hey guys,

i'm new to the forum. i just recently purchased my '11 cbr250r last week. i've been riding around town with it everyday and i just found something to be uncomfortable with it. maybe i'm a newb and just need to get used to it or maybe there is a way to adjust it.

when i purchased my bike privately, the previous owner had put pazzo replica levers on them. the brake is perfect. but the clutch lever seems really high. when disengaging the clutch, i feel it catch very very high. i have adjusted the 2 nuts on the handle bar side, but have not touched the engine side.

now, when i tried fixing the engine side, i made it shorter by moving the nuts up the wire. (sorry if im not explaining properly, i'm a newb.) when i did that, the clutch was shorter, but there was a significance of free play on the clutch lever. and when i turned the bike on, it was hard to get into gear and sometimes not at all.

am i not doing it correctly? how do i do it properly where i want to be able to disengage the clutch easier and closer to the handle bar?

(moderators, if this is in the wrong area, feel free to move it.)

Sounds like you have gone too far with the adjustment.

Turn the adjusters back toward their original position and look at the distance from the lever to the perch as you take up the slack by putting light pressure inward on the lever. There should be a spec listed that tells you what that distance should be (1/8", 3/16", 1/4", etc).

You may need to go back to the stock lever to completely solve the problem.

 

sorry, i should have mentioned that i did put everything back to the way it was. i took it for a little ride around my neighborhood just to make sure it was back to normal. and it was. even the high clutch lever. lol.

 

Factory clutch lever free play is 3/8 to 13/16 in. or 10 to 20 mm. at the end of the lever.

 

i don't mind the free play.

just when i squeeze the clutch lever, it engages so high. my hand is practically open still. and not how it is on my friends 250r ninja, or a gs500. when they press the clutch, their lever is alot closer to the handle bar, where the friction point or sweet spot is. mine, my hand is wide and 85% open.

sorry if im not explaining well.

 

You've gotten some good answers here . . . but maybe I can help with the explaining . . . specifically the terminology:

When you squeeze the clutch lever, you're DISENGAGING the clutch; when you release the clutch lever, you're ENGAGING the clutch.

It's a common error because, I think, squeezing something feels like "engaging", but what's happening at the clutch itself is "disengaging" . . . .

 

The clutch lever free play adjuster located on the lever perch is for making small, or finer adjustments. The other end of the cable, where it is held in the bracket located on top of the right crankcase cover, is for making larger adjustments.

The clutch lever free play adjustment procedure is covered on pages 68-70 of the U.S. version of the Owner's Manual.

 

I hate adjusting clutches.. I never have good luck and not sure where the sweet spot should be.. So when I bring my bike into the Ducati/Triumph dealer for an oil change they always make sure my clutch is in adjustment, I'm lazy like that. Speaking of.. My throttle needs to be adjusted. lol

So if you don't have luck, I'm sure you can bring it into a shop and they will adjust it for free, most likely..

 

It's not a "clutch adjustment" per se... it's merely an adjustment to the amount of free play in the cable, as measured at the end of the lever. Adjusting the clutch lever free play is probably the easiest maintenance item to do on a motorcycle.

 

the clutch cable arm will have a certain amount of play in it before it engages the springs.

hold on to the clutch cable arm down by the engine and tighten the cable until there is no or barely any freeplay by wiggling the clutch arm by the engine.

if the levers are adjustable move the small lever, or turn the dial depending on type of adjustable lever it is.

 

The adjustable levers give you a bit more room to position the lever where you like it.

As said above, even with the adjustable levers, set the free play of the clutch. This is how far you can "pull" the lever in before you feel any resistance at all. There must be some free play, or you will wind up slipping the clutch under power.

Once the free play is set, you can adjust the lever in or out to fit your hand size and where you want the clutch to begin/end engagement. The lever adjustments come in handy when you change gloves. Some are thick leather, some are thin leather, and some have insulation.

