First bike build. Clutch very stiff?

[Street Ryderz]

Just saying, that spring is the return spring to assist in DISENGAGING the clutch, removing it WILL cause issues once your INTERNAL clutch spring breaks in and increase your clutch pad wear unnecessarily.

Just break it in and increase grip strength simultaneously and it will be more normal soon.
Park with the clutch locked for a day or two would be better than removing the spring.

How is it that you have no clue as to how these things work!The spring that was removed acts as a secondary return so that when your clutch is set up with a little space(1/8 of an inch) before it puts pressure on the bucking bar,the spring keeps tension on the cable so the lever isn't loose or have play in it!

 

[KCvale]

Just saying, that spring is the return spring to assist in DISENGAGING the clutch, removing it WILL cause issues once your INTERNAL clutch spring breaks in and increase your clutch pad wear unnecessarily.

Ohh for heavens sake...
All that little spring does is make your clutch harder to pull, period.

 

[crassius]

yes, that spring is a hold-over from the old kits that had no spring inside the clutch hand lever

 

[Street Ryderz]

Ohh for heavens sake...
All that little spring does is make your clutch harder to pull, period.

NO it does like I said and keeps tension on the cable so that you can have a gap between the cam and bucking bar! Without the gap there will always be slight pressure on the bucking bar the bearing and the cam and that causes premature wear of those parts!I have seen some serious indents on the bucking bar and flats on the bearing aswell as indentation in the cam from inpropper set up!This will have you adjusting the set up often until it's worn out! And it adds little tension to the pull required to disengage the clutch my 5 y/o grand son can pull my clutch lever in fully with no problems and my clutch has a heavier main spring on the shaft!

 

[DuctTapedGoat]

I'm only going to say this one more time.

DISENGAGE CLUTCH means ENGAGE CLUTCH, ENGAGE CLUTCH means DISENGAGE CLUTCH.

The spring actually interacts with the lever in the 3 bolt panel to a certain return position VIA the cable and cable engine mount.

 

[FurryOnTheInside]

If you reposition the cam lever on the splines to give a more perpendicular angle of pull then the spring will be too long anyway. But if your hand lever has a spring, and the cable runs smoothly it will push the cam lever back that tiny fraction you need to get the (greased) cam to stop touching the (greased) bucking bar.

And I agree there is just no such thing as breaking in a spring. Spring rate never changes unless a spring gets really damaged like by bending it too far, beyond the elastic limit, or by proper deep rust.

What I have not seen mentioned in this thread is an old mod we've probably all read about (have people stopped doing this?) of chamfering the business end edge of the cam itself. If I remember correctly, this was primarily to prevent locking but also would give a better mechanical advantage, a less stiff clutch actuation. Not my invention and I have not even done it but I'm surprised it didn't get mentioned.
There's a diagram of the mod somewhere if you search for it.

 

[KCvale]

NO it does like I said...

Hey, no biggie bud, all I am saying is I find the little spring nothing but useless, and no ill effects simply not installing it, only the positive effect of the clutch lever being easier to pull and hold awhile if need be.

 

[gary55]

A blind dog with a note in his mouth could see what the spring is for. Just seein, I mean just sayin.

 

[KCvale]

A blind dog with a note in his mouth could see what the spring is for. Just seein, I mean just sayin.

I suppose a poor cabling job might require that little springs assist to the clutch lever...

I size every cable except a 2 stoke throttle cable (both ends have fittings) to a size that looks and functions nice, I have ~65 2-stroke builds so far, and I have never used that little spring for it's purpose, but they do work OK for a 4-stroke throttle return spring so some get reused ;-}

There is art to pull cable cutting but it's easy to learn, the thing is you need the right tool and they are like ~$45 so not worth it if you only plan to build a bike or two, for me it's an essential tool and why my builds look so 'clean'.

 

[gary55]

The right tool is a 17.00 harbor freight grinder with a cut off wheel, and a small tapered burr to clean off any burrs inside the cut. These tools will come in handy for many other jobs as well.