Clutch cable problem

Hey all,

Recently, I had some electrical work done at an auto electrical shop, and in the course of that work, the tech decided that my clutch cable was worn, and took it upon himself to replace it. At first, riding it home from the shop, worked o.k., but I was suspicious after
problems with not finding neutral. Turns out cable is not correct. Contact Z1, get new cable, install,
but problem persists. Granted, the cable adjustment may need more refining, but, it feels like the clutch wheel
doesn't fully disengage at any range of the adjustment.
Pull clutch case to watch clutch flywheel action, and
it appears my fears are correct, it moves, but does not disengage completely, so bike never finds neutral!

Clutch flywheel moves out, but not completely. Pull flywheel, check springs/bolts inside for breakage, all good. Flywheel is not chipped or excessively worn.The throw rod and ball bearing that contacts the
clutch plate look barely worn ('80 KZ 750 twin G1, w/20K on it, BTW).

My concern is now that, since all parts involved appear to be fine, I only have the clutch cable to adjust, drop oil back in the engine and test, and I may be doing more harm, and not get any closer to nuetral! Does anyone think I've missed anything obvious? Should I drop the pan and check for damage?
(internal clutch bits would be in there, but looking
at the plates under the flywheel, it looks good!)
Dropping the pan is a PITA, twin pipes have to come off as well!

Thanks for any suggestions!

~twist

There's really little that can go wrong to cause a clutch to not disenguage other than the cable or associated adjustments. Anything actually wrong with the clutch such as springs, broken bits, plates ect, can cause slippage but that's not your problem here. The clutch is a real simple thing, springs hold the plates locked when your clutch is enguaged, you pull the lever, the cable moves, pulls a wormgear mechanism which presses a rod against the clutch compressing the springs letting the clutch freewheel. Somebodys probably fooled with the release mech adjuster and got it all out of adjustment.

Check your wormgear thing. It needs to be in the right position before the clutch cable is pulled, may have put it in wrong when the cable was replaced.

On my bike the wormgear is attached to the sprocket cover, you can pull it out and put it in again in the right position. I think initially the position I had it in meant that I would pull the clutch all the way in but it wasnt enough to push the rod in. Pushed it back some more and I was golden.

Robjb84 wrote:

Check your wormgear thing. It needs to be in the right position before the clutch cable is pulled, may have put it in wrong when the cable was replaced.

That's where I'm leaning,as well...make SURE the cable(housing) pops firmly into place,on the cover(the cable housing is made to fit a certain opening on the cover),and YES...make sure the worm-gear is positioned properly when You connect the cable to it.There should be a spring at the end of the cable that You slide on,once You have fed the cable through the cover.
Do You have a manual for Your bike?

Hey, thanks for the helpful suggestions!

Ronkz650: I'm feeling the same thing, I just want to make sure its a matter of the correct adjustment and
placement of all components, including the wormgear.
I was afraid I was missing something, but finding everything in its place, I'm apprehensive all thats left
is correct adjustment, I guess...

Rob/sandy: Yup, the sprocket cover in the right
position is critical here when only a couple of mm's
are used by the wormgear to push the rod through and release the plate. Thank you all!

I may post a picture of the wormgear on the backside of the sprocket cover, hey, somebody may say WTFdon'trideitthatway! you'll screw up the somethingorother...

Thanks again!
~twist