Possible clutch issue

I know there has been alot of previous posts regarding the clutch but I could not find one regarding my specific issue. Was wondering if anyone could assist.
Here's what's up:

First- have to say that I have checked the slack in the cable/lever and adjusted accordingly.

When I pull the clutch lever in toward me, everything feels fine. Engaging into 1st gear, there is a bit of lunge on the bike when it engaged into 1st.

When I gradually let out on the lever, the bike does not start to move untill the lever reaches very near the end of it's travel, then when I fully release the lever, I feel a "grab" just before the clutch fully engages. Again, this
occurs at the very near end of the lever travel.

End of travel meaning at the point where the lever is located in a static condition. - not touching it.

Shifting thru the gears is not an issue however I have experienced a time or two the tranny not shifing fully into 2nd but hung up on neutral while going from 1st to 2nd. All other gear shifting is smooth.

Downshifting is not an issue but it does seem like there is excessive "clunk" noise while downshifting.

I have not pulled the clutch cover off to inspect yet. Bike has 8500 original miles.

Any ideas would be helpful. Thanks

 

I would suggest adjusting the clutch at the clutch hub. There is an ajustment there as well. If that doesn't cure it then check your cable routing for slackness.

 

BlueMaxim,
Sorry, forgot to mention that I have adjusted the cable at the clutch hub.
Cable routing looks good too.
I will say that I have not changed the position of the clutch hub lever on the splined shaft.
Was wondering if I repositioned it a couple splines counterclockwise, if that might help? Was conserned that if I do that then wouldn't it put constant pressure on the plates causing a slippage condition?

 

It's best to centre the Clutch shaft (remove the C'clip and reposition it) Feeling for play the Lever should ideally be just before 90 degrees to the clutch just as you can feel it hit the throwoiut bearing. Once done and adjusted for a slight amount of freeplay (don't want it riding the throwout bearing constantly) at the clutch end adjuster .. then you should be good to go.. If that fails your expectations AND the cable is in decent condition then it's time to remove the clutch case cover... and find what if anything is obviously wrong.

 

My 82 XJ650 Maxim also lurches when shifting from neutral to first (especially when cold, much less when good and hot). Downshift from 2 to 1 also clunks in.

In my case, the aftermarket clutch lever the PO had put on was hitting the switch housing above the left handgrip, reducing lever travel. I've replaced with a lever of the proper shape, but haven't ridden yet. Any chance your clutch lever is hitting something?

The grabbing of the clutch when releasing seems like it could be a lubrication issue. Are you sure the correct lubricant is in the engine/transmission?

 

85-hundred Original miles.

It's an "Either / Or" situation.

Either the Original owner beat the livin' crap out of it Drag Racing, track racing ... or, was lame and rode the clutch and burned-out the drivers ...

Or ... You simply need to adjust the Clutch until the tension on the cable is at Zero Lash.

So, ... Either you need a new clutch and drivers ... or,
You need to do a precision adjustament of the Clutch.

I'm betting an adjustment is all you'll need to do.

 

Thank you all for the input, I am going to tackle this issue this weekend. I'll let you know.

 

Okay, I decided to tear into the clutch because I did not find any problems with the adjustments or cable.
Here's what I discovered:

All friction plate thicknesses are between .115 and .117
-book says between .11 and .12

All clutch plate thicknesses are .062
-book says .063

All spring lengths are 1.61
-book says between 1.58 and 1.62

clutch plate warpage- not checked.

I noticed some discoloration on the clutch plates as seen in the pictures.

I was wondering if this may be some sort of corrosion brought on by the bike not being used for many years.
This discoloration is on all the metal plates on both sides.

any ideas?

 

Please go to my gallery to see the clutch pics.
thanks

 

What you have there Tony is a classic case of acid damage due to storage with contaminated (reads: OLD, unchanged) oil. While this is not a desirable condition, yours do not exhibit enough damage to be overly worried about. They appear to still be useful. As for you clunking noise, near as I can tell, all of our XJ's do it to greater or lesser degrees (though I'm not sure why). You do mention a 0.062 mil reading of your clutch plates, which is (obviously) 0.001 mil shy of the spec that you provided. Was the specification you posted a minimum? If so, just change out the clutch, the friction plates and the clutch springs to ensure your covering the bases (this assumes you can afford to throw that kind of money out there. Clutch disks aren't cheap). I would recommend against using a used set of friction disks with new clutch plates unless the friction disks are used less than a few hundred miles (a few, like 2 or 300, not 900). Being that I am not a transmission guru, this is the extent of my advice as I've no wish to speculate at what the issue might be. I can say from experience that if something is out of spec, it is time to renew the assembly. Best of luck on tracking down the gremlin on this one.

 

I'd take the Drivers to an AutoBody Shop and see if they'd set you up with a "Palm pneumatic D/A" [Dual-action sander].

Using some: 4, 6, and 8-hundred discs ... go over each side of each of those Drivers > LIGHTLY <!

Then, finish 'em with 1000, 1200 and 1500 which will restore the surfaces to a finish that won't bind when the Frictions are compressed on them.

You do them with a D/A and the job will take less than an hour. You can do them all by hand, if you have too, ... but doing all those guys by hand is going to take a Football double-header and take more elbow grease than I'd want to use!

Check the Clutch Basket Bosses where the badly corroded Driver Dogs were sitting. If the Bosses on the basket are pitted; you're going to have to stone-out the grouves to insure that the Drivers have a 100% smooth surface to travel.

When you have a low-low miles bike ... you're looking at one of the FEW real problems to deal with.

If the Basket is cool and won't require having the grouves smoothed-out; ditch the drivers for some new ones. If the Basket is corroded bad; yank that puppy and stick a good used one in there ... along with a Brand New set of Drivers. Go for a silky-smooth clutch you won't have to service again for 25,000 miles!