Clutch adjustment

[dualsporter]

Hi, this is my first post, Iv'e been a lurker for awhile, great stuff!

I thought I would share this info. I bought my new 07 blue M50 last september I now have 3000mi. When I picked up the bike from the stealer
I noticed it did not shift very smooth from 1st to 2nd. The service tech played with the clutch lever a bit, told me to rev it a little more btwn shifts and give the bike time to break in. It would shift better at about 20mph,
I took the bike into another stealer for my 600mi and told them of the problem. They said everything was normal. Okay long story short! I ordered the factory service manual, re-adjusted the clutch cable and it shifts great now! I hope this can be of help if anyone else has had this problem.

Ken

[Clint]

Welcome, Ken. Did it need tightening or what?

[ish19]

Dualsporter

[SNAFU]

to M-J Ken! Nice choice.

Can you tell us what you did to adjust it?

[robertc729]

[dualsporter]

To adjust the clutch,
loosen the lock nut on the clutch lever, and turn the adjuster all the way in.
Remove the left frame cover, the secondary gear case cover, & the clutch release cover.
On the clutch assemblly (lower end of cable) there is a lock nut and flat blade type screw in the center,
Loosen lock nut and turn the screw out two or three rotations.
From this position, slowly turn in the adjusting screw to feel some resistance.
Now turn out the adjusting screw 1/4 rotation, and tighten lock nut.

Now at the lower cable adjuster (just above the clutch release cover) loosen the 2 lock nuts, & turn the cable adjuster to obtain .4-.6 in of play at the clutch lever end, & tighten lock nut.
Now tighten lock nut on clutch lever. (you can make minor adjustments to the amount of free play on cluch lever).
Put covers back & ride.

I think the problem with mine was that the ajuster screw was turned in too tight.

This info is all out of the factory manual, hope this helps,

Ken

[FormerF150Owner]

Forgive me if this has been asked before. When I start my M50 it wants to surge forward about 4 inches and then stops. The clutch lever is pulled fully back so I'm wondering if I need to adjust the clutch? I usally turn the bike off when it's in 1st gear to make sure it doesn't roll and I don't start the bike in neutral.

I don't have any problems shifting on the road and the friction zone seems like it's OK - just wondering if anyone else have this issue?

[digitalbroccoli]

Mine does that one too f150, as have most of my bikes. I've always chalked it up to "quirky, but normal" and assumed it had something to do with a wet clutch system.

Someone smarter than me will know the real answer I'm sure.

[FormerF150Owner]

Originally Posted by digitalbroccoli

Mine does that one too f150, as have most of my bikes. I've always chalked it up to "quirky, but normal" and assumed it had something to do with a wet clutch system.

Someone smarter than me will know the real answer I'm sure.

This is my first electric start bike so I wasn't sure if it was normal. My last bike as a 96 XT 350 that would start right up......after the 11th or 12th kick.

The only "surging" on that bike that I experienced was the sweat from my brow.

[mflueras]

Both my bikes do it but I did notice that if I hold in the clutch a little longer after the ignition is on the lurching is less.

[DaveAlvarado]

dualsporter, sounds like you fixed part of the problem. My '07 also was really clunky going from 1st to 2nd and 2nd to 1st until I had several thousand miles on it. Would occasionally miss shifts between those gears and get stuck in neutral too. I chalked it up to whatever does the synchronising not being broken in yet. It did finally get better to where it's the same as shifting between other gears.

[dualsporter]

Dave, my bike would also clunk btwn 1st & 2nd unless I reved the throttle a bit before shifting. Adjusting the clutch per the manual seemed to fix it.

Ken

[Zinje]

Originally Posted by dualsporter

To adjust the clutch,
loosen the lock nut on the clutch lever, and turn the adjuster all the way in.
Remove the left frame cover, the secondary gear case cover, & the clutch release cover.
On the clutch assemblly (lower end of cable) there is a lock nut and flat blade type screw in the center,
Loosen lock nut and turn the screw out two or three rotations.
From this position, slowly turn in the adjusting screw to feel some resistance.
Now turn out the adjusting screw 1/4 rotation, and tighten lock nut.

Now at the lower cable adjuster (just above the clutch release cover) loosen the 2 lock nuts, & turn the cable adjuster to obtain .4-.6 in of play at the clutch lever end, & tighten lock nut.
Now tighten lock nut on clutch lever. (you can make minor adjustments to the amount of free play on cluch lever).
Put covers back & ride.

I think the problem with mine was that the ajuster screw was turned in too tight.

This info is all out of the factory manual, hope this helps,

Ken

Manuel come with pics?

[dualsporter]

Yes!

[cvillechopper]

Originally Posted by FormerF150Owner

Forgive me if this has been asked before. When I start my M50 it wants to surge forward about 4 inches and then stops. The clutch lever is pulled fully back so I'm wondering if I need to adjust the clutch? I usally turn the bike off when it's in 1st gear to make sure it doesn't roll and I don't start the bike in neutral.

I don't have any problems shifting on the road and the friction zone seems like it's OK - just wondering if anyone else have this issue?

Not Normal, or at least not as it should be. I've had that on older bikes that I was restoring. Ends up being a clutch adjustment that's too tight. From day 1 the M has been a perfect ride. Never had it jump when starting in any condition. I'd look into adjusting the clutch as outlined above. A tight clutch cable/ throw-out rod, etc can wear out the clutch over time.

[diamond_jim]

Floating around here is the post that says to turn the screw in 1/4 turn after feeling resistance, which is wrong and the way I first did it. After doing it the right way, turning the screw 1/4 turn out after feeling resistance, made it much better.

[nicocorea]

I agree with DJ--you back it off 1/4 turn.

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 a 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.