83 XJ550 Unable to adjust clutch correctly after replacement

I was able to get a new set of friction plates from Yamaha and aftermarket springs. I pulled everything out and only replaced the springs and friction plates, installing everything to my knowledge as it came out.

After failing to cut out a new gasket a couple of times for the clutch cover I finally was able to get everything back together.

Now, i can either adjust the clutch so that there is some free play in the handle as there is supposed to be, but even with the clutch pulled in all the way the bike still rolls forward in 1st. Or, I can adjust it so there is no free play but the clutch disengages (albeit with the engagement very close to fully pulling the handle in) but, the clutch slips like crazy under power.

There seems to be no in between.

I think the issue must be in my placement of the arm that attaches to the work gear at the clutch housing that the cable attaches to. Unfortunately all of the large clutch related threads are missing pictures.

I’d appreciate any assistance.

 

As an update/correction, it’s possible the metal plates weren’t installed correctly. After reading into it, it seems there is an inside and outside (though I’m pretty sure I didn’t change their orientation) and the tabs need to be arranged in some specific orientation (?). If only the posts that mention this still had the referenced images.

 

Have you looked for a manual? The forum is great, but for me, a manual is the second thing to get after the bike.
Sorry I don't have any other advice. It's been a number of years since I replaced the clutch plates.

 

Hello RiotFawk.
I hope you solved your problem. If not, this is how I have solved it on my 550:

In your top pic you are holding the clutch lever at about a 11:30 o'clock orientation. This will give the clutch handle the least resistance and the clutch shaft the least rotation, wich in turn gives the pressure plate the least travel.
The more towards the 09:00 o'clock position the more resistance on the clutch handle and the more rotation on the clutch shaft, which in turn gives the most travel to the pressure plates. Or so Archimedes tells us, and I do not believe even the necromancers of Yamaha capable of bending space and time to contradict his observations.

Concerning insides vs outsides on pressure plates... I believe it is about superstition or OCD. I am apparently both, so I put my own all with the same side facing in. Or out. I do not remember, but they are all facing the same direction. It matters only to my ability to sleep during the night. Which I don't, but it is because of the exhaust collector box. It gives me nightmares since I accidently maimed it with my even older stick welding artifact.

Nobody knows for sure why the wizards of Yamaha decided to put the tabs on the pressure plates. Consequently nobody knows exactly how they should be orientated in the clutch basket. This is because no service manual, fiche, Clymer book, etc., seems to exist that show the correct number of friction plates for the 550 (doesn't matter if it is American, European, Asian, African, Australian or extra terrestrial). Me my self usually try to spread them out as evenly as mathematics allow (wich they don't), with the first one and the last one in the same position.

Then it is the matter of free play in the clutch lever... I try to adjust it so that there is minimal (not zero) free play as I rotate the handle bars from side to side while staring at the clutch lever and feeling the clutch handle at the same time. Close but no engagement of the clutch is what I'm aiming for. I adjust the free play on the lever (by the clutch) and keep the adjustment screw on the handle bar screwed in to somewhere between 1/2 and 2/3 (so that I can adjust it "easily" while riding when the cable lengthens or contracts due to temperature or evil spirits).

Good luck.
Or even better - carry a lucky charm on your bikes key chain.