Quote:
Originally Posted by Ray Nielsen  The owner's manual has DETAILED instructions for adjusting the THREE adjustments for the clutch. |
True, EXCEPT the clutch adjustment directions in the owner's manual are wrong.
If you read your owner's manual, it says to loosen the 10mm nut, back out the screw a few turns, tighten the screw until it "stops" (whatever that means!), and then loosen it 1/4 turn.
There's also another thread in this forum that basically says to loosen the 10mm nut, back out screw a few turns, tighten until resistance is felt, and tighten additional 1/4 turn.
Both are wrong.
The VZ800 service manual from Suzuki gives the correct procedure on page 2-16:
• Loosen the lock nut and turn out the adjusting screw two or three rotations.
• From that position, slowly turn in the adjusting screw to feel resistance.
• From this position, turn out the adjusting screw 1/4 rotations, and tighten the lock nut.
• Loosen the lock nut, and turn the cable adjuster to obtain 10 – 15 mm (0.4 – 0.6 in) of free play at the clutch lever end.
• Tighten the lock nut.
Here's the way I do it (basically the same as the service manual directs, just with a little more detail)
1) screw the barrel adjuster at the clutch lever all the way in (i.e., away from the center of the bike)
2) loosen the 10mm nut
3) turn the flathead screw in the center of the nut CCW until the linkage is nice and loose
4) turn the flathead screw CW until the instant the linkage starts to tighten up. At the same instant you'll feel an increase in resistance while turning the flathead screw. The resistance we're talking about is very slight initially (that's when you stop turning), but will increase markely as you continue to turn the screw CW)
5) turn the flathead screw back CCW about 1/4 turn
6) tighten the 10mm nut
7) At this point there should already be some free play at the clutch lever. Adjust it to your liking using the adjuster at the tranny end of the clutch cable for rough adjustments, and the barrel adjuster at the lever end of the cable for fine adjustments.
I like my friction zone very close to the fully squeezed position. To achieve that, I have a little more free play than the recommended 0.5 inch.