Clutch friction zone adjustment question

[kctigerfan]

Okay, I'm not only new here, but I'm also new to motorcycles...so this may seem like a dumb question...which I'm fine with as long as I get an answer from someone.

Here's my question: How do I adjust my friction zone on the clutch? I'd like it to engage closer to the grip and I'd like the overall friction zone to be increased.

Here's a picture showing where my friction zone starts and where I want it to start.

The blue line indicates the clutch all the way in.
The green line shows where I want the friction zone to start.
The yellow line shows where my friction zone currently starts.
The red line shows my clutch all the way out.

Right now my friction zone is about .5" big. I'd like my friction zone to not only start at the green line shown above, but I'd also like my friction zone to be about twice as big.

So, how do I accomplish this? Should I try and make this change or should I just live with with how my clutch is currently set up? What are the advantages/disadvantages to either way?

Thanks.

[nd4spdbh]

right now with the stock lever and perch your only going to be able to change where the position of the friction zone is... increase the slack in the cable (by turning the adjuster right there on the perch in so there are less threads showing) this will move the whole zone closer to the grip. just make sure the clutch is fully disengaged by the time the lever is hitting the grip... you dont want the clutch to only be half way pulled off when the lever is all the way in... its hard on the clutch.

the only way to make the actual friction zone bigger would be to change the perch and lever so that the same movement of the lever moves the actual lever down at the motor less... this can be accomplished two ways. 1. a new lever and perch that moves the cable down closer to the pivot point of the lever (so that the cable moves less) or 2. move the cable pivot point down on the lever out of the gear box out further.... so that the rotation of the lever is reduced. both of these acomplished the same thing... making it so that the lever down on the gear box moves less... if it moves less the friction zone will be larger at the lever.

That being said... i say you just stick with moving the entire friction zone as is in or out to match your hands i wouldnt worry so much about the size of it... you will get ust to it!

[kctigerfan]

Originally Posted by nd4spdbh

right now with the stock lever and perch your only going to be able to change where the position of the friction zone is... increase the slack in the cable (by turning the adjuster right there on the perch in so there are less threads showing) this will move the whole zone closer to the grip. just make sure the clutch is fully disengaged by the time the lever is hitting the grip... you dont want the clutch to only be half way pulled off when the lever is all the way in... its hard on the clutch.

the only way to make the actual friction zone bigger would be to change the perch and lever so that the same movement of the lever moves the actual lever down at the motor less... this can be accomplished two ways. 1. a new lever and perch that moves the cable down closer to the pivot point of the lever (so that the cable moves less) or 2. move the cable pivot point down on the lever out of the gear box out further.... so that the rotation of the lever is reduced. both of these acomplished the same thing... making it so that the lever down on the gear box moves less... if it moves less the friction zone will be larger at the lever.

That being said... i say you just stick with moving the entire friction zone as is in or out to match your hands i wouldnt worry so much about the size of it... you will get ust to it!

Thanks for the quick response. I'll increase the slack in the cable today and see if I like the clutch being in closer. Hopefully that'll be good enough.

I actually hate the current levers on my bike and have been planning on upgrading them sometime soon. I didn't know levers could affect the size of the friction zone. What levers would you recommend I look at (chances are slim that I'll be able to afford CRG or Pazzo's...I'd love them, but my wife would be very unhappy) that could increase the friction zone.

[nd4spdbh]

Originally Posted by kctigerfan

Thanks for the quick response. I'll increase the slack in the cable today and see if I like the clutch being in closer. Hopefully that'll be good enough.

I actually hate the current levers on my bike and have been planning on upgrading them sometime soon. I didn't know levers could affect the size of the friction zone. What levers would you recommend I look at (chances are slim that I'll be able to afford CRG or Pazzo's...I'd love them, but my wife would be very unhappy) that could increase the friction zone.

the thing is just changing the lever isnt going to do anything as your going to be still using the stock perch where the cable is the same distance away from the pivot point of the lever. You would need a new lever and perch that moves the cable closer into the pivot point, so that the cable doesnt move as much.

[mcromo44]

Originally Posted by kctigerfan

Okay, I'm not only new here, but I'm also new to motorcycles...so this may seem like a dumb question...which I'm fine with as long as I get an answer from someone.

