Before dismantling again I would compare your clutch arm position with another bike once you have set the free play, that might just give a clue as to whether it is inside or not.
Replaced clutch cable, clutch will no longer disengage
Hi all, first post here but have been lurking for a couple months. Just over a month ago I picked up a '13 500R with 9k miles on it. It was bone stock, and had clearly had a couple newbies on it already. The saga goes like this:
I started commuting with it and installed adjustable shorty levers a couple weeks later, when swapping them out I noticed the top of the clutch cable by the adjuster was starting to fray ever so slightly. One thing I noticed with this bike is that the lever pull seemed really soft, way softer of a clutch than any of my other bikes- but functioned fine. I changed the cable with an OEM replacement, lubed it, and was buttoning the bike up a couple days ago when I noticed the lever pull was particularly soft. Wow I thought, this thing will be great in CA traffic with such a light clutch!
Then reality hit, after adjusting the free play top and bottom I could not get it to shift out of N without stalling. I played with it some more, including moving the clutch lifter arm with my fingers (Unusually easy, I'd need vice grips with any of my other bikes) and no dice. So I bump started it and rode in first for 20-30 minutes trying to see if maybe the clutch stuck together because I left the bike with the cable disconnected for 3 days- no dice.
I removed the clutch cover, everything looked fine. I re-seated the lifter arm mechanism and spring and re-installed the cover to see if that was it- nope. When I look into the oil fill opening, the clutch plates don't appear to move at all when I move the lifter arm.
Is there anything else I could be missing before I remove the entire clutch tomorrow? I just can't believe I pulled the bike into the garage running fine, and all of a sudden I have this issue with a simple cable change. Yes, the cable was adjusted correctly and routed as it came from the factory.
Thank you for any suggestions you may have.
Edit- When I bought the bike, the clutch pull was soft- and the retract was a bit lazy feeling, think weak return spring if that gives any clues. No other mechanical issues or things to go on.
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I started commuting with it and installed adjustable shorty levers a couple weeks later, when swapping them out I noticed the top of the clutch cable by the adjuster was starting to fray ever so slightly. One thing I noticed with this bike is that the lever pull seemed really soft, way softer of a clutch than any of my other bikes- but functioned fine. I changed the cable with an OEM replacement, lubed it, and was buttoning the bike up a couple days ago when I noticed the lever pull was particularly soft. Wow I thought, this thing will be great in CA traffic with such a light clutch!
Then reality hit, after adjusting the free play top and bottom I could not get it to shift out of N without stalling. I played with it some more, including moving the clutch lifter arm with my fingers (Unusually easy, I'd need vice grips with any of my other bikes) and no dice. So I bump started it and rode in first for 20-30 minutes trying to see if maybe the clutch stuck together because I left the bike with the cable disconnected for 3 days- no dice.
I removed the clutch cover, everything looked fine. I re-seated the lifter arm mechanism and spring and re-installed the cover to see if that was it- nope. When I look into the oil fill opening, the clutch plates don't appear to move at all when I move the lifter arm.
Is there anything else I could be missing before I remove the entire clutch tomorrow? I just can't believe I pulled the bike into the garage running fine, and all of a sudden I have this issue with a simple cable change. Yes, the cable was adjusted correctly and routed as it came from the factory.
Thank you for any suggestions you may have.
Edit- When I bought the bike, the clutch pull was soft- and the retract was a bit lazy feeling, think weak return spring if that gives any clues. No other mechanical issues or things to go on.
