Stiff clutch lever

I live in Chicago, so there's a LOT of stop and go driving and working the clutch when riding. The clutch on my 80 KZ750 feels tight (i.e. it's hard to pull back) and you easily can wind up with a sore arm and hand riding in traffic. I adjusted the clutch per the Clymer service manual instructions. Although it was a smart move and needed to be done, it did nothing to loosen the clutch to prevent hand and arm cramps.

Has anybody discovered a way to make the clutch cable feel less tight when you're riding in a lot in traffic? If you've done something that worked, please let me know.

A friend who rides a Harley had a stiff clutch and when he had it serviced recently, the mechanic took care of it for him without even asking. Of course, my friend never asked the mechanic what exactly he did either, but it's 100% better now, whatever he did.

Pull the drive sprocket cover. Clean the chain lube out of the clutch release mechanism. Lube clutch cable.


I just saw that this is a 750 so above may not apply.

Post edited by: hwms, at: 2007/08/04 22:07

My 650's clutch was the same for two seasons, and I was determined to make it easier over the last Winter. I have an aftermarket Cir Cycle clutch, and swapped the springs back to stock.

While the sprocket cover was off, I pulled the clutch lever in and it felt nice and easy. During this spring swap, I removed the cable completely. With the cable removed, I relized it was actually gumbed up and hard to slide in it's sheith. I put on a new cable and my pull is now much easier.

I had lubed my old cable over the years and thought it was fine. But once it was removed from the bike, it was obvious it was to gumbed up and tight. It felt fine with the sproket cover removed because the Clutch Actuating Mechanism was pulling it back.

Take yours off and test it for resistance/smoothness.

ditto, like rstnick said.

I had the same symptom and only swapping out the clutch cable made a difference.

Best of success.

You need a new clutch cable.........chris3

Perfect. I'll give this a try. Thanks.

When you lube the cables try automatic
transmission fluid.It will gum up much
less over time.Anything that comes out
of an airesol can will gum up.

matts750 wrote:

. . .The clutch on my 80 KZ750 feels tight . . . I adjusted the clutch per the Clymer service manual instructions. . . it did nothing to loosen the clutch to prevent hand and arm cramps.

Has anybody discovered a way to make the clutch cable feel less tight when you're riding in a lot in traffic? If you've done something that worked, please let me know. . .

There was a discussion about this recently:

stiff lever pull

It looks like you have the same caged ball assembly as the 650's discussed in the thread there, from this picture:

parts schematic

Once you take the cable off, you can test and lube it. But I found in my bike, that that #13, #14, #15, and #18 parts were oxidized, gummy and without lubrication.

Clymer's probably doesn't give any information about the subassembly. But my factory service manual did. It is a maintenance item. There are 11 of the little balls, and it does make a difference when they are clean and lubricated properly.

Short of buying a new cable, you can remove it and soak it in some kerosene along with the clutch mechanism. Work the mechanism and cable back and forth and blow it out with air and relube it all. I used spray lithium grease on mine last year and it's still nice and loose.
For my throttle cables I just dumped penetrating oil down the tubes and worked the throttle a bunch of times, then followed up with 30 weight oil. Penetrating oil cuts right through the gunk. I like Kroil brand.
OTOH, if you do all of that and the cable is still stiff, then you might have some frayed cable inside, and you'll have to replace it.

a cable lubing tool is a good thing to have in the tool box . I use bel-rey 6 in 1 oil. don't try chain lube!

one other idea...
is the cable routed properly? if there is a tight curve or bend from installing a lower set of handlebars, you may consider a shorter cable or different routing from bars to engine. tight lever is a common problem around here due to modification

The pull of the clutch is determined by the stiffness of the clutch springs. MOST aftermarket replacement springs are heavier gauge steel than are the originals for some reason... in other words, heavy duty and make the clutch pull harder.