Floppy lever

[bencav]

Hi all,

I have a bit of a gripe, my lever has gone all floppy

...clutch lever that is!! there is lots of up/down play on the lever itself.

Can this be adjusted out, or is it time for a new lever? The original looks worn where it pivots in and out of the casing.

Also, also lever related, will the adjusting screw allow me to set the biting point nearer the handlebars? At the moment, the lever is almost all of the way out before it operates the clutch.

Thanks muchly

Ben

[amorti]

It is broken, I am afraid. The problem is in the design. The lever pivots on a 6mm shouldered bolt, with no bush in the lever. It is doomed to fail by the hole enlarging in an oval shape. As that happens, the lever also files out a bit in the mounting, so depending on when you've caught it, it's probably both the lever and mounting that are shagged.

I tried all sorts of shimming, filing, re-profiling to fix this, to no avail. In the end I solved it by replacing the lot with a Honda assembly. It is the same assembly they used for 15+ years on CB500, CB-1, Deauville, etc. Same as most sportsbikes but it has the mirror mount built in. These pivot on a 10mm shouldered bolt, and there is a bush in the lever. You may need to have the mirror thread recut, Yam seem to have used an odd slightly over-sized thread. The cable fits, the assy fits the handlebars, the switch is compatible in action, although it needs those two spade plugs crimping on.

You could also use a Kawasaki clutch (eg.ER500) as these have an adjustable lever, but I reckon the Honda is all-in-all the best quality bit, and they go dirt cheap on eBay all the time.

You will be astounded how much better the shifting works when you have a decent clutch lever operation.

cgi.ebay.co.uk/HONDA-VT125-CLUTCH-LEVER-AND-BRACKET-/260649757194?pt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts&hash=item3cafefaa0a

[bencav]

Thanks Amorti,

Kind of hoped it was just a screw to tighten!! Looks well and truley knackered to me, must be a good inch of movement at the free end.

Flip, bugger, sod!!! Someday I will get this thing all sorted!!

Ben

[newell]

"Flip, bugger, sod!!! Someday I will get this thing all sorted!!"

You won't! As someone who is running an old (98) Divi 600 I can tell you that there is always something to do. You can put it on the back-burner and do it 'later', but there is always something to do!

Regarding adjusting the clutch to bite earlier. You can adjust the operating lever at the clutch end, even reposition it.

HTH

[amorti]

Nov 2, 2010 9:25:57 GMT @newell said:

"Flip, bugger, sod!!! Someday I will get this thing all sorted!!"

You won't! As someone who is running an old (98) Divi 600 I can tell you that there is always something to do. You can put it on the back-burner and do it 'later', but there is always something to do!

Regarding adjusting the clutch to bite earlier. You can adjust the operating lever at the clutch end, even reposition it.

HTH

You can adjust the lever, but once it's got to the point where it has this much freeplay, you adjust the cable to your heart's content, and the slop in the lever will mess it up for you every time, it gets to the point where it's not possible to set it up.