So i've got alittle '88 Honda CD250 and lately the clutch has been a little problematic.
I bought it about 8 months ago with dead reg' & 23,XXX miles on it. It runs like a typical little Honda motor does, complete bast*rd when cold but as quiet as a sewing machine when warm.
Got it back on the road 6 months ago but have only done 146 miles since.
The problem is this. Go out to the shed, get the bike out, before starting it change it out of neutral into either 1st or 2nd and it's like there is no clutch (even tho' the lever is pulled in) so i have to rock the bike (sometimes quite hard) to get it to free up. All good now so i go for a ride but the longer the ride the harder it is to change gear, it starts to get stuck in gear. Once or twice i've had to stop, turn bike off, rock it to release it out of gear then start off again.
Although i've always had bikes i've never really fiddled with the mechanics of them so i have no idea where to start on this issue. Any ideas / help is appreciated.
Hope all that made sense LOL.
tonyrockyhorror,
Dec 28, 10:17pm
Look at the the cable freeplay. It sounds like it's excessive and the clutch can't fully disengage and is dragging. This will result in a heavy thump from the box when selecting 1st gear (though some clutch drag is normal which is what causes this) which is normally much worse when cold.
tonyrockyhorror,
Dec 28, 10:22pm
There should only be a small amount of clutch lever movement before the clutch cable tension comes on. Too much freeplay and the clutch won't fully disengage, but too little and the clutch may slip.
As the cables do creep (the inner lengthens) over time they do require maintenance to ensure the freeplay remains within limits.
kazbanz,
Dec 28, 10:24pm
Attitude. It sounds to me like the clutch plates are sticking together is the first place to look. Have you given the old girl an oil change! It might be a simple case of needing to get oil back onto the steels and back into the fibres -If it was me I would order a gasket set and pull the clutch cover off then pull the clutch fibres/steels out one at a time and clean em up with some 2000 grit paper on a sheet of glass.Its pretty easy to do on one of those. Pull them out one at a time and stack them up the same way up they came out and in the same order.
tonyrockyhorror,
Dec 28, 10:26pm
BTW there will be cable adjustment at the top on the lever and at the bottom on the bracket. Set the top adjustment to maybe 5mm gap between the locking ring and the outer cable seat. Then adjust the adjuster on the bracket at the bottom of the cable to get close to the correct freeplay. Then recheck and adjust the freeplay at the lever end.
tonyrockyhorror,
Dec 28, 10:29pm
Second. Start with the cable adjustment.
If this doesn't help THEN start thinking about dismantling. When you do check the inner and outer clutch basket fingers for ridges as these will prevent disengagement.
rozendaal,
Dec 28, 10:36pm
Quite a common problem if the bike has been sitting unused for some time. Quite a simple job as long as the cover screws are able to be undone.
kazbanz,
Dec 28, 10:41pm
biker/crzyhrse/tony/ --Normally I'd agree with KISS. My gut is that its something internal stuck as the result of standing a long time. Either clutch plates stuck or the internal actuator rod corroded
tonyrockyhorror,
Dec 28, 10:45pm
It's quite possible but it wouldn't normally get worse when warm though.
attitudedesignz,
Dec 28, 11:12pm
Cheers guys, will check cable / adjustments then plates.
kazbanz,
Dec 29, 1:05am
Yea I agree but its the logical next step from cable issues.In my head I'm seeing sticky cables causing the clutch to hang open and cable stretch being an issue all the time. Im seeing actuator arm pushing on the rod and something from there on in sticking. --But then its clearly sticking closed rather than open. I'm almost tempted to suggest running a SMALL amount of engine flush in the oil for A SINGLE rideto see if it degumms the internals--then dump the oil and put a good quality oil in it. I guess theres always the old "take it out and thrash the #### off of it for a couple of hundred k's"In fairness thats all it might need -getting blardy hot for a decent amount of time
longnite,
Dec 29, 4:29am
pull the side cover off the motor the clutch basket is simple to understand they mostly go clutch steel clutch steel etc until basket is full while you have it apart give the clutch plates a wash to get rid of any varnish that has built up don't forget to wash the steels the basket ,springs and the outer basket cover.If its a 2 stroke motor top up the gearbox with auto transmission fluid all my 2 stokers have never looked back by using it
kazbanz,
Dec 29, 5:22am
longnight--um its a four stroke -vintage style.
matarautrader,
Dec 29, 6:29am
Sounds to me as though the wrong oil has been used.
kazbanz,
Dec 29, 7:09am
If it has in fact ever been changed
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