Clutch won't engage after changing handlebars

I changed out the ape hangers that came on my bike for some clubmans, but I seem to have somehow tightened up the clutch cable to the point where it won't release enough to engage the clutch. I've almost completely loosened the adjustments on the handlebars and at the end of the clutch cable and still no love. Clutch engaged pretty late before I made the changes that caused this issue.

Where can I go from here? Many people have suggested removing a sprocket cover, but I have no idea what that would be on my bike. I feel like I have a different clutch setup than anyone else.



Also, does my bike have a clutch pushrod adjustment feature? I've heard mention of using that to adjust the clutch.

Did you have to buy a longer than stock clutch cable for the ape hangers?

there are manuals for your bike in our site...i dont know how to access the manuals section...others may.....do you have a manual......you have an easy problem to fix and i think you just need to adjust the engine clutch pushrod then work your way up the cable following the manuals for clutch adjustment

not a big deal and it may take a re-do again to get it just right but once you know the procedure it is a snap

I don't know the specifics of your bike but going from a tall handlebar to a short one shouldn't cause that issue. I'm sure you've got plenty of extra cable hanging out somewhere now.
First, make sure there are no sharp bends in the cable or that it's going to get caught on or bind up on any part of the bike while you are riding it.
On the clutch cable there is usually an adjustment in the middle of the cable also but that may not be the case since your engine has that lever setup shown in the picture.
When you say loosened up the the adjuster at the handlebar, did you turn the adjuster wheel so it moved further away from the lever? That makes the cable tighter. To loosen it, turn that wheel all the way until it is tight against the lever perch. If you have an adjustment midway on the cable itself, make sure that the pieces are threaded in as close to each other as possible, that loosens the cable also.
Once you get enough slack to let the clutch fully disengage, then you use those adjustments to set where in the handlebar lever movement you want the clutch to engage/disengage.

Your bike does not have a clutch pushrod, your clutch is basically the same as a 83-85 GPz750.

Look in the middle of the cable for a screw adjustment, it may be pulled out and stuck on the edge.

DiamondSkyBlue1000 wrote: When you say loosened up the the adjuster at the handlebar, did you turn the adjuster wheel so it moved further away from the lever? That makes the cable tighter. To loosen it, turn that wheel all the way until it is tight against the lever perch. If you have an adjustment midway on the cable itself, make sure that the pieces are threaded in as close to each other as possible, that loosens the cable also.

That was exactly what I needed. Loosened her up and everything works nicely.

Does anybody know if there's a way to loosen the throttle cable on my bike from the carburetors? It's fully loosened on the handlebars but my bike still idles a little bit high.

At correct idle rpm, there should be some minimal slack in the throttle cables.

On many models, throttle slack adjustments may also be done at the ends where they attach to the carbs.

Good Fortune!

Idle isn't controlled by the throttle cables, at least not on any I've seen. There's an idle adjustment on the carbs, that basically adjusts how open the carbs are at idle. Like Patton says, there should be a small amount of slack in the throttle cables at idle.

So, if you don't have any slack, give it some using the other adjuster on the cable on the carb side, if you have slack, and still idle high, use the idle adjustment. Not sure where it's located on your bikes, but typically they're in the middle of the carbs, and adjustable by hand, or with a small screwdriver.

Thanks. I was using the idle adjustment to try to get the RPMs down to around 1k at idle, but the bike sounded really terrible when I brought it that low. I'll take off the tank tonight and try to get some slack on the cable.

Since you just changed the handlebars, it's entirely possible your cable is keeping the throttle from resting completely against the idle speed adjuster. Verify you have enough slack in the cable at the carburetor end so that you can move the exposed cable around with ease. Now start the bike and set your idle speed with the little knob at sticks out from between the carbs. Once that's done THEN remove the slack in the cable. Only remove enough so there isn't noticeable play at the throttle on the handlebars. This is definitely not an exact science and will take some fidgiting to get it how you want it. As far as the crappy idle at 1k, well, that's a horse of a different color!

Could be a vacuum leak, dirty carb internals, poor synchronization, needing a tune up, and on and on...

But, let's get that throttle cable sorted out. That's a big safety concern.

Appreciate the help. I found that the gas tank was pulling the throttle cable a little tight. This had to have been why the engine was running rough when I tried to get it down to 1k RPMs. Now it purrs beautifully at a 1k idle.

Edit:

Here's how the bike looks now for the curious:



Just need to do something about that seat........