Clutch lever very tight

[Spargett]

My clutch lever is painfully tight, but functions. No matter the length of cable, there's alot of tension on everything. The arms with the spring inside is pulled up past a 90° angle just to latch the cable into, which I assume is causing a high pitched sort of whining while the engine is running. What angle should the internal arm be resting when attached?

The sound goes away as soon as I pull the lever in (with great strength). I was told by turning the clutch adjustment on the crankcase (b) with a flathead screwdriver would alleviate this. I can't get it to budge whatsoever right now. About to try and find the biggest screwdriver I can.

Do you guys have as hard a time trying to turn that piece (after loosening the 10mm nut)?

[Dgormley]

Spargett, Completely disassemble the lifter piece and adjuster and clean them thoroughly, inspect for damage or excessive wear, then reassemble with fresh grease. Don't lose the ball bearing that's down inside the lifter piece. The arm should ride at about 7:00 o'clock when assembled. I had the same problem, now mine works sweet....................D Oh yeah, don't over-tighten the 10mm bolt.

[Spargett]

That's probably the best advice. I'll keep posted on the outcome. Thanks for the 7 o'clock tip.

Spargett, Completely disassemble the lifter piece and adjuster and clean them thoroughly, inspect for damage or excessive wear, then reassemble with fresh grease. Don't lose the ball bearing that's down inside the lifter piece. The arm should ride at about 7:00 o'clock when assembled. I had the same problem, now mine works sweet....................D Oh yeah, don't over-tighten the 10mm bolt.

[Spargett]

I forgot to mention one other interesting thing: In addition to the clutch being a workout and having to shift so hard out of first I got quite the bruising. (was wearing decent thickness leather boots), The neutral indicator light would frequently go on when in first gear while trying to get to neutral. I was wondering how the neutral indicator light works if anyone knows.

I'm hoping this will all go away as soon as I'm able to properly adjust the cable tension. It eventually became so hard to shift into second gear I just rode the rest of the way home in 1st (4 blocks). I pulled the right crankcase off today. I've got two days of rain to work on it.

[Dgormley]

Spargett, Looking at your other post with picture of bike, I think you need to check the clutch cable routing. My CL works great but still shifts a bit harder than newer bikes, it hasn't bunged my foot up like yours though. By the way, beautiful bike!...................................D

[Spargett]

So I realized that the 10mm bearing that rests into the clutch adjuster was missing. I don't think there was ever one there. I called a few local Honda dealers and found one that had the part in (BALL, STEEL (#10) (5/16) 96211-10000).

I got home excited to see how well this would alleviate my shifting problems. Dropped the ball in, and hooked up the clutch cable, and slid her on.

The case won't close with the bearing in. It doesn't seem there's enough room for the clutch rod AND the bearing. This could be why there wasn't on in there in the first place. Odd right? Could this have something to do with a CL77 right crankcase on a CB77?

Such a bummer.

[Spargett]

Here's a shot of the tension on the arm with the cable hooked in. The lever is easy as butter to pull in with the case off, and even with it "on", but gently screwed in. As soon as I tighten it all down is when it becomes very, very tight.

I've had two different clutch cables. The original which is too long (cleaned & lubed). I assume for the high bar variant. And a new one for the low bars from Charlie's Place. The cable from Charlie's was far too short. I tried routing it every way I could and would barely be able to hook it in. the arm was resting even higher with the "slack" adjusted on both ends.

I feel like Goldilocks.