Tight creaky clutch

[biffco]

During a trial this weekend I noticed a creaking from the clutch mechanism whilst pulling in the lever. It is also heavier and notchier than my mates OSSA clutch. The noise seems to come from the cable, but I worry it might be transmitting up the cable from the clutch arm ??

Will a cable be the answer to my problems, and is there any way to make it lighter than it is ?

 

[scot taco]

I would make sure the inner clutch   cable is clean and lubed well.Unhook it and make sure it moves freely and check for fraying.If all is good there then pull the right side cover off,take out the clutch actuating arm and clean everything real good,then grease it up and put back together.

If those to things don,t help then it could be that the clutch basket has groves wore in it and the plates are not moving smoothly.

[dadof2]

Lube the cable with a mix of gear oil and molyslip. Han the cable up and make a funnel from duct tape so the oil runs through overnight. The creaking is often the cable nipples sticking and rotating in jerks. Lube the nipples, pivot points and actuating spindle with moly paste. Ossa clutches are heavy.

The standard clutch springs are quite strong because the clutch has to bite through 20w - 50 oil. You might be able to change to lighter springs using a modern light synthetic or semi synthetic gear oil.

[feetupfun]

I see you have AMAL hand levers and that the lever at the engine end of the cable appears to have been slightly lengthened over standard. Those two things mean that the leverage ratio for the clutch on your bike is close to ideal for feel and providing enough pushrod travel for complete disengagement.

Creaking is usually caused by a dry or rusty or dirty cable and/or dry cable ends.

The clutch spring preload on OSSAs is adjustable so that is something else you can experiment with to get the ideal clutch set-up. You can adjust the nuts on the clutch springs so that the clutch has just enough drive to allow the motor to be kicked over with the kickstart lever without slipping, and that will usually allow just enough drive for you to use all gears without the clutch slipping under load.

[stan wellback]

The lever at the motor end is much too far in . I suspect the ball bearing that sits between the pushrod halves is missing. It might be sitting behind the little seal in the out put shaft.

[biffco]

On 4 July 2017 at 10:05 AM, stan wellback said:

The lever at the motor end is much too far in . I suspect the ball bearing that sits between the pushrod halves is missing. It might be sitting behind the little seal in the out put shaft.

Hi Stan, how do I check this ? Can I remove the right hand cover and pull the rod out ? Can I then retrieve the ball if it's still there ? Maybe with a magnet ?

if it's behind the seal on the output shaft how do I check for this ?

 

cheers

james 

[stan wellback]

22 hours ago, biffco said:

Hi Stan, how do I check this ? Can I remove the right hand cover and pull the rod out ? Can I then retrieve the ball if it's still there ? Maybe with a magnet ?

if it's behind the seal on the output shaft how do I check for this ?

 

cheers

james 

Pull RH cover and pull out push rod, The shaft it is in should have a seal in the end,remove it and see if some one dropped the ball in the gap behind the seal.

remove the plate on the clutch cover and remove the adjuster and then push the other half of the rod right through to see if the ball is in the middle. if not, find a ball  same as rod diameter . (cycle shop?)

[pmk]

22 hours ago, biffco said:

Hi Stan, how do I check this ? Can I remove the right hand cover and pull the rod out ? Can I then retrieve the ball if it's still there ? Maybe with a magnet ?

if it's behind the seal on the output shaft how do I check for this ?

 

cheers

james 

Not on my OSSA, but my riding buddies 72 250 MAR, he had issues with the clutch pushrod.  As mentioned the single steel ball had fallen between the seal and shaft.  The ball had been displaced by the previous owner that had rebuilt the engine himself.  This placed a slight groove into the clutch pushrod.  To resolve the problem, the right side cover was removed.  The short rod was withdrawn from the countershaft and as you mentioned, a small magnet found the steel ball.

Using a dab of grease, and the bike laid onto its side, the ball and rod were installed, followed by the side cover.

Not sure if you are aware, but there is an adjuster on the clutch pressure plate if you find all the parts are properly installed.  Possibly the adjuster is not set properly.