[daktah]

trying to figure out why my clutch arm has such a huge amount of play before the lifter engages the bearing. i just replaced my clutch plates and springs with kg clutch factory KG088-7 plates and KGS-017 springs because it was slipping but the free play is still just as bad as before. steel plates are all 2mm.
the arm has ~24.7° of play and can move ~18.2mm measured from the holder on the arm to the holder on the case. the lifter is 23.5mm long and looks to have minimal wear but i cant find a spec for it. any ideas?

 

[mike in idaho]

About the only way change the play in the lever is by varying the height of the clutch stack. You could use a thinner clutch plate or put some sort of shim behind the thrust bearing holder to make it taller.

 

[daktah]

i would like to avoid shimming anything to avoid any potential problems. i dont know why even the stock clutch would have that much play in it.

 

[longdistancerider]

I don't think it's the lifter or the clutch pack. I think it's the ramp on the lever rod that's worn

 

[daktah]

would the ramp really wear out at less than 40k miles?

 

[longdistancerider]

I had one where the lever arm was sitting at the 12 o'clock position when the cable was properly adjusted, hard clutch action. Replaced the lever/rod and it was at the 10:30-11 position. Bike only had @20K on it but had been really poorly maintained.

 

[daktah]

hmm. i have a tach side cover with arm coming so i will see how that one sits. if that one is bad as well ill go hunting for a nos one. if all else fails, ill just weld on some filler metal and grind it to shape.

 

[longdistancerider]

It seems to be more about the edges of the ramp, been a few years since I was messing with this part.

 

[dtsmjr8dan]

I found that the contact edge of the ramp on the shaft was worn to a rounded edge. A sharp edged corner to a corner with a radius. A new shaft corrected the movement arc.

 

[longdistancerider]

Looking at part numbers it seems there are 3 different clutch levers but only 1 lifter rod 22847-ME0-000 . None of which are available from Honda
[h=3]Assemblies where 22810-443-790 is used[/h]

• 1981 CB400T A - RIGHT CRANKCASE COVER
• 1982 CB450SC A - RIGHT CRANKCASE COVER
• 1982 CB450T A - RIGHT CRANKCASE COVER
• 1982 CM450C A - RIGHT CRANKCASE COVER
• 1982 CM450E A - RIGHT CRANKCASE COVER
• 1983 CB450SC A - RIGHT CRANKCASE COVER
• 1983 CM450E A - RIGHT CRANKCASE COVER
• 1985 CB450SC A - RIGHT CRANKCASE COVER
• 1985 CB450SC AC - RIGHT CRANKCASE COVER
• 1986 CB450SC A - RIGHT CRANKCASE COVER
• 1986 CB450SC AC - RIGHT CRANKCASE COVER
• [h=3]Assemblies where 22810-413-000 is used[/h]
  • 1978 CB400TI A - RIGHT CRANKCASE COVER
  • 1978 CB400TII A - RIGHT CRANKCASE COVER
  • [h=3]Assemblies where 22810-413-790 is used[/h]
    • 1979 CB400TI A - RIGHT CRANKCASE COVER
    • 1979 CB400TII A - RIGHT CRANKCASE COVER
    • 1979 CM400T A - RIGHT CRANKCASE COVER
    • 1980 CB400T A - RIGHT CRANKCASE COVER
    • 1980 CM400E A - RIGHT CRANKCASE COVER
    • 1980 CM400T A - RIGHT CRANKCASE COVER
    • 1981 CB400T A - RIGHT CRANKCASE COVER
    • 1981 CM400C A - RIGHT CRANKCASE COVER
    • 1981 CM400E A - RIGHT CRANKCASE COVER
    • 1981 CM400T A - RIGHT CRANKCASE COVER

 

[daktah]

so i got the other side cover and it had the same amount of play, so what i ended up doing is taking the plunger from the old cover and grinding it down the head about half as thick as before and giving it a nice mirror finish with my buffing wheel. the shaft of it fits absolutely perfectly inside of the lifter bearing and it took up almost all of the free play in the arm except for a few mm so that its not engaged all the time. took it for a test drive and it works like a charm now.

 

[longdistancerider]

If I'm reading this correctly you have 2 lifter pieces installed, one in the cover and the other one, ground down, inserted into the lifter bearing. Right? If so then this is some serious innovative thinking.

 

[daktah]

thanks! yep exactly, for whatever reason (probably absolute coincidence) the lifter is an exact fit in the bearing and in another happy accident just short enough not to contact the clutch shaft when depressed. i just wish the lathe i was going to buy didnt fall though so i could have turned my own piece rather than use the lifter.

 

[longdistancerider]

My thought on repairing this part has been to have it hard welded on the edge and the machined back to size. Your method will be easier and cheaper

 

[daktah]

that was my thought but both arms had very little wear, not nearly enough to cause all of that free play.