Very odd "neutral" behaviour

[Willtill]

So I like to keep my clutch cable adjusted a little more on the slack side of things; since I do not want premature lifter shaft burnout.

I have been discovering since yesterday; it has been increasingly harder to find neutral when either shifting up from first; or down from second. Last night I was bypassing neutral altogether between all of those gears. Just couldn't find it.

So this morning a tightened up the cable slack just a wee bit. Now I have no issues trying to get into neutral.

One would think that having no slack in the clutch cable would cause this. I have no idea why too much slack in the cable did it. Just sitting here trying to make sense of it....

 

[DCRocket]

Sounds like you just tightened the clutch cable up a bit, not that there's no slack at all - no slack, very bad idea - a little tighter than normal slack seems to work best for me too

 

[RocketEd]

More slack in the cable means you don't move the lifter as far, which means the plates don't separate as much, which means slight clutch drag so neutral is harder to find. And vice versa obviously.

I've often thought a different clutch lever design would allow more lever travel before hitting the hand grip.

 

[Willtill]

DC and Ed, yes that makes sense now... thanks!

 

[Trirocket3]

Converted mine to hydraulic, stock lifter piece & shaft are not used.
So no worries.

 

[Boog]

I wasn't sure there was a neutral on mine for the first few hundred miles unless I shut it off before trying to find it. Seems to be ok now as I approach 5K miles. Maybe it is hitting the right 'slack' point now.

 

[Willtill]

I also am wondering if my clutch cable is starting to go. A sign of a weakened cable is that it starts to stretch.

I do have a spare clutch cable in Hell on Wheel's hanger, but it's a cable for a standard Rocket, not a Classic; which takes a slightly longer one (I ordered the wrong one from Bike Bandit long ago). Maybe it'll fit though, since my Thunderbike Tbars are not swept back as far as the OEM Classic handlebars. I think.

 

[Willtill]

Seems that the clutch cable has gone out of adjustment AGAIN. I think it's stretching. Time to install the new standard cable; hopefully swinging the Tbars to their stops will not have an affect on the shorter cable. We'll see...

 

[Navigator]

:idea:Good thread Will and somewhat of a common issue. At 33k mine I was experiencing that a bit even after the service 30K (3k miles late) and just before giving it to my son. We'll take a look at it during my visit in June.

 

[zenbiker]

Converted mine to hydraulic, stock lifter piece & shaft are not used.
So no worries.

Can you tell me more about the hydraulic conversion?
I have the HD springs that Carpenter installed and the clutch pull is a bit tough when sitting at a long traffic light. Thanks.