Here's my question: How do I adjust my friction zone on the clutch? I'd like it to engage closer to the grip and I'd like the overall friction zone to be increased.

Here's a picture showing where my friction zone starts and where I want it to start.

The blue line indicates the clutch all the way in.
The green line shows where I want the friction zone to start.
The yellow line shows where my friction zone currently starts.
The red line shows my clutch all the way out.



Right now my friction zone is about .5" big. I'd like my friction zone to not only start at the green line shown above, but I'd also like my friction zone to be about twice as big.

So, how do I accomplish this? Should I try and make this change or should I just live with with how my clutch is currently set up? What are the advantages/disadvantages to either way?

Thanks.

The 919 has an old school clutch lever setup, the lever is miles away from the bar, just like the bikes of old. The lever shape is part of the problem, the other cause being the distance from the lever pivot point to the handlebar.

I started by using lots of cable slop.
I was not happy.

I got a CRG clutch lever and ran the lever in position 1
It was better, because I was able to then get rid of some of the cable slack I had added in.
I was not yet satisfied.

I then determined that a Honda F4i clutch lever bracket would match up to the 919 cable, use the same CRG lever, the F4i bracket having the pivot pin closer to the bar than the 919 design.
This is my current setup. (you lose the mirror mount but I'm running bar end CRGs so do not care about that.)
I still run the CRG at position 1, and it's not bad, not perfect, not as close in as ideal for me, but OK.
The next step would be to fish about for a compatible bracket, be it Honda or other Japanese sport bike, that I could graft on and still use the same cable. One that has the pivot point even closer to the bar. A 06/7 GSXR 600/750 may be a possibility based on eyeballing what is in our garage.

By the way, I bought a new clutch switch for the F4i bracket. The switch is common with the 919, but is a light duty plastic piece I figured could easily break if I tried to press or drift it out to reuse. So, I bought a new switch. The point being, you need an operational clutch switch, so if you try to use something off another bike, some jury rigging will likely be needed to be able to connect the Honda leads to the connectors on the switch of whatever lever assembly you are trying to utilize off another unrelated bike.

[mcromo44]

Originally Posted by kctigerfan

Okay, I'm not only new here, but I'm also new to motorcycles...so this may seem like a dumb question...which I'm fine with as long as I get an answer from someone.

Here's my question: How do I adjust my friction zone on the clutch? I'd like it to engage closer to the grip and I'd like the overall friction zone to be increased.

Here's a picture showing where my friction zone starts and where I want it to start.

The blue line indicates the clutch all the way in.
The green line shows where I want the friction zone to start.
The yellow line shows where my friction zone currently starts.
The red line shows my clutch all the way out.

Right now my friction zone is about .5" big. I'd like my friction zone to not only start at the green line shown above, but I'd also like my friction zone to be about twice as big.

So, how do I accomplish this? Should I try and make this change or should I just live with with how my clutch is currently set up? What are the advantages/disadvantages to either way?

Thanks.

My initial response dealt only with distance from lever to bar.
You also want a broader engagement distance at the lever.
The only way I see of most easily doing that, is to lengthen the external clutch actuation arm. That will likely create other problems, in particular possibly not being able to get a full disengagement. Your desire is odd, the 919 clutch is butter smooth and ever so light, and extremely easy to modulate at the engagement point. I can sure see why you'd want a different arrangement at the bar so the lever pivot is closer to the bar, but am curious why you are also after twice as much engagement distance.

[kctigerfan]

Originally Posted by mcromo44

My initial response dealt only with distance from lever to bar.
You also want a broader engagement distance at the lever.
The only way I see of most easily doing that, is to lengthen the external clutch actuation arm. That will likely create other problems, in particular possibly not being able to get a full disengagement. Your desire is odd, the 919 clutch is butter smooth and ever so light, and extremely easy to modulate at the engagement point. I can sure see why you'd want a different arrangement at the bar so the lever pivot is closer to the bar, but am curious why you are also after twice as much engagement distance.

I actually made the simple change today of just turning the adjuster and bringing the clutch engagement closer to the grip, and it feels completely different now. I think it has fixed everything. I guess when the clutch use to engage so far out it just felt like there wasn't much friction zone. Now that it's closer the friction zone feels just about right.

Thanks for all the help everyone.