'k, I'm confused (happens a lot).....

When one is determining if one needs a new clutch push rod, one looks at the clutch lever's position (I'm talking about the clutch lever that sits on the starboard side of the engine, not the one that is mounted to the port side of the handlebars) relative to the index marks that are present inboard of the clutch cover.

Exactly which part of said lever is used to make the determination.  Seems some say that the middle (longitudinal center) of said lever should be used, some say that the bottom edge of said lever should be used.

To show how this could be confusing, check out this pic (note that I was exerting a moderate upward force on the lever (to get rid of any slack in the system) when the pic was taken):





Given this situation, am I golden (as the bottom edge of the lever is smack dab between the index marks), or does the bike need a longer clutch push rod (as the longitudinal centerline of the clutch lever is about even with the top index mark)?

What say, clutch gurus?

Oldfeller--FSO wrote on 08/25/13 at 18:17:27:


So, OF says I'm golden.....

Others?

My intuition tells me that the lever goes up to release......so as the clutch pack wears the lever will actually move down on those marks.

I think you are in good shape now.....and will be even"gooder" as things wear.

Dave wrote on 08/26/13 at 06:30:16:


Dave,

FYI, here is a link to a darned fine clutch war that waged and was over before your time:

http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1273183239

One of the best wars we've ever staged here....

Dudes, we are still learning more about said clutch -- my personal learnings are that I have been partially wrong about half the time, and partially right at the same time.

I think that the model that says "cable stretch and clutch rod wear DO happen a lot faster and go this a way while clutch pack wear is much slower and goes the other way" is the correct mental model to keep in your mind.

You should have your "does nothing useful" free travel at the lever evenly split between the "before"and "after"clutch engagement action zone.  

Mine is currently 20% free, 60% engagement zone and 20% free, but I have a very old well worn set of plates right now and those ratios will change when I clean the steels and fibers back up again and try to go for the extra steel and fiber plates (which will be my next big clutch experiment).

You have to do all clutch adjustments on a rolling full temperature engine, there is no such thing as adjusting your clutch while stationary, much less on a cold engine.

If you are thinking solely about the lever position, you are correct.   If you are a newbie trying to adjust a clutch, you need to know about cable stretch as it is the primary reason you have to be adjusting the thing all the time.

But you are correct, cable stretch is "upstream" to the lever adjustment completely.

So, "lever talk" is about rod wear and plate wear, which go in different directions as expressed on the lever position.

With it there, I believe I would let it ride if there were no clutch problems evident.

This is similar to the pic I snagged from OF thread.
And while it said it was ok, I think it's marginal.
If the cover is coming off any way, measure the rod sticking out of the clutch pack.
12.5mm is about the maximum rod length.  13mm is definitely too long.
as proposed (and I agree) the rod and cable lengths are more likely to change than the clutch plates.
If the rod length is less than 11.5, time for a new rod.

Also, I prefer to have a full radius on the ends of the rod.  Promotes smoother action with the sintered actuator cam.  Also spins better.  But rounding the corners effectively makes the rod shorter.  Which is why I like the max length rod sticking out.

And the more rod you have sticking out the more effective the motion is.