 

if you hold your hand out open and relaxed
it should make a form like holding a rockmelon..
if you then move your thumb in slightly,
from its first joint [close in to the wrist]
thats about he best hand form for riding
with clutch control..

if you make a fist pulling fingers from first knuckles
without specific training [karate etc] the strong
muscles on the back of your forearm will take
the strain causing the fist to pull back,
at the wrist [similar to part of opening throttle]
which is unnecessary and potentially tiring
for continual clutch use..

what you want to do then is [holding the rockmelon]
move the fingertips inwards a little, bending only
the end and middle knuckles [not main knuckles]..

natural movement takes pinky tip in a little further
than pointer finger tip, with the others bending
evenly resulting in about the same relative
distance of them all as they all bend in..

this is the easiest less energy consuming movement
and hand form including for using the clutch lever..

when adjusting clutch lever free play, rest your fingers
over the clutch lever with thumb loosely bent under bar,
then move fingers in together [middle finger tip moves
maybe half an inch inward] lightly without forcing them..
this is about the movement you would start with
for free play of the lever, = finger 'freeplay'..

the next slight clenching movement of fingers
uses the middle knuckles more as the end joints
are less mobile - they will be now over the lever..

that slight clenching movement from 'freeplay' position
of fingers is a pretty good and efficient use of fingers
for clutch control.. a good place to start at least..

you dont want to be clenching your fist as in pulling
the lever right into the bars, which activates other
muscles in the forearm and [thru] hand making
extra unnecessary muscle movements, thus
inefficiency in clutch control and in muscle
movement.. this repetition of specific clenching
actions over and over for clutching will weaken
the muscles during that particular time/process
due to lactic acid buildup even in well conditioned
muscles.. bearing in mind these are thin muscles
and if not conditioned [by sport, work etc]
will be more sensitive to repetitive strain..

even tho clenching fists is a natural movement
[babies often do it immediately at birth]
that smaller version of it is also natural
but needs some practice if new to brain..

so i always adjust levers according to my own
finger movements together with the necessary
first lever free play to ensure clutch function..

come to think of it, everything adjustable
should be adjusted to your, dimensions
and your movements on the bike..

 

I have adjusted my freeplay to about 1mm at the perch. It "engages/disengages" within a 1/4" of pulling it in. Basically when I am riding I can "flick" the clutch lever so to say (if I can explain that right)? It's definitely fully disengaged by about half a squeeze in.

I like it like that, others like it to be pulled in half way before it disengages.

 

I have mine set at what the manual recommends (don't remember off the top of my head but I think it's just under an inch) and I've never had an issue with it.

 

It should be a simple matter of adjusting the thumbwheel on the clutch housing. That is what it is for, to make minor adjustments to the clutch engagement point. That is assuming that the mechanic allowed some adjustment room at the handlebar end. If he did not, it is easy to change the adjustment down at the gearbox end of the cable to allow freedom of adjustment up at the bar end.

 

I'm sorry to resurrect an old thread, but I'm facing the exact same problem as the original poster.

I am still learning how to bike, and not having the clutch lever adjusted properly is causing me great difficulty, I think.

Basically, I want the clutch to work so that when I release the lever, the clutch starts to engage very soon after I start releasing. (That is-- when I am opening up my palm) I don't really care about the free play at the end of the lever, I just care about the engagement point when starting to release the lever. If the engagement point is closer to the grip, it makes the bike much more controllable when I am trying to learn.

Any sort of adjustment I make at the lever end, is just not working. Either the engagement point moves too far, or too close. I can't find the sweet spot. Do I need to adjust it from the inside adjuster instead?

 

The friction point (or engagement point) is intended to be out near the end of the lever travel (where the lever is almost fully released) on the CBR250R.

The problem with trying to move the friction point closer to the handle grip is that then you end up with too much cable free play, which in turn can cause issues with the proper operation of the safety switch inside the clutch lever perch. While you need a small amount of clutch lever free play to prevent the clutch from slipping under power, you can also have too much free play.

You really need to adjust the the clutch lever/cable free play according to the procedure shown in the Owner's Manual. In time you'll get use to having the friction point out near the end of the lever travel. This is one of those things that falls under the heading of "How it's supposed to be"... not "How you want it to be".

 

@Mark2000
Don't worry, you will get used to it in a little time. There is no need to adjust the clutch, just keep practicing and soon you won't even think about it anymore.

 

@Mark2000
Don't worry, you will get used to it in a little time. There is no need to adjust the clutch, just keep practicing and soon you won't even think about it anymore.

Darn it Schroeder
... he does need to adjust the clutch cable to Honda's free play spec (which according to his post, it sounds like he now has it adjusted to something other than where it should be).

