Forum

[Creaky45]

I have had my Interceptor for 4 months and done just over 5000km. Since new it has had an intermittent grating feeling when pulling in the clutch. The same feeling as we used to get when a strand of inner cable was broken or the nipple or cable was not lubricated. I have told the dealer but they can't replicate it. It mainly happens when changing down. In the end I bought a new clutch cable, noting that 8 inches from the gearbox end there was a bit of a kink as the cable takes a sharp bend to go through the 2 clips on the frame. The new cable made no difference to the fault. I then ran the cable not using the clips and cable-tied it to the oil cooler to keep it off the exhaust. Still had the original fault BUT the clutch is much lighter to pull in as it takes a nice curve now. I suspect the trouble is in the gear shift mechanism and all I can do is wait for it to break so it can be fixed under warranty. Sometimes it is hard to change down (the gear lever does not seem to latch) and on three occasions the neutral light has told me a lie when I pull up and release the clutch only to jump forward in gear and stall. If you have a 650 can you check the routing of your clutch cable and tell me if it goes through one or both of those clips.

[Enfield_Vega]

Had a check, one clip on the frame just below exhaust level then continues straight up the frame. No issues with either a graunchy feel or a tight feel in 1k miles. I have found that I can't block change down as the lever won't return up between shifts though.

[PO51UHD]

I’ve had mine for a few weeks, just about to have it’s first service at 350 miles. I occasionally get a ‘click’ feeling in the lever which I had put down to ‘newness’. Will keep an eye on this and mention when it’s serviced next week. Thanks for ‘heads up’

[stinkwheel]

Maybe teaching to suck eggs but my wife had a similar problem with a totally different bike the other day (failing to catch gears, false neutrals, not getting neutral or first when she wanted). This seemed odd to me because it's a low mileage CBR600 which have a pretty nice gearbox and I'd been riding it with no problems.

The final diagnosis was new boots. She recently changed from army boots to proper altberg motorcycle boots. Her new ones have a stiffer, thicker sole and she wasn't letting the lever fully return before going for the next gear. We adjusted the gear lever down a smidgin and the problem has gone away.

[Creaky45]

Stinkwheel, I've been caught with that one before but sadly that is not the case here. P051 That is a good way to describe it. Let me know how it goes. And Vega, I guess block change means going through the gears without releasing the clutch. Well sometimes mine does that easily and other times it gets stuck and that's when I have to crunch it a bit. I think you know what I mean. I have just returned from a swap meet where I saw another 650 owner and he has no complaints with the clutch but I noticed his cable went through the clip behind the exhaust, misses the one above and then that clip was put in the hole near the compliance plate. Have a look. Makes a better curve. So I have put my original cable back on and routed it that way as I'm sure my clicky problem has nothing to do with the cable, the lever or the routing of the cable.

[sofiaspin]

Could it be down to simple cable stretch - quite likely after that amount of miles and easily preventing proper actuation of the clutch. MIght be worth checking cable adjustment.

[papasmurf]

With the bike still under guarantee surely the dealer should be sorting it out?

[Enfield_Vega]

Stinkwheel, my first thought was boots so I took great care with my foot position and could feel the lever staying down. Still only 1k miles and loads of warranty so no issue really.

[Leon Novello]

Probably a problem in the slipper clutch itself.
Slipper clutch works exactly the same way. The only difference is, it disengages when met with a certain level of back torque thereby, transmitting this back torque away from the engine. Then it engages again and the cycle continues until it achieves neutrality between the forces of the rear wheel and the engine.

[Lou E]

I bought a 650as a stablemate to my 1966 Interceptor Custom (single carb) clutch cable has stretched in only 350 miles, some missed shifts possibly lever position. Plenty of time spent rowing through the gearbos (why a 6-speed?) have a larger gearbox sprocket on the way from Hitchcocks. No luggage available here in Seattle had to make my own.....