When I was in there doing some other work I installed a new one and found the clutch would not engage even with the cable slack adjustment set to the max (both adjustment points). I had to take the cover back off to remove the washer. The cable adjustments are almost at the maximum again so I plan to install new clutch discs and plates soon.
I'm sure my clutch is very worn out now, but is there any problem running the clutch all the way until it just doesn't grip anymore? I didn't measure the thickness of the discs when I had it apart so I don't know if they are beyond the wear limit.
If I didn't remove the washer I would have had to replace the discs already. Is this washer meant to be removed as the clutch wears down?
The washer is a shim. It is used to adjust the clutch arm on the clutch cover. There is a section in the book about it. They say you could have 0,1,or 2 in there.
That would be a personal choice. If it is still grabbing good I would run it Until I had some other indication that it was bad. It could also be that your clutch cable is stretched out and that might be where your adjustment went.
Get all you can out of it, for sure. Also, yes, check the cable as was wisely mentioned above. Clutch cables are cheap, might as well replace it before you go and spend on a clutch kit.
Well, a stretched cable would actually work ok for me here. A cable with less slack will not allow the lever to go back as far as a stretched one would. I do have a new cable waiting to go in too once the clutch no longer holds. I'll run this clutch till the very end :)
i really doubt the cable stretches much, but my perch and in line adjustments are nearly all the way in to allow the cable to have the most slack possible. There is no way to get more slack. I don't know why the adjustment needs to be a the extreme end but I assumed it was the clutch wear. As the clutch wears down I think you have to add slack to the cable to get the freeplay at the lever back to where it was (~2-3mm). Is that right?
It sure is much easier to adjust it then discuss adjusting it. This gets confusing.
Those shims are to adjust the lever angle. If it is more than 90° add a shim, less than 80° remove one (if present at all). Any more than two shims and you need to check your plate thickness.
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