Smudgemo
Intermodal Man of Mystery
Feel free to tell me I'm going to die having done this, but I hate the clutch action on my '96 1100 and wanted to do something about it. Heating and bending the lever as I'd seen suggested somewhere seemed a bit extreme and kinda dangerous, and I wasn't interested in figuring out which adustable VFR lever would fit my bike. However, I came across this how-to in another forum (http://www.st-riders.net/index.php?topic=3518.0) and the price was right, so I decided to give it a shot. My analysis was seat of the pants and the trimming was less extreme, but I figured I could easily do some more later, and if things got out of hand (pun intended) I could just buy a new push rod for not much money.
So first thing was to remove the pivot bolt and the lever. I noticed the boot is cracked and torn, so I'll need to go back in and replace that. Then I chucked up the rod and trimmed the correct end about 5mm or so.
Then I drilled a 1/8" hole for a 4mm tap (figured it was close enough as I didn't have the proper drill size) and ran a tap into it. Centered and 3.5mm from the end:
Cut the screw head off, slotted with a hacksaw and cleaned up in the lathe:
Lever ready to reinstall:
Now it feels better and closely matches the distance from the grips that the brake lever has. I don't have small hands, so I really don't know how anyone that does can like the stock setup, but to each his own. Since the clutch engages so late in the throw, I probably have room for more trimming, although then the micro-switch might be impacted in some manner I don't want to deal with. I also intend to replace this screw with one made of brass at some point since I assume this one will corrode, and I want a softer metal acting as a stop. I'll loctite it with blue at that time.
That's it - simple mod that took me an hour. You could use any similar size screw although fine thread is probably better, and you'll need the proper size drill and tap. If anyone really does want to give this a go, I can pull it apart and measure what I ended up with for a push rod length as I didn't track it.
I took it out and rode for an hour or so on a mix of highway, county roads and twisty backroads, and it's early, but (to me) it's a huge improvement. I prefer two fingers which is now way more viable, and it feels like what I expect. I couldn't detect any slipping under hard acceleration or engine-braking down steep inclines. I'll probably reduce the stop height half a turn or so to see what I get before any loctite, but I could easily live with it as is.
So first thing was to remove the pivot bolt and the lever. I noticed the boot is cracked and torn, so I'll need to go back in and replace that. Then I chucked up the rod and trimmed the correct end about 5mm or so.
Then I drilled a 1/8" hole for a 4mm tap (figured it was close enough as I didn't have the proper drill size) and ran a tap into it. Centered and 3.5mm from the end:
Cut the screw head off, slotted with a hacksaw and cleaned up in the lathe:
Lever ready to reinstall:
Now it feels better and closely matches the distance from the grips that the brake lever has. I don't have small hands, so I really don't know how anyone that does can like the stock setup, but to each his own. Since the clutch engages so late in the throw, I probably have room for more trimming, although then the micro-switch might be impacted in some manner I don't want to deal with. I also intend to replace this screw with one made of brass at some point since I assume this one will corrode, and I want a softer metal acting as a stop. I'll loctite it with blue at that time.
That's it - simple mod that took me an hour. You could use any similar size screw although fine thread is probably better, and you'll need the proper size drill and tap. If anyone really does want to give this a go, I can pull it apart and measure what I ended up with for a push rod length as I didn't track it.
I took it out and rode for an hour or so on a mix of highway, county roads and twisty backroads, and it's early, but (to me) it's a huge improvement. I prefer two fingers which is now way more viable, and it feels like what I expect. I couldn't detect any slipping under hard acceleration or engine-braking down steep inclines. I'll probably reduce the stop height half a turn or so to see what I get before any loctite, but I could easily live with it as is.
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, such a combination of the imperial and metric measurement system is truly commendable. I would liken it to ordering 10 metres of half inch rope.
