That's my motto...

Hunting for the perfect washers does sound like a nightmare scavenger hunt among hardware stores.

I really don't see any reason to fuss around with the springs or shimming.  The stock clutch handles my modified engine just fine, and it doesn't slip.

The stock clutch works fine when you give it proper oil, and it is adjusted.  Gritty/weird feeling are more likely coming from the handlebar lever or cable....when is the last time you cleaned or lubricated those?

It you want to take your clutch apart and clean/scuff the plates up a little bit to remove the glaze or any contaminants that might be on there from a previous oil (friction modifiers)...remove them, clean the oil off them, then place a piece of 360 or 400 grit sandpaper on a piece of glass and move the clutch plate and sand (soapy water for lubricant) the plate until the shine has mostly gone away....do this on both sides of the fiber washers.  Wash them off, let them dry, and then put a light coat of oil on them and put your clutch back together.

With freeplay in the clutch lever, with the lever released, I can reach down and push the arm on the side of my case with my finger. It will move maybe a fraction of an inch. I suppose this is what lead me to believe that springs had grown weaker over time.

The lever and travel doesn't feel gritty or obstructed, it feels smooth, but light and with some slop once released. Almost spongy. It's always been a light clutch to begin with, I would never expect it to feel heavy. I have it adjusted to grab in the first 1/3rd of travel. There is enough free play that I usually habitually tap the lever with my fingers after releasing to close the freeplay gap and satisfy my OCD.

Perhaps the issue is that when at the dealer/shop for parts I make the mistake of grabbing the clutch on new S40s when walking by and convincing myself in my head that mine is starting to have a "worn out" feeling. Maybe I should learn to stay on task at the dealer and not get distracted by the eye candy.

I'll have to take a look once I get a chance to crack into it this week. To check this, you unhook the clutch cable from the arm and find its resting position, correct?

verslagen1 wrote on 07/12/16 at 10:49:11:


Using one or two fingers and light pressure.........you are looking at removing the return spring slack.

I checked the arm, appears to be lifting to the middle/upper middle area between the marks. I have some photos I'll try and attach. Checking this raised a question I realized I'm not clear on. My original understanding was that free play in the lever should not equate to free play in the arm. I think this is what was causing me to adjust so much free play at the lever. Which after actuating the arm.. It immediately clicked what this would not make sense, as any travel in the cable caused by the lever should result in some travel of the arm, albeit through a range of free play at the arm.

Last night while out I adjust the clutch at the lever, leaving about a quarter sized gap of free play. Clutch grabs at the second half of travel, the slop feeling is pretty much cleaned up, and I was unable to get any slippage romping on it in 4th or 5th gear.

A few days prior I was doing a lot of reading in clutch related threads and I think I made my own head spin trying to understand its operation.. particularly the thread that discussed whether the rod should be shortened or lengthened to take up for clutch wear. I think I convinced myself to break the KISS principle and cause myself to think "well my clutch must be getting pretty worn too." In reality I don't think I had a good concept or proper clutch adjustment.