Clutch arm adjustment

[timax]

Well i have read every thread i can on clutch bearing issues and melted cables etc but cant find an answer to "how to correctly adjust the clutch arm".
A little background story for those interested bellow or just skip the next big block of text if your not.

So.... for about 8 months we had been planning a 2 week road trip on the V7 with a mix of summer camping and a rental love shack to look forward to.
Bike was prepped with the help of TOMS Razor rear shocks and springs tailored to our intended weight. Matching Schuberth helmets with Sena intercom combination so my wife could still drive from the back seat and lots of other "little things".
Christmas day arrived and we loaded the Guzzi with an extra 2kg or prawns and 2 dozen oysters before setting off on our adventure with the first stop being my Mums place for lunch.

Christmas here in Sydney Australia is usually quite warm with 30 degrees C (85F) being quite normal and 40 not being unusual either.
1 hour from home and the Christmas traffic and heat seemed to be taking its toll on our clutch.Gear changes became clunky and neutral was hard to find when stopped. I did a quick few turns at the lever adjuster while at a set of lights but no more than 30km from home it seemed the "trip of a lifetime" was over! The lever felt .....hard! Like it wasnt moving anything mechanical down bellow but just stretching cable instead. We really wanted to be 4 hours north that night and we could see that was just not going to happen no matter what i did with the clutch cable. We had "plan B" sitting at home in the form of our Landrover Defender. There is another story in that naturally but ill leave that one to the Landrover forum!
So flatbed truck it was...

Well we made it to our love shack and some lovin was had and we lied to each other that the roads real bad!.........

Ok , so with the Guzzi at home in disgrace i had 2 weeks to read up on possible causes and remedies.
I was convinced the cable had melted in the heat and read up on better quality cables with heat insulator cover and also on clutch arm setup.

The cable looks fine and so I feel the problem with our Guzzi is that the arm is a little too far forward and dosnt pull through an arc as i think it should. What im thinking is the arm needs to start slightly before the center of arc and finish slightly past it. Is this correct? Then comes the method of adjustment. I can get a 13mm fine ratcheting spanner to the lock nut but how on earth do i get a tool onto the adjusting screw without removing the swing arm and half of the bike? What is the trick?

 

[john zibell]

If a V7II, this may be the issue. No type of adjustment will help. https://www.guzzitech.com/forums/threads/v7-ii-owners-clutch-advisory-bearing-omission.16098/

 

[Vagrant]

Unfortunately John is probably right.
But people you need to give all the info on the bikes in question. They might look the same but there are differences from year to year and even model to model in the same years especially the V7's.

 

[V700Steve]

I made a tool back in 81 that I still use. A 1/2" x 1/8" x 8" long flatstock, cut a 1/4" x 1/8" slot on the end w/die grinder. The other end I cut the slot on the side of it. I can now do this procedure w/hot exhaust. Good Luck, hope it's not the pads on rear main.

 

[Dinsdale Piranha]

I made a tool back in 81 that I still use. A 1/2" x 1/8" x 8" long flatstock, cut a 1/4" x 1/8" slot on the end w/die grinder. The other end I cut the slot on the side of it. I can now do this procedure w/hot exhaust. Good Luck, hope it's not the pads on rear main.

Will you show us a pic of your magic tool please?

 

[timax]

Sounds like what i need steve. Yes a quick pic would say it all.
I dont think the problem is with the missing bush. I think it is more heat related with a bit of setup fettling needed also. The fact we were fully loaded in heat and traffic had me possibly riding the clutch more than normal causing over heated clutch system and over stretched cable. Are these cables normally ok or are they cheap and crappy? I was thinking of getting a quality one made to order and put an insulation sleeve over it like DEI’s Titanium Protect-A-Sleeve. So correct setup with some heat protection and rider technique should hopefully have me sorted. 47.3 degrees C ( 117 f ) in parts of Sydney today so not great for clutches if you get stuck in traffic as you can imagine.

 

[Vagrant]

for what it's worth my 15 is very finicky on the clutch adj and very heat sensitive.
lots of past threads here on getting the cable away from the cylinder head by zip tying to the upper frame. many melted into the cylinder. just start a search here for pics.
the 17 doesn't seem to be affected, yet.

 

[V700Steve]

I wouldn't turn it more than 1/2 turn.


It's what I adjust valves with for over 30yrs

 

[timax]

Perfect steve, thanks. I knew there would be a simple way.
I had read all those posts about melted cables while i was away and without the bike in front of me i was convinced that was the problem. But once home all looked fine. Ill still insulate it though.

 

[V700Steve]

I used to adjust every new one sold at the dealers I worked at, smallblocks came w/adjuster all way out w/o much left. I would run handlebar adjuster all the way in, then adjust on trans lever. Then you get full use of the cable.

 

[GR1]

Sounds like what i need steve. Yes a quick pic would say it all.
I dont think the problem is with the missing bush. I think it is more heat related with a bit of setup fettling needed also. The fact we were fully loaded in heat and traffic had me possibly riding the clutch more than normal causing over heated clutch system and over stretched cable. Are these cables normally ok or are they cheap and crappy? I was thinking of getting a quality one made to order and put an insulation sleeve over it like DEI’s Titanium Protect-A-Sleeve. So correct setup with some heat protection and rider technique should hopefully have me sorted. 47.3 degrees C ( 117 f ) in parts of Sydney today so not great for clutches if you get stuck in traffic as you can imagine.

Had issues with my cable being stretched out after only 3000 miles (partially to blame on a difficult lever replacement, though). Is supposedly resolved at shop right now, but haven't had a chance to go pick it up yet