Clutch issue, need help!!

[ragman]

hello to all... OK here is the issue. I'm dying to take my 1964 dream out for a first spin in 22 years, but I have a clutch issue (I think).. No matter how much adjustment I make to the clutch cable, I can't engage the clutch. I pull the clutch lever in, attempt to put it in gear, and it goes into gear alright regardless of whether or not the clutch is engaged. So its basically acting as though I have no clutch. I'm sure others have experienced this, where would my most logical first step to troubleshooting this be??? Thanks in advance..

[Cheburashka]

Are you saying it won't engage, or it won't disengage? I think of a clutch at rest as engaged, and when you pull the lever it disengages.

Are you saying the engine is driving the wheel no matter what you do, or the engine won't drive the wheel no matter what you do? I ask because it's very common for these clutches to rust up and seize over the years and it sometimes takes some doing to get them to disengage.

[conbs]

Search for post(s) by LOUDMOUSE. If you use his method your clutch will be adjusted right (unless something is broke).

[lrutt]

My experience with old hondas has shown this to be a problem at times. My dream does this when it sits for a while. The oil tends to bond the plates together it seems.

My process is to put the bike in neutral, start it, let it warm up a bit, then when ready push it along then hop on and put it in first gear. I then pull in the clutch while I'm rolling and snap the throttle a couple times then it frees up. Once free I'm good for the rest of the day, no problems. In the 30+ years I've owned this bike it's always done that. I pulled the clutch once, cleaned it all up etc. but no change. Bike only had 4k miles on it originally. This happens if the bike sits for more than a few days it seems like.

I run valvoline 20w50 bike oil. It has done this with any oil I've run. I had a 500 honda 4 that did the exact same thing. Once freed up it work fine, no drag etc. It was just that first go.

[ragman]

engage or disengage, I didn't know which one made more sense.... But the bike is acting like one of your descriptions "the engine is driving the wheel no matter what I do". I'll also search for the posts on how to properly adjust the clutch, I've been using the original owners manual and thought I had it right. thanks for the replies, if anyone else has any suggestions, I'm all ears... thanks again

[Cheburashka]

OK--it's always engaged. That's very common. I agree with the previous post. Get it started in gear and go power-on, power-off in cycles until it breaks free. It takes some getting used to, but it's not that hard to deal with.

[jerrybb]

I had the same problem on my '63 which was frozen. I drove it a few miles (shifting with no clutch) up to a rural road where I could drive for several miles, varying the speed a lot and all of a sudden it popped loose and worked ok. Only problem, it did stick a bit each time it was started up again. I finally had to have it replaced but you can probably get it to at least work this way.