no clutch

i just got a 1982 650 maxim, the guy said it has been sitting for about two years and everything worked when he put it away except he said it was super cold blooded. well while waiting for the new battery to take a full charge i decided to just clean the carbs out and they were super dirty. now it runs awesome. starts right up. but their is no clutch. i pull the clutch in then shift to first and it dies.

my step dad says to push the bike around and drop it into gear a couple times, maybe something seized up. i was just wondering what your guys thoughts are on this.

 

This happened to me a couple of times because the bike was sitting for
a few months while I waited for parts. I put it in a fairly high gear then
pull the clutch lever in and keep holding it in while I and another guy
pushes it around on my concrete garage floor. After a while it suddenly
frees up and works fine after that. The clutch plates stick together when
the bike is left standing for a long while but will usually free up using
this method. With stuck plates the motor will only run in neutral. It will
pay for you to do an oil change as soon as you can when you get the clutch freed up. Old oil gets very sticky between the clutch plates.

 

alright i will push my self around in the garage to get it freed up. thanks for the help

 

Get a Manual.
You got some reading to do.

If you shift into gear and the Bike dies, ... there's several things that could be at fault.
I'm not sure, off-hand, how many ... but let's say three.
Of those three, ... "Stuck Clutch Plates" ain't 1, 2 or 3!

You need a Manual.
In the Manual there is a page devoted to trouble-shooting "Stalls when gear selected."

The bike you have is equipped with a Safety Circuit.
If there is some element of the Safety Circuit causing the bike not to start; you could push the bike the length of The Great Wall of China and it ain't going to start.

There's a Switch on the Kick-stand that might be stuck.
There's a Switch on the Clutch Lever that might be the problem.

With the information you have provided to us, we can only guess what it might be.

While you are ordering the WorkShop Manual you need to get to become familiar with what the rest of the family will recommend you do and try, ...

1.) Check Sidestand Switch for function and operation. Rod must move freely. Pull Dust Boot away from Switch Body and spray Switch internals with Electric Cleaning Spray or WD-40.

Get paid to fix your own bike.
Buy a Manual
Read it.
Learn what to check.
Do the checks.
For each hour you spend doing as the Manual suggests you save $80.00

Reading a Manual is SO MUCH EASIER than "Pushing-around a Motorcycle" !!

 

I am out of here

 

The same thing happened to me after I rode my XJ750 for the first time. I ended up having the kick stand down.

 

if it starts up in neutral a potential effort saver for freeing up sticky clutch plates is to leave it in neutral and work the clutch several times while the motor is turning.

when shifting and it dies you should be able to tell the difference between a faulty neutral, clutch, kickstand switch and a sticky clutch.

If it's a stuck clutch it will leap forward as if you had shifted W/O pulling the lever at all and stall the motor.

If it just sort of putters out as if you had turned off the key or flipped the killswitch then you have a faulty interlock. Do as Rick says.

Regardless of it this trouble gets sorted easily, lube them cables, check the rear brake for delamination and get yourself a manual.

 

What manual is best to have, are the haynes manuals good or are their better ones, so by you talkin about those switches, does that mean if those switches aren't working the bike won't move? The bike starts in neutral. It does run.

 

The Haynes is good; a factory book is better; and the absolute best is a combination of the two.

The switches being referred to are a series of safety interlocks to prevent you from starting the bike in gear; or riding off with the sidestand down.

The entire circuit consists of the relay, plus switches for the clutch lever, sidestand, and neutral. Any "wrong" combination and the bike will not start, or immediately shut off. If it's in gear, and you put the sidestand down, it shuts off. If the sidestand is down, or the bike thinks it's down, as soon as you drop it in gear it will shut off.

But here's the big question: Is the bike simply shutting off because of a safety interlock issue; or is the motor being dragged to a sudden halt by a hung clutch? Does it make a big bang/lurch when you drop it into gear, or does it simply shut off?

 

It kind of jumps and shuts off. I sprayed the kickstand switch, am pretty sure the clutch is hung up. Do I have to take of the right side foot peg to take the clutch cover off?

