C: Clutch Won't shift

Denny653

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When I bought my Black Shadow this fall, my first official act was to break my kicker cover with a manly kick. I am only somewhat mechanical, but I removed the cover, had a friend TIG it, another paint it, and then I reassembled it. Next, I attempted to adjust the clutch. I reset cable so that the G91 touched the abutment the with the clutch lever in. I then adjusted the free play in the cable. I checked it by the slack in the cable at the top of the G91 with the clutch lever released.

Started the bike, let it warm up a bit, and then started down the street from my shop. It sounded good, but when I pulled in the clutch, it wouldn't shift into second. I went around the block in first gear and put it away. Ideas? ...and thank you as always.

By the way, a friend allowed me to ride his Rapide late in the summer and he told me that he usually kicks the gear indicator into first with his heel and that is what I did.
 

Chris Launders

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That's not the way to set the clutch cable, it should be almost touching the outside of casing with the clutch out, giving you maximum travel.
 

BigEd

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When I bought my Black Shadow this fall, my first official act was to break my kicker cover with a manly kick. I am only somewhat mechanical, but I removed the cover, had a friend TIG it, another paint it, and then I reassembled it. Next, I attempted to adjust the clutch. I reset cable so that the G91 touched the abutment the with the clutch lever in. I then adjusted the free play in the cable. I checked it by the slack in the cable at the top of the G91 with the clutch lever released.

Started the bike, let it warm up a bit, and then started down the street from my shop. It sounded good, but when I pulled in the clutch, it wouldn't shift into second. I went around the block in first gear and put it away. Ideas? ...and thank you as always.

By the way, a friend allowed me to ride his Rapide late in the summer and he told me that he usually kicks the gear indicator into first with his heel and that is what I did.
The gear indicator is just that, an indicator. However, if your gearchange mechanism for some reason goes out of adjustment the indicator can, and has happened once to me, get you home. Kicking it sounds brutal and likely lead to your next repair. The picture below should explain the clutch cable adjustment.
Re: Kickstarting. You don't really need a "manly" kick if you use the following technique.
  1. Petrol on, set your choke and advance retard levers if fitted, sometimes the carburettors may want a tickle.
  2. Throttle set to hardly open, pull in and hold the valve lifter.
  3. Swing the kickstart down which should be easy as there is no compression with the valves are lifted.
  4. As the kickstart nears the end of travel let go of the valve lifter. The flywheel inertia takes the pistons over compression. Less strain on the components and you leg. Getting the co-ordination right may take a bit of practice.
The kickstart cover should have a spring-loaded plunger/stop to prevent damage at full kickstart quadrant travel.
clutch cable adjustment.jpg

1. With the h/bar lever pulled back to the bar use the adjuster in the clutch cable to get 1/16” clearance between the end of the G91 clutch lever and the cable abutment that protrudes into the gear cover.

2. Screw the ET27 adjuster in/out to get 3/16” slack in the cable at the handlebar with the lever released.
 

Bill Thomas

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I agree with Ed , But I made a shorter abutment when I made up a multi plate clutch,
But you have to be careful because the cable nipple at that end could pop out,
When slack,
It was not made to work that far over, I kept it snug with a bit of wire.
 

greg brillus

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I don't believe we have enough information to give a descent answer........Is the problem the clutch not disengaging or is the gearbox itself not shifting..........Put the bike on its rear stand and see if it will shift through the gears while rotating the rear wheel......... On some older engines downshifting can be an issue if the G 91 lever interferes with the G 66 lever.........we need more info here.
 

timetraveller

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Erik Greg is right to ask the first question, does the clutch disengage properly. That is if you pull in the clutch on the handlebar lever can you kick the bike over freely? If you can then it is probably not the clutch. Greg is also correct in that you can find if things in the gearbox are probably ok by rotating the rear wheel and trying to change gear with either the foot lever or the gear indicator. If that is ok then you need to check the gear change mechanism. That is a pain in the rear as you have to remove the exhaust pipes, the kick start lever and the kick start cover together with the various levers etc. That is one of the reasons I cut the kick starter cover into two parts but that is a step too far for many people. Once you have the cover off then you can check the alignment and clearances of all the bits and pieces which operate the gearchange. If they are all correct then you might have a more serious problem but let us be more optimistic than that.
 
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