Ok I found the problem and now have a smooth clutch!!!!
Look at the photo it is the shaft end for the clutch that that &^%$%## ball hits see the dent from the ball? Yes I ground it down smooth and flat and now the clutch pull is easy and not binding.
So the next time you have that right side of the engine off take a look at the end of that shaft and be sure it is flat.
Thanks for the ideas
Brad.
Are Honda Dream clutch's hard to pull
Brad, my clutch was very hard to pull when I last had the bike on the road. I read your post a while back and remembered it as I was removing the engine today. I noted that the clutch shaft as a small indentation similar to the picture you posted, but not quite as bike. I think I understand the concept behind grinding the shaft flat in that it reduced the contact area between the ball and the end of the shaft reducing the effect of the shaft trying to spin the ball when the clutch lever is pulled. How much did you grind off? What method did you use? I don't think I trust an angle grind to a task lick that. Cheers!
Flute-I was reading this old post about the dimple in the end of the clutch push rod and I must be dumb, but when I saw the small dimple in mine(small compared to yours) I thought it was supposed to be there as a guide for the ball bearing.I have 5 total transmissions here(4) for spares and got curious so I looked at the rods and they all had dimples with various degrees of wear.Since I was doing some maint. on my CA77 I decided to grind a few of the dimples down and polish and put one in my bike to see if it helps improve the clutch.Won't know until I get it running, I just put another carb. on also.Seems odd that in the 4 years I have messing with my bike I never saw another post on this sight about this subject, unless I missed it.Joe
I've been searching posts for hard clutch pull trying to solve a problem I have with my '64 CB72. At one point last fall I had the clutch pull relatively easy and engaging in the right spot. But I rode the bike on the Motogiro USA last weekend and on the first day the clutch got progressively harder to pull in and would drag despite repeated field adjustments. By the end of the day it was barely pulling in. Discussing the problem with my fellow racers...err..tourers, we determined that the OE cable might be rusted/frayed/worn. Someone had a new cable in their spare parts so I swapped it out before Sunday's run. I adjusted it per Mfg's instructions but it didn't change a thing. Fortunately, Sunday's course was pretty rural with very few stops.
I got the bike home and pulled it apart, checking both the clutch plates and springs as well as the clutch lifter mechanism. Reassembled and adjusted it, but it still is very tough to pull in and I can feel some friction and grinding in the motion. When I had it apart I checked the fit-up between the adjuster and lifter and there seemed to be quite a bit of end-play - maybe as much as 1/8". I've read that these parts should fit with minimal play. Could a worn out lifter/adjuster be causing a hard clutch pull and clutch drag? Also, this bike has the 6 friction plates of the earlier spec. I would imagine the springs are the earlier ones as well. It looks like the springs have been superseded. Were the early springs heavier, causing a heavier clutch. Right now the thing is worse than my '74 Trident - and that's a tough one! Bikes:
'79 BMW R100RS '03 HD Sportster 883R '66 Benelli Sprite '64 Honda CL72/CL77 motor So how did this turn out? I've been trying to adjust my clutch and it seems that when I have the 5/16th ball in and I put the cover on it disengages the clutch right away... I tried switching to a 1/4 ball (I had an extra lying around) and the clutch stayed engaged with the cover on but now it won't work with the lever... I would think that by removing metal from the rod would be like changing ball sizes... did you notice any difference in where the clutch engaged or did it just adjust out and ride fine?
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