 

I run into stuck clutch plates rather often on the old bikes that I have bought. I bought a peacock grey H1 in July (with my sons tuition $) and as I completed the work I found the plates to be stuck together. I opened the engine and found the plates to be stuck into a single unit. Many times, you can slide in a thin piece of metal crate strap in between each plate to free them (lots of guys use screwdrivers but I don't) but on that bike, I had to remove and replace the plates from another spare that I had since all the plates were far below spec. A week or so afterwards, it was on it's way to Italy to the new owner(sons tuition got paid in August afterall)

The description sounds like stuck plates and it's easy to tell if you've felt it before....electrical caused shutdowns occur much differently then mechancial but like others have suggested, you should have a manual for any machine that you intend on keeping. I found a full set at PDF town.

jeff

 

I have one other problem my headlight doesn't work. The bulb looks good tried messing around with the fuses. What else should I check

 

The headlight will only come on once the bike is running; then it stays on until the switch is turned off, even if the motor dies. (Assuming the headlight relay is functioning correctly.)

 

Don't forget about a De-laminated Rear Brake Shoe Liniing possibly preventing the whole Driveline to bind.

 

First thing - if you put it in gear with the side stand down it's supposed to shut off. Make sure you aren't putting it in gear with the side stand down.

Put it on the center stand. Side stand up, motorcycle in neutral.

Start it. Pull the clutch - if it quits running you have an electrical problem.

With clutch pulled put it in gear. If it keeps running you probably have stuck clutch plates, broken clutch cable or mis-adjusted clutch cable.

If it quits keep the clutch pulled and try to start it. Does it try to crank but the rear wheel doesn't turn? Then probably have stuck rear brake. If it does nothing you probably have a problem with the safety circuits.

Once you do the basic diagnostic above you'll need the manual to pursue your lead.

 

If you can PUSH it, .... the Brake isn't jamming-up the works.

If it RUNS, ... But shuts-down when you put it in gear.
>>Safety Circuit Issue<<

Find the Safety Relay.
Unplug it.
If the Bike runs when the Safety Relay is Unplugged, ... you have a component of the Safety Circuit malfunctioning.

> OR <

A NON-Safety Relay having been substituted for a REAL Safety Relay.

 

With the motor running, I pull the clutch and shift to first and the motor dies, the brake isn't stuck because I can spin the rear tire. I think I do have a electrical problem, because some times the starter won't turn on and other times it works. Some time I hit the switch and it takes a second or to then it goes. I have another new problem now. Once I have the motor running. I shut it off it will start up again but if I let it sit for an hour it won't start.

 

sounds like you have a bad side stand or neutral safety for sure. Like Rick says if it doesn't jump forward when you put it in gear it isn't the clutch

 

You guys were right its one of the switches, I took out the safety relay now it drives. I cleaned out the enrichment circuit and it started right up, now I need to figure out what switch is bad. Where can I get a new clutch switch I kind of broke that one but I had it bypassed.

 

Clutch switch unnecessary IF bike in neutral and sidestand up.

Clutch switch alone won't keep it from running, sidestand or neutral switch will (without a functioning clutch switch.)

It's usually the sidestand switch that goes first, because of where it lives.

You said it was shutting off as soon as you put it in gear, which means the neutral switch is working. Does the neutral light work?

Likely your sidestand switch has packed it. Not having the clutch switch means you can't tell the system "it's OK to be in gear" so as soon as you drop it in gear it will shut off.

For any and all parts, contact member chacal, our resident parts guru and proprietor of XJ4Ever-- see the logo in the site banner at the top of this page.

 

the neutral light does work so that switch is good. i cleaned the kickstand switch again but i never got to putting the relay back in. would it also be possible that the relay is bad? i went through all the connectors by the battery and clean everyone of them. next step is rebuilding the fuse box.

what do you think would be better car fuse holders or the same glass type holder. am more thinking the car fuse holder. hopefully my headlight will work after that.

 

Check with XJ4Ever for an inexpensive and proper replacement fusebox.

Which bike is this again? It's not in your sig (it needs to be. Year and model please, along with any mods we need to know about.)

The reason I ask is that the safety circuits and headlight circuits differ slightly between certain model ranges and I don't want to give you inaccurate advice.

 

Do you have a meter? if so disconnect the switch check it for continuity with the kickstand down and up. It should go ground either in the up or down position not both to complete the circuit

 

this weekend i will take the meter out and check the wiring, what size are the light bulbs in the gauges.