjustment and see if you get the desired lift.

Let me mention one more thing. You said you had to weld a crack in the primary. If the primary is warped or bent, it could have the clutch and compensator sprocket out of alignment. On the EVO...the primary plays a major part in keeping the motor and transmission in alignment even though they are bolted together at the tranny/engine junction. As a last resort....if you don't get the problem corrected, you may need to consider a replacement inner primary if it was badly damaged. Remote possibility....but something else to consider.