 

mate, walk around with shoelaces untied and loose,,
you'll soon get used to it...

 

... just like the Eastern Asian practice of binding women's feet to make them more 'attractive'... I'm sure after the excruciating pain subsided, those women got use to their now deformed feet too.

 

There's also dozens of how too vids on YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=adjust+motorcycle+clutch

 

My wife had to have the clutch set up with extra slack on her CB350. The one time that I adjusted stuff to factory specs, she dumped the bike in the gravel behind the Socorro Junior High that she taught at. I had to bring in new pantyhose (yes, she was riding in a miniskirt).

As long as the clutch is disengaged when the handle is fully pulled, you won't hurt the bike.

 

Months later and I am still trying to figure this out.

When I am riding, and I release the clutch lever, the bike keeps moving forward at about 5-10 km/h (without me giving it gas) and never stops or stalls until I hit the brakes. The bike seems to self-propel itself. Is that normal or what could be wrong?

I have a feeling that whatever I've done, must mean that the clutch never disengages. Lost on this one, please help.

 

The clutch is not fully disengaged if the bike creeps forward. Are you pulling the clutch lever all the way to the handlebar to disengage at a stop?

You need to readjust the clutch lever at the left handlebar or at the top on the transmission.

Do you have the shop manual for this bike?

Oopsie, you said when you release the lever. It should creep forward (or stall if the gear it is in is high enough) on the idle setting of the throttle.

Your comment about the clutch never disengaging is not compatible with releasing the lever. Can you better describe what you are doing and seeing?

 

Ok, so I gave it another test. I haven't touched anything inside the bike, I've only ever used the handlebar adjusters:

With the clutch handlebar screw almost all the way in - when I start the bike while pulling in the clutch lever, it instantly starts creeping forward.

That means the clutch plates are too close together at that adjustment, Right? In other words...the clutch isn't completely disengaging, which it should be.

 

Correct. Turning the screw out adds to the cable pull which should let you disengage. If you cannot get it to stop creeping with the handlebar adjuster, look for a lever on the top of the lower case (transmission housing, I think that it is the right side case on your bike but I don't have one and cannot look), that is the other adjustment point.

It may be that your clutch cable has stretched a bit and simply needs adjustment.

Your bike idling in first gear at 5 km/hr is OK!

 

I think your logic is correct.

 

From the service manual:

Clutch will not disengage or motorcycle creeps with clutch disengaged

* Excessive clutch lever free play
* Clutch plate warped
* Engine oil level too high, improper oil viscosity or additive used
* Loosen clutch lifter mechanism
* Damaged clutch lifter mechanism
* Clutch lifter piece installed improperly
* Worn clutch outer slot and clutch center grooves
* Improper clutch operation

EVERYONE should have a copy of this book!

 

Adjusting the clutch (again, from the service manual)

Measure the clutch lever free play at the end of the clutch lever.
Free play: 10-20 mm (3/8 -13/16 in)

Minor adjustment is made with the upper adjuster at the clutch lever.
Loosen lock nut and turn the adjuster
If the adjuster is threaded out near its limit and the correct free play cannot be obtained, turn the adjuster all the way in and back out one turn.
Tighten the lock nut while holding the adjuster.
Recheck the clutch lever free play.

Note: The adjuster may be damaged if it is positioned too far out, leaving minimal thread engagement.


Major adjustment is made with the lower adjusting nut at the clutch liter lever. (down by the engine)
Loosen the lock nut and turn the adjusting nut to adjust the free play.
Tighten the lock nut while holding the adjusting nut.
If proper free play cannot be obtained, or the clutch slips during test ride, disassemble and inspect the clutch.

 

Hey MotoMike (or anyone), does Honda recommend greasing the clutch cable barrel that is inserted into the hand lever recess? Or, (after looking at mine just now), perhaps some grease on the cable itself, where the cable runs through the adjuster tunnel.

This was an important point (the barrel) on my old BMW airhead, because the barrel would rotate in the recess every time you pulled in the clutch. If this point were dry, the cable would eventually wear out where it entered the barrel, causing it to break.

I just looked at mine, and saw no rotation, but I did see the cable rubbing against the inside of the adjuster.

This is a picture of what I am talking about on my BMW.