Clutch

[Shadow]

I've been trying to get my 81 XS11H that I just bought up and running. unfortunatly I've ran into a clutch problem. The motorcycle hasn't been on the road in 3 years. When I try to put her into gear, she shifts as soon as I put it in gear. I've adjusted the clutch through it's full range of adjustment & nothing works. I've never messed with a clutch before & haven't had much experience mechanically. How much of a job is it to open up the case and troubleshoot the clutch mechanism or work on it? Or should I just bring it to a real mechanic? BTW I've tried just unjamming it by putting it into gear several times but nothing. I've been told to try rolling it down the hill & putting into gear again but I haven't been able to get to that one yet (technically not allowed on the road yet).

[Bob Falter]

Not sure just what you mean? You start it in neutral, pull in the clutch, shift it into first, and the bike take off even though the clutch is in? If this is what your doing but you are doing it on the center stand the wheel will turn due to the clutch drag. On the center stand the wheel should stop if you step on the rear brake. If it doesn’t the clutch is froze up or not adjusted properly. If you don’t have a manual, I think that you can do a search for clutch adjustment on this web site to find out how to adjust it, but you should get a manual. If it is adjust properly and you still can’t stop the rear wheel try shifting it up into higher gears and then step on the rear brake to see if you can break it free. It seems like I saw a thread on clutches sticking or locking up also, you could try a search for that.

[sixtysix]

Since it was sitting the plates are stuck together, I would try hitting the rear brake (bike running) while on the center stand (with clutch in) never tried it though so you are on your own. Next I would pull the clutch cover off and manually seprate the plates and discs and reassemble. Find the tech tip on it and don't break the star plate!!!! Do a search for star...there has been a few threads on this.

[uk1.1s]

Clutching clutch

Had this on an old H**da

As sixty-six says, the clutch plates are stuck together. This is often caused by old oil residues over the years of un-use.

Beware the violent ways to fix - you could end up with some nasty damage to the clutch parts. The nasty ways include running down a hill!

A slightly less violent route is running the bike on the centre stand and gradually applying back brake to the moving wheel. One of two things will happen - the clutch plates will unstick and the back wheel will stop whilst the engine stays running...... or the engine will stall. The second one probably means the plates are still stuck - but check again just to make sure.

Used to happen in a less 'stuck' way with old Brit bikes even in the short term. Old Triumphs are famous for needing the clutch to be pulled in and the bike rocked back a bit to loosen off the plates before kicking the thing over. Embarrassing kicking with stuck plates and the bike shooting off out of your hands. Usually leading to both you and the bike on the floor wondering what happened!

If you have no joy the drill is:

1. Drain the oil

2. Take off all the small bolts that hold the clutch cover on.

3. Take off the rear brake lever - at least on mine you have to

4. Pull Clutch cover off carefully - you may get away with keeping the gasket in one piece and reusing with a small smear of gasket paste. You may need to loosen the cover with a rubber mallet or tap with a bit of wood. DON'T use a metal hammer

5. Take the clutch apart - slightly more tricky and this is not really the place to detail how it's done (well yet anyway). Hopfully you have a Clymer or Haynes manual for that one.

6. I used a small screwdriver to gently lever the clutch plates apart. They seemed to be held by a brittle varnish which easily gave up. Think I soaked in oil overnight and then rebuilt the clutch which was fine after that.

7. Don't reuse the old gasket if it got torn or damaged as it will leak oil.

Sorry for copping out of a detailed clutch dismantle stage there .... if you need some more detail let me know.

[Shadow]

It Works

Well as the subject implies the clutch is now free & working the way it's suppose to. Sixty Six's trick worked, thank you. Now I've just got to do a little brake job & then I should be able to bring it in for safety next week, if my parts come in tomorrow that is.