Topic: Clutch Adjustment CB550 K1

[Fraserimoore]

Hi Guys,

I know there's plenty of threads regarding this, but to put it simply I must be stupid because I still dont have a damn clue how to adjust my clutch correctly.

Story so far...

The bike has been rebuilt.
Its nearly all back together apart from installing my new clutch cable and adjusting accordingly.

Current Situation...

The new cable has not been installed onto the bike as of yet, from what I've read up on, I need to adjust the nut/screw on the clutch housing to line up the clutch arm dots???

Pics below to show where I am.

My questions...

1. Should the dots line up without the cable on?
2. when I loosen the lock nut and turn the screw what happens? or what should happen?
3. What are the steps to install and adjust the clutch correctly?

With the cable off I loosened the lock nut and slightly turned the screw to see if it moved the arm at all...nothing happened? is that correct?

Any help would be much appreciated, Im at the finishing line and this is the last main task.

Many Thanks, Fraser

[BomberMann650]

Yes, you need to adjust the clutch arm dots to line up before things will work right.
The mechanical adjuster on the clutch cover will get you there.  Loosen the lock ring nut, fit screwdriver into the slot and turn.  I think clockwise moves the armature up, ccw moves it down. 
Once the dots are in alignment, the clutch cable can be attached and adjusted.  To answer your question - The cable is not responsible for aligning the adjustment marks.
Its been a while since I setup the clutch on my 550.  Memory is a little purple hazy.

[rsank]

I am no expert so please take what I say with a few grains of salt. I did the same adjustment this spring under my yearly service. I found that turning the screw will not make the armature move. You should move the armature with your finger to align the mark, then with the screw driver, tighten the screw until you feel it stop. Release the armature and it will stay in that position. I did this and rode many many miles this summer with no issues. Hope this helps.


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[jonda500]

Turn the adjuster screw anticlockwise to tighten and bring the arm up, clockwise to loosen!
John

[Fraserimoore]

Thanks for the replies guys.

I've done what you said. I held the arm whilst turnong the adjuster screw, I could feel and see the arm moving as I adjusted. Whilst holding the arm I adjusted the screw to get the dots line up, but when I locked the screw off and let go of the arm it drops back down.

Are the dots there to indicate the start position or as the clutch is operated indicate that there should be no travel past the to aligning dots?

I hope that makes sense.

I'm worried now that I've been adjusting so much that I've completely cocked it up?

[Scott S]

 I thought the cable needed to be attached to align those screws? That's the way I've always done it.

[jonda500]

I always thought the dots were meant to coincide with the engagement point? It's normal for the arm to drop when the cable's not connected,
John

[DaveBarbier]

Your first picture seems like the dots are aligned, seems done as far as I'm concerned.

You need to have the dots aligned when there is no slack in the lever. So lift the lever with your hand and if the dots are aligned, you're done.

Edit: With the cable on, the lever won't ever be drooping like in your second picture. Pay no attention to how the dots are oriented in that state. Once the cable is on, double check the dots are lined up when you're not squeezing the lever.

[Fraserimoore]

Cheers Dave, that makes perfect sense to me now.

[PatrickZ]

For posterity, in case anyone revisits this, I had the same issue. Could not shift up from 1st into neutral with engine on.

I ended up loosening the adjuster bolt and turning the screw until I could reliably pop it into first. I found the dot alignment to be too coarse and had to be outcome driven in the adjustment.

[flatlander]

the dots should align when you push the arm up - like in your first picture.
when you let go of the arm it will drop down and the dots aren't aligned any more, that's normal. but be careful: if you let go of the arm and it drops down it can slip out of that little lifter drive thing inside the cover and then you need to remove the cover to get things aligned again. so don't let go of the arm.

you can do this with the cable attached but then it should be at slack so that it doesn't actively pull up on the arm. it's actually safer with the cable on as then the arm can't fall down completely and slip out from behind the lifter inside the cover.