Clutch adjustment
Posted: Mon Feb 13, 2012 2:03 pm
I posted this on the engine case cleaning thread, but have now moved it here.
I can't believe this thread. There is a huge misunderstanding of the clutch as related to shifting.
In a perfect world the clutch arm would be at 90 degrees to the clutch rod. Is it important? No, as the most variation that one can get is very little. At worst case one might end up with a 1% energy trying to shove sideways. Forget about it.
By varying the ratio between the adjustment at the top end and at the bottem end will change the angle of the clutch arm. All could be correct, but give a different measurement of this 203 mm thing.
When the hand clutch lever is out, you must have a bit of free play. The clutch does heat up during operation and will change the amount of free play. As it heats up, the free play decreases. Too little free play and you will risk excessive wear on the pushrod end and the hole it sits in. This would be the same as riding around with the hand clutch lever partially pulled in. That would cause heat and wear. As free play decreases, the clutch if even more disengaged when the hand clutch lever is pulled in fully. This would tend to make it shift even better.
Take a look at the easy clutch modifications. In those types of mods, a 2:1 advantage is used to decrease the pull resistance. The "cost" is that the total travel is now 1/2 of before. When properly ajusted, they work just fine. If our clutch can work with 1/2 of the standard travel, just how hard can it be to get the stock setup adjustment in the ball park?
OK, does this make any sense, or should I go take my meds? Again!
All that is important is that the clutch release fully when the hand clutch lever is fully pulled in. Variations in clutch cable stretch, aftermarket cables, friction plate wear, pushrod wear, wear in the Diaphram hole, wear at the adjustment bolt, wear in the pivot arm shaft, wear on the inside of the clutch arm etc. The list goes on and on.
We humans tend to obsess over trivia and often fail to get to the heart of the matter. Rather than actually "learn" we prefer to follow hard and fast rules. In this case, rules that don't really work. All rules have exceptions, so learn the rule and then learn the exceptions too.
I can't believe this thread. There is a huge misunderstanding of the clutch as related to shifting.
In a perfect world the clutch arm would be at 90 degrees to the clutch rod. Is it important? No, as the most variation that one can get is very little. At worst case one might end up with a 1% energy trying to shove sideways. Forget about it.
By varying the ratio between the adjustment at the top end and at the bottem end will change the angle of the clutch arm. All could be correct, but give a different measurement of this 203 mm thing.
When the hand clutch lever is out, you must have a bit of free play. The clutch does heat up during operation and will change the amount of free play. As it heats up, the free play decreases. Too little free play and you will risk excessive wear on the pushrod end and the hole it sits in. This would be the same as riding around with the hand clutch lever partially pulled in. That would cause heat and wear. As free play decreases, the clutch if even more disengaged when the hand clutch lever is pulled in fully. This would tend to make it shift even better.
Take a look at the easy clutch modifications. In those types of mods, a 2:1 advantage is used to decrease the pull resistance. The "cost" is that the total travel is now 1/2 of before. When properly ajusted, they work just fine. If our clutch can work with 1/2 of the standard travel, just how hard can it be to get the stock setup adjustment in the ball park?
OK, does this make any sense, or should I go take my meds? Again!
All that is important is that the clutch release fully when the hand clutch lever is fully pulled in. Variations in clutch cable stretch, aftermarket cables, friction plate wear, pushrod wear, wear in the Diaphram hole, wear at the adjustment bolt, wear in the pivot arm shaft, wear on the inside of the clutch arm etc. The list goes on and on.
We humans tend to obsess over trivia and often fail to get to the heart of the matter. Rather than actually "learn" we prefer to follow hard and fast rules. In this case, rules that don't really work. All rules have exceptions, so learn the rule and then learn the exceptions too.
