[MrPeter]

...Just realized I had posted this in the wrong section earlier.... Whoops!

Hey folks, I think I need to enlist some Honda expert help.

I bought a 1982 CM450C for my girlfriend that had a broken shifter arm for a good price, and figured it would make a neat restoration project.

So I get the side cover off, and to my dismay, I need to take the clutch off to replace the shifter arm. (I've never worked on a clutch before)

I take it off (without the clutch hub nut tool), replace the shifter arm and seal, and try to reassemble after cleaning everything up, replacing the 7 friction plates while I'm at it. While I am reassembling, I come across the problem of being able to torque the basket back on, so I order the clutch hub nut socket and get that taken care of. All is dandy.

Putting the side cover on and replacing the "plunger" that pushes onto the clutch bearing, and buttoning it all up goes smoothly, but now there is just a loose arm that travels 90 degrees. At rest it is pointing toward the rear of the bike, and fully "engaged" it is pointing inwards toward the engine. It feels like it is only the tension of the spring on the clutch lever, and that plunger is never touching the bearing face.

Now elsewhere on these forums I have read that it might be due to me missing a 5/16 ball bearing between the clutch lever arm and that little plunger (honda calls this a clutch lifter rod). This is strange, because I don't remember seeing any ball bearing upon disassembly, and it certainly isn't there now, and this diagram of the clutch cover (http://www.bikebandit.com/1982-honda...m2133#sch17026) doesn't show any ball bearing.

Is that what I forgot to do? Does the CM450C need this 5/16" ball bearing in between the Clutch Shifter Rod plunger and the clutch lever? Or did I just put this thing together wrong somehow?

Another related question: When torquing the 4 bolts that bear against the 4 clutch springs, should I be tightening those down all the way? I could be crazy, but it feels like they weren't all the way down when I disassembled the thing.

Thanks in advance for all your help.

 

[J-T]

Can't rightly say that you put it together wrong without pictures, but the SOHC bikes don't use a ball in the clutch assembly. Likely you were reading in the 250/350/360 section.

Do you have the factory service manual?

 

[MrPeter]

Can't rightly say that you put it together wrong without pictures, but the SOHC bikes don't use a ball in the clutch assembly. Likely you were reading in the 250/350/360 section.

Do you have the factory service manual?

I do have a factory service manual, and you're right, this doesn't need the ball bearing.

I had it apart yesterday and tossed the ball in there, hoping it would feel right, but it didn't. It bound up something awful, and was just generally pretty clear that it didn't belong in there.

So I took apart the friction plates to soak them in oil. I had read about this step after I installed them initially, and was thinking it might have something to do with the issue.

While separating the friction plates, and rubbing them with oil, I noticed, "WHOA, one of these doesn't look the same as the others!" I immediately pulled up a schematic and quickly figured out that there is one plate with a "shorter" area of the friction material that belongs up front, instead of being in the middle where I had it.

So, I rearranged the friction plates, and began to button it all up. From there, the middle of the basket spun freely until I tightened down the bolts that go through the clutch springs.

Thanks for your help! I'm learning more and more about this stuff every day, haha!

TL;DR: The clutch friction plates on a CM450C must be in a certain order, namely the "smaller" one must be near the front.

 

[J-T]

Congratulations.

 

[Jooknon]

Well done! I'll be replacing my plates in the next week. I think that lonely one is called the B plate