FJ600: Hard shifting....clutch issue or ???

NOTE: I mistakenly posted this in the FAQ forum. Moderators, please remove that post. I'm reposting here in what I hope is the correct place.

I read the shop manual about adjusting the clutch and did a quick search here, but I'm not sure I found what I needed.

Bike is an '85 FJ600. The shift lever has always been a little tough to move. I swapped bikes with my girl last week and rode the FJ and was STUNNED at how hard it was to move the shift lever.
My CB500 is as smooth as butter compared to her bike. I actually had to pick my foot up a couple of times to make the shift.

Like I said...the manual was basically useless. Is this a clutch adjustment thing?
Do I just need to relocate the arm on the clutch/engine case?

I've done clutches several times on my XS's and the CB, but the stuff in her manual just seemed a little odd to me.

The bike doesn't creep at red lights and doesn't grind or miss gears. It's just REALLY hard to move the shift lever. It takes deliberate effort. Is this normal?

 

No, it's not. Shifting on the chain-driven XJs is generally very light and crisp.

As long as it's not creeping at lights, dragging when shifting, etc., I doubt it's a clutch adjustment issue.

HOWEVER: The shifter shaft on these bikes (550/600) "crosses over." What I mean by that is the shaft you are operating on the left actually runs across to the shifter mechanism ("mousetrap" and shift drum) which is located on the right side, behind the clutch. If the shift shaft is rusted or gummed in place, or bent, it could cause it to be hard to move the shift lever.

Try simply removing the cover; if the shaft IS bent, the first "point of bind" would be the cover itself.

Relocating the arm on the throwout shaft is a clutch actuation adjustment technique, and doesn't sound related to your problem.

 

Excuse my ignorance....do you mean the RH clutch basket cover?

 

No, the front sprocket cover on the left that the shift shaft pokes out through.

There is a rather long, "unsupported" part of the shaft behind that cover; if the bike was ever dropped on its left, the shifter shaft could have been bent.

Removing the clutch basket cover (and then the clutch itself) would gain you access to the actual shifter mechanism. But I'd start at the left side, where the shaft comes through the cover.

 

After reading your reply, I went out to take a look at what's involved in removing the LH cover.

I noticed that the shift lever itself is very loose on the shaft. Not the splined portion; that's tight. On an FJ, the lever is attached with a linkage. The shift peg itself seems loose on the shaft.
I can wiggle it around quite a bit and I can move it maybe half an inch or more before it starts to engage the linkage.

Maybe I should adjust the linkage so that all the slack is taken up? Make the shift more positive?
Am I making sense or would pics help?

 

OK...check this out....

I went to take some pics of the shift linkage and a measurement of the free play. The free play is about 1/4" of movement on the lever before the linkage engages the splined shifter on the shift shaft.

But, more importantly, I noticed something when putting the bike on the center stand (for better pics).
The bike was in gear, so I pulled the clutch lever so I could roll the bike and put it up on the stand. With the clutch lever pulled in, I felt some resistance when rolling the bike. Like the clutch was still engaging a little bit.
With it up on the center stand, I can feel the resistance when turning the wheel by hand....clutch lever pulled in.

Think the clutch DOES need adjustment? It sorta feels like it's not fully disengaging when I pull the lever.

What about adjusting the shift linkage? Should there be any free play in the linkage at all?

 

I suppose the clutch could be dragging. There's a pic in here: http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=29541.html toward the end illustrating where the end of the throwout lever should be in relation to the little rectangular "pip" cast into the cover. It'll be the same on that bike as it is on the 550s.

With the throwout lever positioned thusly, and the free-play at the lever adjusted to 1mm-3mm free play, then it's adjusted correctly.

As for the shifter, are you saying the little "sub" lever has play on the shaft before it engages it, or that the lever itself has a certain amount of "slop" before it affects the lever (which should be tightly clamped to the shaft) reflecting "slop" in the whole mechanism? There shouldn't be a lot of play in the mechanism itself.

 

RE: shift lever....

There are two levers on the assembly. The splined lever that goes on the shift shaft and the shift lever itself...the one you move with your foot. They are connected with a linkage.

The splined lever is tight on the shift shaft. No problem there.

The shift lever goes on a non-splined shaft. It is loose. I'd say there's a quarter inch of free play up/down.
I'm guessing that I should adjust the linkage to take up the slack....No?