Dirty south ridgeback clutch.

Energy One
What's up my BDM BROTHERS.
Hope all is well with everyone and if not, no worries it will get better.Life's a garden. ( dig it )...
I'm having a situation with my clutch and I am befuddled, and I don't even know what that means but I am!!!! I was crushing my bike nice and chill for the past three weeks just because It sat for about 8 years prior to me getting it and going thru it and I just didn't wanna fuck anything up as well as give the bike time to do what it was gonna do...so just two days ago I'm rolling down this strip and s..some knucklehead thought it was Sunday and just decided he was gonna go 20 miles below the speed limit while I was behind himAnd I stayed there for as long as I really could ( no lie) ..for as long as I could,so I did what any normal red blooded American would do,I down shifted and got on the gas to pass him and I did that very thing. But no longer I passed him up my bike felt like it kinda hesitated in the throttle and started to shut down on me til it died . so I coasted into a park that wss there waited a few minutes then fired up the bike no problem,but when I put it in gear it shuts off like I popped the clutch like a beginner at a red light in front of traffic..so it died on me ..so I started it right back up.( in neutral of course) and this time pulled in the clutch lever again and kicked it in gear and as soon as I hit the shifter it died I. Me again .. So I pulled out my tool bag and started getting the cable loose so I could adjust the clutch and see if that fixed it..NOTHING!!!!!! STILL THE SAME THING..SEEMS LIKE THE CLUTCH IS NOT FULLY ENGAGING AND WHEN I PUTT IT IN GEAR THER IT IS AGAIN POP IT SHUTS OFF LIKEI POPPED THE CLUTCH..AND WHEN THE BIKE IS OFF I PUT IT INTO 2ND GEAR WITH THE CLUCH IN AND EVEN THOUGH IM HOLING IN THE CLUTCH it still won't roll freely.like its just not fully engaging..so here I am once again on bended knee asking you fellas to help me out wit so.e of that knowledge u Good ole boys have and maybe even experienced this same situation( help me out please) get me back on the road. I'm getting close to throwing myself to the ground I swear it...
 

Th3InfamousI

Administrator
Staff member
Considering bike is new to you. I would just take the primary cover off and take a look at everything inside and you can watch it move when pulling in the lever. see if anything looks off. There's a lot of potential things it could be so just take the opportunity take the primary apart, take the clutch apart inspect everything, check for play, loose clutch hub nuts, wear, etc and reassemble. That way you at least know what you are working with. Take pictures as you go and throw them out here if you have any questions and that will let the wolves loose on ya.

Potentially your issue isn't even clutch related, but start there first. Work on getting the bike rolling/moving freely with clutch engaged in gear not running and you can do that with the cover off.

Without doing that we would all just guessing randomly and yes someone would get lucky but that's a lot of trial and error.

Here's 3 TIPS that are crucial:

1) Clutch pushrod is adjusted 1/4 turn back or less from lightly seated. Most Harley's are 1/2 turn back and that will never work on any 2005-11 bike.

2) Adjusting the clutch cable slack adjuster generally will NOT fix a clutch adjustment problem, unless there is free play in the lever. Any other adjustment to the slack in the cable generally just makes the problem worse. There are exceptions, but that's for a whole different discussion.

3) Clutch Hub Nut is opposite LEFT HAND THREAD. LEFTY TIGHTY, RIGHTEY LOOSEY

Take pictures! Before and After so you don't forget how it all goes back together.....
 
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