Stiff clutch on my 75 250

[weflyu]

Took my new (to me) 75 250 out to the Mojave desert today and put about 3 hours on it. Ran great, gave my buddy's 2003 kawi 250 a run for the money. My question is the clutch seems to take a lot of pull to engage it {at least compared to a modern bike). I ve had the clutch cover off and de gummed the friction plates. The plates look good and the clutch does not slip or stick. The cable is new and pulls freely. The housing holding the clutch actuator arm on the right side of the motor is worn but the arm moves smoothly. May be I am just not used to it, but 30 years ago I had a 72 Piner and I dont remember that bike taking that much clutch pull. May be I just need to strengthen my hand. I just joined POG last month and will be racing the bike at the AMA district 37 Grand Prix Series This year. Any tips would be greatly apriciated.

Mark Smith
Castaic Ca.

[Kip Kern]

There are many combinations of clutches used on the engines, I have seen at least 4 or 5 used on 250 engines.  75 usually came with 7 Sintered plates and 7 Steel plates, sometimes with a small steel backing ring behind the clutch stack and sometimes with the same small steel backing ring and an extra steel plate.  I have found most problems to be improper clutch stacks with improper springs being used.  I had a 175 the other day that had 1/2 250 clutch and 400 springs in it.  Not sure what people are thinking.  The best bet is to review a shop manual for your machine and build the clutch accordingly.  Remember to get the proper clutch actuator measurement, you can do this with fitting different thickneses of outer pressure plates on the clutch basket.  Also, insure the clutch rods are 108mm long each and a 6mm ball is installed!

[Steve Minor]

I had a stiff clutch on my 77 400 GS6.....I re-routed the cable and made the bends wider.....now it's a 2 finger pull( well.....almost 2 fingers).

[john durrill]

we put a grease fitting on the clutch actuator. keeping it lubed will help a lot. ours is a 2 finger clutch also
John & Peter

[DKWRACER]

Mark, the Fall 1999 issue of "Keeping Track" has a great article by Bobby Lucas detailing clutches in general. Maybe Al Buehner has a copy you can get.....Good Luck!