[65325]

I've got a 2002 Yamaha V-Star. The clutch on it has to be let out almost all the way before it starts to engage. I rode my buddies Sporty and noticed that it's clutch would start to grab considerably quicker than mine.

Is there any way I can adjust the clutch to make it engage sooner? If so, how?

Thanks all.

 

[sachiwilson]

There should be a thumbwheel adjustment where the cable enters the lever. Play with that and see if it helps.

 

[65325]

There should be a thumbwheel adjustment where the cable enters the lever. Play with that and see if it helps.

I thought that was just to change the gap for hand size. I'll give it a try though. Thanks.

 

[sachiwilson]

It helps for that too! I need brake and clutch levers with adjustment wheels so I can get them to fit my (not that small, but small) hands. If a clutch lever didn't have one of those adjustment wheels, I often would have to put slack in the cable so I could get the lever a bit closer to me.

There should also be another adjustment barrel down at the other end of the cable, where it reaches the transmission case. I've never fussed with that end though.

 

[The_AirHawk]

It helps for that too! I need brake and clutch levers with adjustment wheels so I can get them to fit my (not that small, but small) hands. If a clutch lever didn't have one of those adjustment wheels, I often would have to put slack in the cable so I could get the lever a bit closer to me.

There should also be another adjustment barrel down at the other end of the cable, where it reaches the transmission case. I've never fussed with that end though.

That one's purpose is to adjust the cable slack - but it can do essentially the same thing.

 

[Kenneth_Moore]

6String, if the clutch is working ok, I suggest you get used to it and leave it alone. I started screwing around with the clutch adjustment of my old HD and wound up spending hours trying to get it back to working the way it was. I won't subject you to the cliche about stuff that ain't...

 

[bbtowns]

I take it from other's comments here this is a cable actuated clutch. I would check the cable slack per Airhead's comments. My guess (having not seen your bike or ridden it) that the clutch cable does not have enough slack, and is therefor engaging and disengaging as soon as you move the lever. I'd try adding a half turn of slack at the cable adjuster which is probably close to where it connects to the clutch. Did it help, try it some more, if it didn't turn it the half turn back to where it was and experiment with reducing slack. Make sure you make small measured changes and then go ride it to see the effect, Ken makes a valid point that it's easy to screw things up if you aren't careful.

 

[65325]

Thanks for the help everyone. I'll probably just leave it as is. If it really proves to be a problem, I'll take it into the shop and let the professionals deal with it. lol