Cable clutch, adjusting the bite point ?

[weeksy]

from my other thread in bikes/projects, i had a couple of people complain my clutch bite point is quite far out at the lever.

The free play is correct in the lever as per the manual of 10-15mm, which is about a 3-4mm gap at the pivot end too.

So lets assume my bar adjuster is 30mm in length as standard, i had about 8-10mm of it showing.



So i went down to the actuator arm end on the engine and adjusted that, which gave more tension on the cable, that i've then needed to dial out(techincally in) on the adjuster at the lever end.

Should that have adjusted the bite point then ? or is that incorrect ? Or indeed is that something i can't actually adjust ?

Struggling to find the right information on it as all the vids/links just refer to the lever free play and setting the tension correctly rather than how to adjust the bite point, if you even can that is.

Educate me.

[Tricky]

The answer is that you can't really, without changing the mechanical advantage of the actuating mechanism somewhere, or type/thickness of plates, etc.
The amount of free play in the cable will of course determine exactly whereabouts in the hand-lever's travel it bites, but how sort of wide that area of bite is, is a function of the clutch release mechanism.

You can buy different length actuating arms for some bikes (including, ironically the KTM 790/890s) to change this , also has the additional effect of altering the amount of effort required ( longer arm=less effort, shorter arm=more) to pull the clutch in - off the top of my head don't know what the release mechanism is like on the CP3s, but this is an after-market longer lever available for the KTMs- mainly targetted at the adventure bikes I think

[weeksy]

So basically what i did was pointless

[Tricky]

Yeah

Well probably not completely pointless- it increased your knowledge?

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

What Tricky said, but you could adjust it to have more free play at the lever, but the clutch must not drag, but this is a bodge for people with small hands.

[Horse]

It has to be usable, so biting at the point where fingers still have dexterity but not dragging when fully 'disengaged'.

[MrLongbeard]

Leave it alone and fit span adjustable levers ?!?!

[Skub]

Leave it alone and fit span adjustable levers ?!?!

That's probably the one and only real solution.

No need to spend big either,the Chinese ebay jobs will suffice.

[The Spin Doctor]

The issue is - as Tricky says - how long the travel at the lever is between fully engaged and fully disengaged, versus the length of your fingers. You need to get the lever set up so that with the free play absorbed, it's behind the top knuckle on your fore and middle fingers. Any further out and you'll be reaching over the top of the grip to get to it. Set up with the 'recommended' free play, my fingers aren't long enough to get this necessary grip on the lever, so I always add free play to what's recommended.

The Honda Hornet has plenty of room for adjustment before you can't pull the clutch in far enough to disengage it, but my XJ6 has a nasty draggy clutch at the best of times. I have to set the lever out further than I'd like, in order to get the range of movement that stops it dragging and making slow speed gear shifting difficult. The reach makes riding in traffic unnecessarily tiring. Fitting dogleg or adjustable levers wouldn't make any difference because it's all about getting the necessary distance of 'pull' on the cable from the lever.

I always stick with OE levers, even if they are expensive. They are higher quality than aftermarket ones, which tend to wear around the pivot and go 'floppy' pretty quickly (though it helps if they are kept well-lubricated).

Be careful with Chinese levers, I heard just the other day from someone who bought a pair of fully adjustable levers from ebay at a fraction of the price of the local bike shop, fitted them and noticed they were "a bit stiff" but thought they'd loosen up. They lasted till his first hard stop, when the brake lever didn't release itself. Seems the brass bushes were slightly too long and so soft that when he'd tightened the bolt up through them he'd flattened the bush slightly which stopped the lever returning.

I've never seen a replacement actuating arm! Interesting. Though of course, if I shortened the lever travel on the XJ, it would increase the pull! So not sure that would be a benefit in terms of wrist ache, but it might make gear shifting easier at low speed

[weeksy]

Lol I ain't buying Chinese rubbish. I'd consider asv though

[Rockburner]

Why are you changing it? It's your bike, if you're happy with it, then why change it?

[weeksy]

Why are you changing it? It's your bike, if you're happy with it, then why change it?

To see if it's 'better' ?

[Tricky]

Lol I ain't buying Chinese rubbish. I'd consider asv though

RS Triumphs come with lovely top quality fully adjustable brembo levers on both sides- just saying

[weeksy]

Lol I ain't buying Chinese rubbish. I'd consider asv though

RS Triumphs come with lovely top quality fully adjustable brembo levers on both sides- just saying

And tassels on the bar ends. It's a miracle they don't come with a Kia Soul badge on the tank

[v8-powered]

Leave it alone and fit span adjustable levers ?!?!

I did exactly that on my Trumpet Sprint as I could get a decent lever position, got genuine Triumph adjustable ones and not ebay/amazon/aliexpress specials as have seen results of those failing! (Probably still made in same factory but better QC)

[The Spin Doctor]

Lol I ain't buying Chinese rubbish. I'd consider asv though

These look nice

[wull]

Ah R1 Liz, she’s got a Beemer now

[Hairybiker84]

Lol I ain't buying Chinese rubbish. I'd consider asv though

Nice levers, bought some for a Hayabusa and then sold it so took levers off. Bought a 955i and contacted ASV and they sent a new thingy that goes on the pivot end so that I could fit them to the new bike (took forever to finish the email dialogue to get what I wanted and obvs cost but at least it mitigates some of the original expense).

[Skub]

Lol I ain't buying Chinese rubbish. I'd consider asv though

Nice levers, bought some for a Hayabusa and then sold it so took levers off. Bought a 955i and contacted ASV and they sent a new thingy that goes on the pivot end so that I could fit them to the new bike (took forever to finish the email dialogue to get what I wanted and obvs cost but at least it mitigates some of the original expense).

I agree.

The level of fine adjustment the ASV levers allow make them perfect for getting the controls exactly where you want them.

They may be spendy,but they do work.