this clutch has me stumped

[sidecarKev]

My clutch lever is pretty hard to work, even with a new cable and various routing changes to the cable. I have also tried various adjustments of the clutch and noticed that if you set the cable to loose it will slip under hard acceleration. I'm talking about adjustments made under the cover. I can't remember the exact procedure but I think its loosen the locknut, screw in screw until it begins to tighten and back off 1/8th of a turn???? I was trying looser and tighter to see if it helped my lever input. Never did. But if that screw was a little to loose the clutch would slip.

[KurtG]

I have always deglazed the metal discs when putting in new friction discs. I recently redid the clutch on my 79f with new friction discs from partsnmore and used scotchbrite pads and wd40 to clean the metal ones after checking that they were not warped. Like yours, my friction discs were still within the thickness spec but I nonetheless replaced them as well as replacing the springs even though they measured ok. Once a clutch starts to slip it will glaze more and more. I have also used bead blasting to clean the metal discs but that is probably going beyond what is needed. Anyhow, my clutch feels like new again.

[TopCatGr58]

Hey there Beech,

Yeah, I've also heard of glazing, like Kurt said, with some slippage, they can heat up and get even more glazed. I used some emory cloth to scrub my steels when I replaced my frictions. You didn't mention your springs, they are cheap, like $10.00 for a set of heavy duty from JCW or DK, definitely worth it if you haven't replaced them!!! Good Luck.
T.C.

[pgg]

Beech, stick the steel plate next to steel plate No4. It's a common fix on old bikes down this part of the world. New parts are a big rip-off. Go the whole hog and slap in some stiffer springs too.

[beechfront]

i bought new stock springs. didn't get the heavy duty ones i might just pull it apart again quick and go over the plates with the emry cloth like you suggested. would steel wool also work?

i don't have an extra steel plate.....


thanks again for all the help & suggestions.