Hitchcocks Forum

Well I think it's clutch drag.Crunching into first gear.Done so far,check clutch adjustment,push rods and bearing greased,clutch plates checked,ATF oil changed.Release clutch before starting ie pulling lever and kicking over.Also checked gearbox main shaft nuts checked and tightened.No movement in the clutch assy when pulling in clutch lever.Whats odd is with the primary cover off (little oil) it slipped into 1st 3 times ok.Replaced primary cover and topped up with ATF oil then crunching again.The bike has had this problem when I bought it.

I had a clutch on one bike that the clutch springs seemed to be getting coil bound on. Not exactly sure why. I fitted a single washer on top of each of the three "posts" the springs go over between the post and the plate tospace it out a tiny bit (I'd guess about 1mm) and this totally fixed the problem. The trouble was finding appropriately sized washers. Be easy to try.

Just a wee added note.I think I have the stronger clutch springs.There is no colour paint on them.The hosts standard springs show them painted yellow.Between purchasing new cable,clutch springs and new plates I am not convinced this will fix the problem.

Re: stronger clutch springs. Do you mean you have three stronger ones and three original ones?

If so, are they fitted alternately so that the clutch lifts evenly when the lever is pulled?

My bike came with three stronger ones all together and three original ones all together!

Don't you just love 'previous owners'......

Have you checked if the clutch is running true when disengaged with a dial gauge?

Another Allan,There's no colour coding on the fitted springs except one which has a slight dab of green paint.I am assuming the colour code denotes spring strength?
Valsp, how do I go about checking the clutch is running true with a dial gauge?

The stronger springs are easily distinguishable from the standard ones just by squeezing them between thumb and forefinger.

The easiest way to check clutch lift is with the primary cover off, pull-in the clutch lever and watch the clutch as it rotates as you operate the kickstart.

If stronger and standard springs are incorrectly fitted, it will be obvious.

Hi Jamesy

Set the dial gauge up on magnetic stand so that the pointer is just touching the outer plate near the outside edge pull the clutch in and then turn the engine over - (plugs out of course)

I had a lot of trouble with an interceptor clutch not running true and had to set the clutch up in this manner. Finally I had the plates relined and it then ran true without any setting up or adjustments

I had a problem with clutch drag stopping me finding neutral. I tracked it down to the clutch handlebar lever not giving sufficient travel. Although it looked OK it had been bent slightly towards the handlebars losing about a half inch of travel.

I also found that the clutch lever limited clutch lift. The original 'dog-leg' lever touched the bars so I found a used non - dog-leg lever from some Japanese bike and, with a bit of filing, I fitted that.

The result was about 5 mm more clutch lift.