shovel clutch adjustment issue

78 fxs

when i got the bike, it felt like it was wanting to creep a little in first but besides that, it rode otherwise fine. i looked thru the manual at the maintenance section for clutch adjustment. my clutch arm was almost resting against the starter housing so i decided to adjust it like the book says.

so now the clutch arm is about 1/2"out from the starter housing and it doesn't want to go into first, and when it did it grinded something awful and wanted to pull away. it woulda ran into the back of the garage if i wasn't on the brake. so i shut it off, popped it back in neutral and ran to the computer.

before i do anything else, what should i do?

this is my first experience with an HD clutch/trans so this is going to be a learning experience for me.

thanks in advance for your input.

And of course you adjusted the cable properly after adjusting the arm, right? Are the nuts on your clutch springs tight enough? Are your friction plates and discs in good shape?

If all your adjustments are good, and the spring tension is right you can try resetting the arm to where it was and see if that reverses these new problems. If it does, then you might want to start to worry about why the clutch arm was set so close to the starter housing in the first place.

Originally Posted by ARBY

And of course you adjusted the cable properly after adjusting the arm, right?

yes. i did.

Originally Posted by ARBY

Are the nuts on your clutch springs tight enough? Are your friction plates and discs in good shape?

i have no idea.

gonna go back out and start over.

There is a lil thrust bearing that gets pushed against when you pull in your clutch,there's a pretty good chance you are going to break that bearing.

Originally Posted by aaronc

There is a lil thrust bearing that gets pushed against when you pull in your clutch,there's a pretty good chance you are going to break that bearing.

why is there a pretty good chance i'll break that bearing?

Check around for a write up on the -1 mod. If you have a stocker this might help. You need good plates tho. Bounce over to Shovelhead.usa , wealth of knowledge there. Also, if you are going to dig around in your kicker, might as well upgrade to the old style throw-out bearing.

Originally Posted by alteredpilot

why is there a pretty good chance i'll break that bearing?

Because it is evil, pure evil.Oh you will probably adjust it close but not good enough it will break far from home.