Ironhead 71 xlch. Adjusted clutch ... need some reassurance

[piniongear]

Originally Posted by antsap

PG,

I haven't been happy with my clutch, so I decided to go in again and retry things.

I followed your guide to a T once again, and I think I realized my error last time(s) around .... the zero load/slack setting for step4!

I've come to the realization that this is critical, and I believe beforehand I thought I had zero slack looking at my lever, but in reality there is a little slop with my lever and the clutch cable.

I was fanatical about it this time around, as well as the 1/8 to 1/4 turn portion of step 6. I played with this, and found a big difference on my bike with just the smallest difference there.

Long story short, its working better than ever. It is hard to push off in 1st gear with the clutch in. There is a little creep ... but its almost nothing (pretty much fades away completely after a few miles). The bike pulls through all gears, shifts great, and doesn't feel like its going to run away from me if I stop with the clutch in.

Thanks again for the guidance, and my advice to others ... don't settle for a crappy working clutch ... keep trying the adjustment and eventually you'll get it right (9 years in for me)

Thanks for your report Antsap.
Glad to hear you have yours adjusted to the point you are happy with it.

The reason I did that write up was because the factory manual is just not clear enough (in my opinion) on the steps needed to take when adjusting the clutch.

Also, I think many people who say they have followed the steps fully and still have a clutch they are not happy with are not following the steps.

Especially step 4 and step 5.
This is THE REASON I underlined in step 4 and the RED statement in step 5 was put there.

A lot of us want to keep fooling with the cable adjuster long past the point we need to leave it alone, which is step 5.
Turning the adjuster after step 5 voids what we are trying to do here, and that is to adjust the clutch on a Sportster.
We are not working on a Honda here,
pg

[antsap]

Sound advice as always pg. Thanks to you and the others for taking the time and passing along your wealth of knowledge.

This forum and the knowledge you share is like ironhead couples counseling ... Without it, many more people would junk sell or just walk away from their cast iron partners.