Topic: Clutch problems CB550. Total standstill. :(

[Lnent]

 Hi, I’m at a complete standstill on my  project due to this clutch problem.  The bike in question is a 1975 CB 550.  When I pull the handle bar lever the clutch lever on the crank case does not provide enough tension to reset the clutch to riding condition.  I’ve attached a video so you can see exactly what I mean. Also attached a picture of the inside of the crank case cover.  The cables are routed correctly and lubricated correctly.  In adjusting the clutch via adjuster bolt on the bottom of the crank case I noticed it was extremely difficult to turn but I did manage to set the clutch correctly at   seated counterclockwise then a quarter turn clockwise.  I messed around with it adjusting it in various degrees but no adjustment seems to help.  Could be a weak spring, could be the wrong spring, any other ideas?  Really hoping someone out there knows what’s going on. Thanks guys!

Edit: can’t get the video small enough to load.

[robvangulik]

The adjuster bolt is turned in (clockwise) until lightly seated and than turned a quarter turn COUNTERCLOCKWISE i.e. turned out 1\4 turn. Secure with the nut while holding the bolt motionless.

[Lnent]

Ok, I just checked and it is adjusted to fully seated CLOCKWISE munis 1/4 turn COUNTERCLOCKWISE. Sorry for the confusion. I also tried pulling the handle bar clutch lever, where it stayed disengaged, then I tried slowly turning the adjuster fully clockwise till seated then fully counterclockwise then back to factory spec. At no point did the clutch lever on the crankcase have enough tension to pull the clutch lever back into position.

[Lnent]

I haven’t tried putting it into gear while running for fear of damaging the bike or worse if something went wrong. Finally testing it out of desperation, it doesn’t appear that pulling the clutch lever has any effect on the actual clutch. Will continue to fiddle with it but any advise is welcome! Would love to get this figured out.

[Robbo]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Gurp]

Have you been onto the clutches?
Has the bike sat for a while?
Could be over tightened bolts if someone was in the clutches or sticking plates.

[dave500]

how about an actual clutch photo?

[Lnent]

Thanks for the adjustment instructions robbo. I went through again to double check that all the adjustments are correct. Gurp, from what I understand it did sit garaged for sometime, I only bought it recently.
After playing around with it more tonight, it seems the lever on the inside of the cover was never actually hitting the rod (little loose rod with a ball on each end) that disengages the clutch. After loosening the spring plate I was able to function the handle clutch with tension as should be. I’m wondering if the previous owners had the plate tightened too tight and maybe the lever inside the cover just couldn’t reach the plate / rod, if that’s possible. I’m going check the manual tomorrow to see how the plate should be tighten and see if there lies the problem. Unless you guys have more info I will try that and keep you updated. Dave, I will take a picture of the actual clutch and post tomorrow, good idea.

[dave500]

the bolts that hold the clutch together should be tight,not backed off any,loosen the cable both ends and with thumb pressure upwards on the external clutch lever adjust until those dots align,then re adjust the cable,the correct cable has this much free length when disconnected at the other end,make sure both lower cable nuts are on top of the bracket not one underneath as some might do.

[Lnent]

Thank you for the detailed help guys!
So I went back with my manual and again went threw the adjustment process. My manual does say, counter clockwise then 1/4 turn clockwise, though I have often heard the opposite. It seems the problem originally was that bolt or clutch adjustment screw was stripped or in some other way did not fit with the clutch adjuster so every time I pulled the clutch it slipped through the adjuster and applied no or not enough pressure to the clutch rod. For now I am using a bolt with the head cut off and it seems to work. The new problem is after setting the adjustment as the manual says (and as you helpful people have said,) when I pull the clutch lever it only partially disengages the clutch. At least we’re on the right track! Iv tried adjusting the lever on the cover higher (and lower) than with the dots lined up and haven’t had any luck. Any ideas where to go from here with this? I found a couple other threads on this but they didn’t appear to have any solid solutions. One poster said he ended up buying a new cable, disks, plates and basket and eventually it wasn’t as bad but never found out the problem.

[HondaMan]

Right now, we are all experiencing troubles with getting the correct thickness of plates for the 550 clutch(es). It could be, if someone recently changed clutch plates, the wrong ones could be installed. This makes it impossible for the limited 'reach' of this particular lifter to work very well (I'm just now going thru this detail for my upcoming CB500/550 book).

The companies out there are [incorrectly] selling clutch plates of 1.075" thickness as "for the CB550". Wrong: the plates must be .122" thick. If you attempt to install the thicker ones from the 750 (because they fit), which are .140" thick, you find that the lifter cannot be backed away far enough to let the clutch engage, while the thin ones cause the adjuster to be turned in so far that the lever can pop over-center on the lifter and lose the lift altogether.

In some cases, yo can install an extra steel and [thin] clutch plate into the 6-plate stack beneath the 7th slipper plate and make it work, but few realize they can do this: it also limits the lifter adjustment to the last 1/4 turn of its range, making it sometimes impossible to make a good adjustment that works after the engine warms up. To make this arrangement work, ALL the steel plates should also be changed to the thinner ones from the same 1990s bikes where the thinner clutch plates came from, and the dual-spring center steel plate changed out for the baseplate form the GL100/1100 clutch to make up the 0.7mm difference in the stack height. Then this works, leaving you with an additional plate in the stack (good for high-HP engines!) as an 8-plate clutch pack.

If you get into the clutch. measure the thickness of the plates behind the top plate. Most of the top plates being sold out there are at least the right thickness: this particular one has wider outer tabs than the other plates.

[dave500]

ive never had trouble with the david silver kits,believe me ive tested em hard,the best bet is to have the later assembly with that dual damper type steel,i haven't even adjusted mine in years and boy its done some savage launches,be sure the end float on the basket is tight,you might want to include that in your book hondaman?

[flatlander]

In some cases, yo can install an extra steel and [thin] clutch plate into the 6-plate stack beneath the 7th slipper plate and make it work, but few realize they can do this: it also limits the lifter adjustment to the last 1/4 turn of its range, making it sometimes impossible to make a good adjustment that works after the engine warms up. To make this arrangement work, ALL the steel plates should also be changed to the thinner ones from the same 1990s bikes where the thinner clutch plates came from, and the dual-spring center steel plate changed out for the baseplate form the GL100/1100 clutch to make up the 0.7mm difference in the stack height. Then this works, leaving you with an additional plate in the stack (good for high-HP engines!) as an 8-plate clutch pack.

that's exactly how i cobbled together my 8-plate clutch. discussion and some more specs is here: http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,145565.25.html

good luck with the book, hondaman! should be an interesting one!

[rosewood]

Mark when could we expect your 550 book to be released?

Right now, we are all experiencing troubles with getting the correct thickness of plates for the 550 clutch(es). It could be, if someone recently changed clutch plates, the wrong ones could be installed. This makes it impossible for the limited 'reach' of this particular lifter to work very well (I'm just now going thru this detail for my upcoming CB500/550 book).

[HondaMan]

I'm rebuilding a series of 550K and F engines right now to get the engine pix, and a local rider is loaning me his CB550K1 original this winter for a full teardown-resto to get the rest of the pix. The rest of it depends on my time: this summer has been horrible, soaking up more time than I even have for things gone wrong elsewhere. I hope this winter is better?