Topic: Finding Neutral on the CL350

[vames]

Hi all - can't find much with a search, so I'm posting my question.

My father in law has a beautiful stock CL350 that someone gave to me and I gave to him for his birthday. Rides beautifully -- just did about 75 miles of mountain roads this weekend and while he couldn't keep up with my 400f, he wasn't necessarily lagging.

The one weird thing with it is that unless you're coasting pretty fast or have the engine off, you can't get it into neutral. Not the worst thing in the world, but sometimes you want to stretch your hand out at a stoplight. I understand that this is a fairly typical problem with some of these bikes, and that many riders just shift to neutral while they are still moving.

But other than that, is there known cause of this problem which leads to a known fix?

Thanks in advance.

[Raul CB750K1]

From my experience, there are two things that make shifting to neutral a chore: a too high idle speed, and a too loose clutch cable -so it slightly drags even when you pull the lever to the handlebar-.

[sandcastcb750]

I agree about the clutch. If you can easily find neutral with the motor stopped, then the clutch is probably dragging. My 1971 CB750 did that alot after sitting a long time.

Check the clutch plates for rust or warpage.

[vames]

Thanks. I've played with the clutch adjustment quite a bit -- it's definitely not dragging while the clutch is pulled in. This bike did sit for about 20 years -- maybe the only way to address this is with new clutch plates.

[markjenn]

Thanks. I've played with the clutch adjustment quite a bit -- it's definitely not dragging while the clutch is pulled in. This bike did sit for about 20 years -- maybe the only way to address this is with new clutch plates.

Adjust the freeplay to a minimum - this will mean you're pulling the max cable you can which will help disengagement.  The clutch can be dragging enough to make neutral-finding a real chore, but otherwise will be undetectable.  One experiment is to put the bike on the centerstand, engage first and see how much the rear wheels rotates with the clutch pulled.  Almost all wet-clutch bikes will have a little "creep" that will rotate the tire slowly, but you may find yours spinning pretty aggressively.

New clutch plates may or may not help.  If the clutch is otherwise Okay, I'd hesitate to replace them just for this problem - you may make it worse.  I'd also look at the throwout mechanism and make sure it is sound and well-greased.  If this has been neglected (it has a grease fitting as I recall) then the balls and ramps may be badly worn which will reduce clutch pushrod travel for any given cable pull, which will increase clutch drag.

- Mark