Clutch Lever Free Play Question

[Coolbreezin]

VERY happy to give this update. I have figured out my cable slack issue. Basically, not being able to get any tension can have a few causes. 1.) You could have a stretched or broken cable, 2.) Something could have broken in the lever itself, or 3.) Your ball and ramp assembly that attaches to the clutch cable under the transmission side cover can get stuck on the bearings, if they ride up out of the little divots that they slide up and down in. For me, it was number 3. I drained the transmission and took the cover off and removed the snap ring, took apart the little bearings and ramps assembly, put grease on the bearings and put it all back together and reinstalled everything.

Now my clutch is very firm with very little cable played out. Neutral is super-easy to drop into, and I am working through the normal clutch adjustment experimentation to get everything dialed in. Then torquing and loctite-ing everything down.

I am probably going to revisit the throwout bearing and install the Baker Heavy Duty Throwout Bearing Kit into it. After that. hopefully will not have to look at it for a long time. I learned a lot about clutches in general and Rivera Pro clutches in particular and it was totally worth the time.

Thanks for everyone's help! What a supportive and kickass community of chopper maniacs we have here! Grateful!

Thank you for the explanation.
I've replaced numerous clutch related parts over the past couple of years. I'm now down to about a 1/4" of throw. Finding neutral below 15mph isn't an option.
I'll check my ramp & balls.
Thank you again.

 

[Rich_M]

Apparently, these assemblies have been problematic in Harleys for 30+ years. The Baker Heavy Duty throwout kit is the fix and it’s $99.

 

[Rich_M]

Installed the Baker Heavy Duty Throwout kit today. Want to put this thing to bed permanently. The throwout is MUCH larger in the Baker (see photo). And after the install see how the adjustment screw is no longer standing proud. Super stoked. The Baker kit is highly recommended.

 

[DudeInSneakers]

This is probably elementary but I recently adjusted my clutch. I did the following:

1. Torqued the clutch hub shoulder bolts to 30 in-lb​
2. Adjusted the adjustment screw till gently seated and backed it off 1/2 turn.​
3. Locked it down with the lock nut while holding the adjustment screw in place with an allen key.​

I did all this with the clutch lever slacked out. Now when I adjust it, I can see the lever tightening up, but it won’t go tight enough to actually engage the clutch. I must have missed something, but I don’t know where I went wrong. I have braided steel cables. Any ideas?

It sounds like your basic adjustment procedure is pretty close, so I’d start looking at the cable/release side before taking the clutch apart again.


First make sure both ends of the cable housing are fully seated in their brackets/perches. It only takes one ferrule sitting slightly out of place to use up a surprising amount of adjustment.


I’d also check the release mechanism behind the cover and make sure the ramp/ball assembly and cable end are seated correctly. If something there moved while the cable was completely slack, you can end up with a lot more free play than the adjuster can remove.


One other thing worth checking is the actual spec for your particular clutch. Some setups call for 1/2 turn back on the center screw, while others use a little less. I wouldn’t change that blindly, but I’d confirm the Big Dog/clutch manufacturer procedure.


Once the internal adjustment is correct, you should only need enough cable adjustment to leave a small amount of free play at the lever. If you run out of cable adjustment before getting there, I’d suspect cable length/stretch or something not seated properly in the release system.

 

[Snuffy]

I’m wondering the point of taking old posts that were figured out or resolved and offering your opinion on the topic. Doesn’t seem to be much of a point to it but I may be wrong.