very stiff clutch lever pull

as the title says, my clutch lever is quite hard to pull. Not impossible, but I'm worried about having to use it a lot in traffic. I've disassembled the actuator under the front sprocket cover. Cleaned everything, and greased it before reassembly. I couldn't find anything i thought was significant in regards to wear in the actuator.
The clutch cable seems to move very freely when moving just the actuator. 
My bike has the 3-ball style. The clutch pull is the same whether the bike is off, in neutral, or moving in gear.

compared the pull on mine to a few friends bikes. all newer, with hydraulic clutches though. in comparison, theirs is featherweight. a single finger is easy. on mine, whole hand is *required* to pull the clutch in. and it feels like it's the same effort to keep it in. I can see my hand cramping quickly if i have to sit in traffic.
I have no idea if it has stock springs in the clutch. but it's the only thing i can think of. I'm hesitant to open the case and take on a task that I'm ill prepared to deal with.
Is this an 80's bike thing?

I have exactly the same 3 ball accuator on one of my bikes and it's no more difficult to pull the clutch in than any of my other 70's worm drive clutched bikes.
You simply don't have the mechanical advantage that a hydraulic system has but there are kits available to convert them to hydraulic. 
When stationary in traffic knock it into neutral. 

Has the cable been properly lubricated? You might be surprised how much difference it can make when the cable is under load.

Use these

---

www.z1enterprises.com/cable-lube-6-oz-can.html

www.z1enterprises.com/yamaha-xs650-cable...ubrication-tool.html

Also, the little barrel at each end should have a little smear of grease where it contacts the perch.

Do not use WD40.

Yes, a cable operated clutch will not be as light as a hydraulic one, but it should not be cramp-inducing.

 

I agree with a new cable.  Lube it before install.  And lube the ramp mechanism with waterproof grease.  When the cover is off, and you remove the ramp mechanism, be sure to put it back so the lever is at 90 degrees to the cable pull direction.  It's easy to get it the angle off if you are not careful.  

Kawasaki P/N 54011-1101
Order from a dealership source, or ebay.  I greatly prefer OEM cables over Motion Pro or other aftermarkets.

No eBay APP ID and/or Cert ID defined in Kunena configurationI have no experience with with devices which increase clutch leverage, but look interesting.


 

Nessism wrote:

I agree with a new cable.  Lube it before install.  And lube the ramp mechanism with waterproof grease.  When the cover is off, and you remove the ramp mechanism, be sure to put it back so the lever is at 90 degrees to the cable pull direction.  It's easy to get it the angle off if you are not careful.  

Kawasaki P/N 54011-1101
Order from a dealership source, or ebay.  I greatly prefer OEM cables over Motion Pro or other aftermarkets.
 

Nessim,
I've lubed the cable and the ramp mechanism. I was careful to replace the lever properly, per the service manual. I think i'm going to put a new cable on it.
That being said, the routing of the cable currently isnt great. I can't seem to get to to stay away from the header on cylinder 1. Is there a trick to this? Does anyone have any pics of good cable routing on this bike?

My 750 has special metal clips to hold the cable against the frame, and away from the headers.  The cable has a metal shield on it also, the OEM cable anyway...

TexasKZ wrote:

Has the cable been properly lubricated? You might be surprised how much difference it can make when the cable is under load.

Use these

---

www.z1enterprises.com/cable-lube-6-oz-can.html

www.z1enterprises.com/yamaha-xs650-cable...ubrication-tool.html

Also, the little barrel at each end should have a little smear of grease where it contacts the perch.

Do not use WD40.

Yes, a cable operated clutch will not be as light as a hydraulic one, but it should not be cramp-inducing.




 

You don´t need to buy this lubing tool to oil your cables.
I made a qick tool out of over sized shrink tube and attached it at the end of the bowden cable grommet.
The un-shinked part act like a funel, do fill it up with lube and the gravity do the rest over night. Some little up and down movemet of the cable accelrate the oil flow into grommet and lubricate it in under a minute.
Easy, quick and no waste of money......

Yeah, I agree with Scirocco, you don't need to buy the "lubing tool".  I tried one and half of the lube ended up on the ouside of the cable!  Shrink tube or a "funnel" made from duct tape or masking tape works better.
But if you really want to use the lubing tool I have one I'll sell cheap.  Only used once!

Thank you for the input, everyone!
I've decided to replace the cable. Further inspection revealed that the cable has rested on/gotten too close to the header and melted the outer covering near the middle tension adjuster. If the inside of the cable was coated before, it's not now.

Can i get some pictures from folks on how their cables are routed? Side question, why does everyone only photograph the right side of the bike, and never the left???

Not sure how much these will help or not but here you go. These are the current pics I have that do show the cable route on my KZ650.

That helps a lot!
Thank you!
I see the clip mentioned in other replies. The clip on mine looks pretty rough compared to yours. I also see that there's a "spring" wrap around the lower half of the cable.
It looks like the cable is held "outside" the frame until the bend at the bottom, then runs "inside" the frame back to the sprocket cover.

Is this how everyone else's cable is routed? My bike has a 4-1 header on it, that swings over to the right side of the bike. Meaning it passes over this cable a little below the middle tensioner bit.