NC30 - How much clutch drag is too much clutch drag?

[missis sumner]

I need a bit of help, please. Background - because my little hands have been struggling with the span of the standard clutch lever, I replaced it with a Titax adjustable one.

Before I took the standard lever off, I measured the freeplay of the clutch/cable at the lever end like this:

http://www.v4power.co.uk/Images/v4p_0024_l024.jpg

and the gap was about 5mm.

I then loosened the clutch cable at the lever end, whipped off the standard lever and replaced it with the Titax one. I re-adjusted the freeplay to be about 5mm, as previous, and checked that the clutch "felt" about right before starting the bike up.

With the bike on the Abba stand in neutral, and the rear wheel off the ground, I held the clutch lever in, i.e. disengaged clutch, and put the bike in first, only to notice that the rear wheel started turning quite quickly with the clutch lever held in...

Thinking I'd buggered something up, I took the new lever off and put the standard one back on, and adjusted it as well as I could to have the same freeplay as previous. I then started up the bike again, and you've guessed it, the rear wheel still turned with the clutch held in. I have tried adjusting the freeplay on the lever to "bugger all", to no avail.

I have not adjusted the clutch cable at the clutch end at all.

I have also not previously noticed any considerable drag i.e. the bike does not try to creep forward noticably while I'm sitting on it in gear with the clutch held in. Having said this, I'm sure there was some drag, as when I tried to move it in gear, when it was cold, with the clutch held in, I did feel some resistance a couple of weeks ago.

So coming back to the original question, how much drag is too much drag? Shall I just get it off the stand and try it out, or is it likely to run down the road throwing me off as soon as I put it in gear?

TIA.

[MexicanGringo]

the clutch cable should be tightened so it just has a little tension, more tension than this and the clutch will slip when hot since the pushrod is permanently opening the clutch - although the lever will be lighter to clasp. Since all bike wet clutches drag(and probably any multi plate clutch) its normal and not to be worried about. The metallic slap you hear when engaging first is a result of the gear dogs snapping in with a bit of force from the dragging clutch. That in itself is a measure of how much drag is present. Too much drag would be if the bike creeps or stalls, probably caused by warped plane plates.

[arsey30]

If the new lever has reduced the span then the throw of the clutch will be lessened.

With the bike still on the stand, engine running in gear with clutch held in, apply the rear brake to see if the wheel stops.
You could hold the rear brake on and then engage first gear to see if the engine falters.

When you try it off the stand whist sitting on the bike, hold the front brake lever hard on to prevent any leaping forward if clutch does drag.
Too much drag is when the bike edges forward with clutch held in, selecting neutral is often tricky, even if clutch is working reasonably well.

[missis sumner]

I'll give it a go off the stand tonight then. So far since I've had the bike , selecting neutral has been a PITA, but then that's not really differerent to any other bike I've had. Cheers for the replies.

[MexicanGringo]

Blip the throttle up to 3-4K to find neutral easier, think pretty much every NC has this problem...

[arsey30]

Most of mine were OK, but with the one that was difficult I snicked into neutral just before coming to rest whilst still rolling, from second seemed easier than first.
I learned this from riding Velocettes in the 1960s, where the clutch thrust bearings wear quickly so that there is little throw on the clutch arm.

[You may well find it amusing that to adjust the clutch, a nail is inserted in a hole in the gearbox sprocket to lock it , then the rear wheel is turned whist in first gear to make the clutch just slip.
Then the cable is adjusted to no free play and the nail/turn wheel exercise is repeated in the opposite direction until the correct free play is obtained.]

You think NCs are difficult to work on :-)

[CRM]

Hi Sarah, if you replace the lever with the aftermarket one, and try and start it in gear with the clutch in. you will feel if its trying to run away with you.
However if the clutch is still dragging slightly, it might be needing a clutch.
Now funnily enough - i have a spare complete clutch here which is in good order, and with some vernier calipers and some time i am sure you could make a nice fresh clutch for yourself between the two. you are welcome to it - just PM me your address and will get it over to you FOC.
i would however buy from either graham france or rick oliver a clutch cover gasket right now before you start, and get a fresh 4l semi synth oil ready to refill.

[hunter]

I think 5mm is to mutch free-play,addjust the cable untill the lever stops against the bracket then just ease the addjuster back off untill you see a small amount of free-play lock the nut.

[missis sumner]

A quick update - I tried it out again last night on the stand at first. I adjusted the clutch lever so there was next to no freeplay. I jumped on the bike on the stand and started it in neutral. Holding the clutch in, I put the bike in first and the rear wheel spun as before. However, when I pressed the back brake, the wheel stopped with no problems, so I decided to try it off the stand.

Off the stand, in neutral, the bike started up with no problems. I put it in first with my hands on the clutch and the front brake, and the bike clunked forward and loaded up the front fork as it used to before. I swapped to the rear brake and gingerly let the brake off - only for the bike to roll slightly backwards on the very slight slope of my garage floor...

So I don't think it's dragging that badly, but probably needs sorting at some point. Paul - you have PM.

Oh, and if anyone has a spare clutch cable I may be interested in that as well.

[CRM]

Sarah just buy a new cable, used cables are just not worth it, new are not expensive and make a difference