T500 Hellish clutch pull

[petermbooth]

I just attach the clutch lever and cable to my T500 which I had had the clutch apart on. The pull is ridiculously stiff. Almost unpullable. Does anyone have any thoughts on why? Is there a torque spec on the bolts that tighten down the springs? ( i'm thinking I might have over tightened them.)
Otherwise maybe a cable issue...

[Zunspec4]

Hi Peter,

The clutch springs are fully tightened down. Check lubrication of the clutch cable and it's routing. I'm afraid the T500 clutch pull is somewhat heavy but it should operate smoothly.

Cheers Geoff

[ro55o]

I had the same experience on mine.
I had replaced with new springs which are heavy duty, so I swapped back to the originals I had that were within spec and it was alot less heavy.
Before doing that I had extended the clutch cable arm pull where the cable attaches. I made a plate that I bolted on though the original cable holder hole and had the plate fit snugly over the arm with slightly folded over edges to keep it in place.
Needs a bit of work to get the cable holder pivoting correctly depending on its position.
You only need 5-10mm longer on the lever pivot (where the cable holder is) to make a difference. Just have to be careful not to go too long or the inner cable will rub on the guide through the casing. I also used a short length of nylon tubing around the inner cable to avoid any chaffing.

Its now light as a feather. I have left it as it is but when I have time I was going to see if its OK without the extended arm as obviously the cable run is better. If not I will stick with it.
Worth trying lighter springs first anyway.
Hope this helps.

[Jimroid]

Some non-stock perches have crappy leverage too. Do you have a stock perch?

[petermbooth]

Thanks for all the ideas.
I will start by checking routing and living the cable. I didn't understand the description from the second poster (who's name I can't see now that I'm typing. The number 55 was in the name.). Can you tell me what the attempted effect was of that modification? Knowing what you were trying to do might help me understand the set up you built.

Thanks everyone.

[ro55o]

Hi, I am aiming to gain a mechanical advantage by increasing leverage so that it will take less effort to pull in the clutch lever.
It can be achieved from either end of the clutch cable but I am describing doing it from closer to the clutch and not from the handlebar lever.

See attached pic.
Hope that makes more sense.

Cheers
Ross

[petermbooth]

That makes sense completely! A picture is worth 1000 words or at least the 40 or 50 of that post. Thanks for the clarification.

[joolstacho]

BUT... be aware that increasing the leverage ratio like that will 'effectively' decrease the cable movement and therefore decrease the rotation of the worm-drive that pushes the rod, so reducing its inward movement.
The handlebar lever would need to move the cable further to result in the same movement of the clutch pushrod as standard setup.
So you can compensate by finding (if you can) another clutch lever and perch that gives more movement there.

[Jimroid]

It does not matter which end of the cable all this happens. You can gain or loose leverage / travel at both/ either end. Typically there is still enough travel in the clutch basket even when you go for more leverage. As I mentioned several posts earlier: do you have a stock or aftermarket perch & lever? Also, was the lever stiff before you worked on it?

[petermbooth]

It's an aftermarket lever on clip ons.
When I got the bike the clutch lever was not connected. (Actually it came with no clutch lever.)
Tomorrow I'm going to disassemble the clutch, test/lube the cable, check the springs/plates/basket and look at the action inside the left side where the cable terminates.

[Zunspec4]

Hello Peter,

Apologies for my less than in focus photography but here is a shot of an extended clutch lever arm. Not the neatest piece of engineering (not mine) however it is effective at lessening the effort required. The down side is that you will not get so much movement In-Out of the clutch push rod but this has not been an issue wrt operating the clutch.



Cheers Geoff