Topic: clutch lever not working

[03rangerxlt]

Got the motor running; its great. Transmission goes through the gears too. But I can't get the clutch to disengage when I pull the lever.  Its also kinda stiff. School me please!

[Stev-o]

Have you adjusted it properly? (check the manual).

[cougar]

Hey 03 ; The first thing I would do is w/engine off, is put the bike in gear and pull the lever and try to roll the bike, if it won't roll and the bikes been sittin for a long while the clutch discs might be stuck. There are a number of ways folks will tell you to try to break them loose. Some will say put the front tire against a wall and start the bike in gear with the clutch lever pulled. Some will say to start the bike with the front wheel against a wall then pull the clutch lever and put the bike in gear. Anything you with the bike running , well be careful,LOL. Some will say w/engine off, pull clutch lever and drop the bike in gear and try rocking to get the clutch plates broke loose. Of course all of these are going on the assumption that it's the plates that are stuck, LOL ! Hope these give you some ideas.   ...cougar...

[dave500]

in neutral,pull the clutch lever and try and kick start the engine with the ignition switched off,,the kicker should just free wheel,keep trying several times if its turning the engine over and if it dosent break loose somethings up,have you had the left cover of and the clutch adjuster apart and lubed?have you ridden the bike?

[adamlwvdc36]

disconnect the cable at the engine, pull the cable... does the end move? is there resistance? if the end doesnt move but and you have resistance, the cable has broken and the part that is connected to the lever has seized up partially, in this case replace the cable and try again... if the cable checks out replace the clutch, theyre cheap and not too hard to do.  while youre in there check the arm that operates the clutch.  lube it up. this should solve the problem.  In my experience, the above mentioned techniques do work to free the clutch, but at the expense of having the clutch go out on you soon.  to change the clutch youre looking at about an hour, just soak the new clutch discs in oil (im being serious here they sit in oil in there, you want to give the cork a chance to soak up the oil before riding) while you are disassembling

[dave500]

you cant disconnect a 500s cable at the engine end without disabling the mechanism,its internal not external like a 550,,if you have bad luck the clutch rod may be broken?

[03rangerxlt]

Somebidy suggested to me to just put the bije in the ground and try it out. They said there bike seemed like it was getting power to the rear wheel ubtil they put it on the ground and it all worked great.  Ill try and report back!