Colorado Mike: Did you say the little hole that the actuating rod sets in didn't have a bearing? The other night when I had it apart, I thought for sure I saw a little bearing pressed into that hole that the actuating rod sets in... but I may be wrong.
Well guys, I got my parts in. The set of springs they sent me had 6 springs in the package.... I only needed 4. Oh well, I guess I have a couple extras. I measured the springs and they DID measure within spec. They ranged around 1.485 +/- 0.005. They looked a little stronger than the old springs. The description did say they were 10% stronger. Tomorrow I'll try to take some pics of what the old springs look like compared to the new springs. I also got another Motion Pro cable in. This time I bought the cheaper of the two versions. Once again tomorrow I'll try to take some pics to show the difference.
Anyways, I installed the news springs. As I was tightening the 4 bolts I heard a POP. It was a spring sounding POP. I started looking and on the back of the plate that holds the springs in place there is a little circle boss that keeps the springs within a certain location. What had happened was one of the springs was setting on the top of one of those little bosses and as I was tightening the bolts, it had slipped off. That got me thinking maybe I had pulled the clutch lever too hard or let it go too quickly and caused the older springs to jump on the side of this little boss. I know it would take alot of force to have the spring (while compressed) to jump onto the boss, but I'm just trying to figure out what happened. Anyways, I continued to install the springs and I got everything back together. I tried turning the actuating lever with my bare hands and I could actually turn it just a little bit... before I couldn't get it to move at all with my bare hands. So I connected the cable and crossed my fingers and pulled the clutch lever. Believe it or not, it was easier to pull. It still wasn't super easy, but I did notice a big differece. I could now pull the lever with two fingers. As I was installing the springs, I was saying to myself "there is no way these springs are going to make any difference". I mean it was only a little bit out of spec. I'm still not real sure how the clutch works, but I guess those springs need to be within spec.
As I said before, I also got a new cable. I wanted to replace the cable to see if I could make it a little bit better. I installed the cable, and this time I also greased the surfaces between the lever and the perch. I also put a little bit of grease on the very end of the cable where it connects to the lever. I can't really describe the difference between the two cables, so I'll try to take some pics to show the difference. All I can really say is the section where you adjust the cable was on a different side on this new cable. This was actually a good thing because it allowed the cable to bend easier near the top where it goes into the perch. This new cable looks exactly like the original factory cable. After I installed the new cable, I held my breath for a second time while I pulled the lever. And here was my expression
The lever pulled easy as pie. I adjusted the cable out and then took it for a quick test ride to make sure it was adjusted correctly. It was awesome!!! I can now pull the clutch lever with one finger, I can even pull it with my pinky finger (even though that is kinda hard to do)
Oh yeah, I also put in ATF instead of Motor Oil. I don't think this made any difference, but I wanted to go back to what the guy who had the bike before was using.
I'll take some pics tomorrow and show you guys the differences between the parts. I'm also going to let zkdx try the clutch lever to see what he thinks. I know if I heard somebody tell me that replacing the clutch springs fixed this problem, I would tell them that they are full of sh*t. I still think I'm full of sh*t for fixing this problem with just new springs and a cable.
Oh well, I don't care, the problem is gone, and I'm now gone ridin'
Thanks guys for all your input.
Justin