Do I need a new clutch cable on my 84 LTD 550?

My son-in-law just bought a 1984 550 LTD that has the one piece clutch cable, that connects to a pivoting lever on top of the case.

He asked me to ride it an the first thing I noticed was that the clutch had no real friction zone. It was either fully engaged or fully disengaged. And it engages right at the end of the travel just before the lever is fully released. There's about 1/4" of slack.

I've been riding for 28 years on cable and hydraulic clutches, but never had one that acted like this.

Any ideas?

Thanks,

Deano

A new set of clutch springs and a oil change to some thing more wet clutch friendly. Does it also have the adjustment at the side cover for the worm gear? Look at the side cover and take out the 2 screws for the small rectangular cover, inside is a lock nut and adjusting screw that should be done before the cable. This operates the rod that actually pushes to release/ engage the clutch.

Thanks for the speedy reply!

No little side cover on this one. I think the 82's and older had that style. On his, the cable connects to the pivoting arm outside the case.

I'll try to change the oil to the Rotella that I use in my 'Wing.

Thanks,

Dean

Well, the new clutch cable didn't seem to help

This is the newer design without the ball bearing push rod adjustment. I have the lever adjusted with a little slack. Changed the oil to 15W50 m/c oil.

Symptoms:

1. The clutch hangs a little with the lever pulled in to the grip (bike wants to creep forward in gear).
2. The full engagement doesn't happen until the lever is fully released. Then it's like full engagement. bang.

There seems to be no real "friction zone".

Ideas?

Dean

how many miles on the bike?May be time to replace the friction discs and springs.bj

Do you have a repair manual for the bike?
Sometimes the Clymer manual is ambiguous or in error in regards to how to do the clutch adjustment.
According to the diagrams at Kawasaki.com, the clutch cable has a barrel adjuster on the end near the clutch release pivoting arm(?).

PS: I don't know anything about your type of clutch adjuster.

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hocbj23: The bike has about 14,000 miles.

H1Vindicator: I'll adjust the slack down a bit to see if it gets rid of the "drag" at idle with the lever fully pulled in.

JMKZHI: I have the Kaw service manual. Mine does have an adjuster near the pivot arm, but my take on this is that it's only if you need more adjustment than you can get with the adjuster at the lever.

Thanks for all the input guys.

Deano

Deano: 3mm slack (gap) is what manual calls for at the clutch arm.That isnt very much slack.bj

Is this your clutch style??



If so the adjustment where the arrow is pointing is just the course adjustment that is in the middle of the cable for the other style.

So I suggest you turn your fine adjuster at the handle all the way in, and take up the cable slack at the course adjuster until you have less than a 1/4 inch at the handlebars, then bring it down to the 3mm they suggest.

I've always found with this style that the clutch tends to drag a bit when the engine is hot. So if I'm sitting at a light for a long period, or stuck in traffic I just toss it in neutral.

The photo is very similar to mine. I was able to get it adjusted pretty good. I bent the actuator pivot lever upward so each pull of the lever would get me more throw at the pivot. Then I adjusted the slack to a very tiny amount. Now it works pretty good.

Thanks for all the input!

Deano