My turn to ask for help.

That is a thought. Finding one that acts quickly enough when disengaging, and smoothly/slowly enough when engaging might be a challenge.
The drag shifters were pneumatic, and there are electric ones that use solenoids, but we're talking about money then. At some point I might have to go that route, but if I can keep it cheap and effective (and not lose clutch feel) then I'd be very pleased.

I was thinking about the route I took that day when this became a noticeable problem. My favorite hardware store around here (so far) is 7 miles away.
There are 19 stoplights between me and the store if I take surface streets.
I can cut that down to 10 if I take the expressway. And that expressway rarely has backups.

 

Is it possible to fit less powerful clutch springs without having clutch slip? No even if it was it's the repetitive use of the clutch lever that is exacerbating your hand pain. Daft idea I had there.

 

But it was an idea. All ideas are welcome. This is a brainstorming session, and if it weren't for the cost I would probably go straight for an electric shifter.
One of the requirements for my degree was to come up with 6 adaptive-technology solutons for students who have 1 or more disabilities. It was very interesting to see what my fellow pre-service teachers came up with in order to solve the same problem. So even though I think I know what I should do, I'm fully interested in hearing what others come up with.

 

I've been kicking around an idea for v6 or v8 trike for a while, and clutch operation was one of the issues that came to mind. Normal bike handlebar clutch lever would no way manage to shift enough fluid. So in my head I had a vacuum servo operated cylinder, with a pwm signal controlled from the lever varying the hydraulic pressure, and the clutch throw. Not something you could buy off the shelf, but maybe something that could be developed in the home workshop?
Of course you don't need to use a bulky vacuum servo, a hydraulic cylinder working on engine oil pressure should work?

 

Earlier today I thought about an Arduino controlled servo. Use a potentiometer on the clutch lever as the control, and have the board drive the servo. I think there may be enough room to have a servo fit below the #4 carb and use a reduction gear to get enough oomph to move the throwout arm. I wouldn't have feel, but there would be enough speed and good control over that speed.

I like simple, but projects are fun too.

 

you could still use the lever and the clutch switch to have a power assisted clutch.
would slipping a piece of 1/2 inch heater hose over the lever help

 

power door lock solenoid ?

 

This, along with a miniature hydraulic cylinder and some linkage.... clutch fully in, cylinder extends and "helps", albeit with no actual control. Let go the clutch, cylinder retracts, away you go. You can damp the movement so it doesn't do anything quickly, then some tuning.
Could use air as well I suppose, but where would you connect the pump? Use a DC electric one? Damn I could see that working...

 

I think we have a winner. It sounds relatively simple, and the parts count is low. Might even be able to keep it all electric with a small motor and limit switches.


I do want to try the Ezi Pull thhing first though. I gave up looking and bought another, they are cheap enough.

 

I wonder, just to be pedantic.
Since the lever to the fulcrum (on the clutch cover) is a certain length... how could you add to the length without increasing the pull on the lever.
I wonder how much that little spring adds to the overhead...

Mmmm, gears... oh okay this is actually going back to the addon from a previous idea in the thread.
Would be nice to keep the feel, if lighter, in the clutch though, is what I'm thinking.

I have the same issue sitting at a whole bunch of lights, so I understand completely about the urge to pop it into neutral.

It would be a hell of thing to increase the gearing inside the case to the pull bearing, somehow... maybe scifi at this point... hmm hmm... grinding, magnesium welding, gearing... ack.

The hydraulic question is pretty cool though, I wonder... at the wreckers... whether another Yamaha with hydraulic pull might have parts that are... okay I'll shutup now.

Oh, one thing that has helped me in the past with clutch fatigue.
As long as your battery and starter and everything else is good... hit the kill switch and then you just have to get ready to pull the clutch, hit the kill switch back to run and then the starter motor before the guy behind you runs up your backside.

 

This last one - Russian roulet?

 

No, electric won't do it without gearing down, and that would make it slow. Air is the answer.
Actually, electric could work, but you'd need a worm and wheel motor of small wiper motor size - or would you, if you only need it to hold the clutch in?

 

My thinking is that it would just be to help hold the clutch in. The machinery I used to work on used small gear-reduction motors for part of the feed system. They have plenty of oomph to keep the throwout lever in place, are compact enough, can run up to 2,000 RPM at the output shaft, and as a bonus they are fairly easy to buy on the surplus market.

Whether or not I even bother with such a project will come down to time, need (if the ezy pull thing works I'll not need anything else for now), and making sure that I don't get distraced by the honey-do list.

 

In this city? Yes, but with only one chamber empty. People honk in frustration if you don't move when the cross-street light turns amber.

 

But then......I do have a lathe, and a milling attachment.

The only issue with the add-on hydraulic systems is cost, and the lack of a lower-cost knockoff for larger engines.

I know that I can make hydraulic slave cylinder (once I get back into practice).
But I'd have to get my shop set back up first, and that's not going to be complete until late Summer at the soonest.

My problem with projects is that I want to make them all. Decisions, decisions....

 

made a bunch of these but their a little small, 6-32 threads on the end and 1/2 inch od cylinder. for a paintball marker

 

The Eazi-Pull knockoff arrived late yesterday afternoon and I went straight to installing it after dinner.
It's slightly lighter in weight and a tad thinner than the Moose Racing Eazi-Pull that I know is in a box somewehere, so I don't feel like I wasted any money on buying another device.
It's a class 2 lever insde the housing, with three holes for the fulcrum, so you can adjust the weight of the pull. I set it in the middle location as a starting point. It came lubricated wth a very light oil, so I recoated it with assembly lube. I may change to grease later on, but that shouldn't be necessary.
Once set up I found that adjusting the cable was pretty easy, though since there are now 4 adjustment points instead of 2 it takes some care to make sure you don't accidentally undo any adjusting that you just did by turning the wrong adjuster. I started at the clutch cable, and worked my way up to the adjuster at the lever perch to be sure that would end up being the "fine adjust" at the end of the process.

I took her for a spin doday, replicating the route that I took on the day of my first question about the pain issue.
Clutch pull is so light that I initially found myself pulling hard enough that the clutch lever would crash into the grip with enough force that my fingers would hurt a bit.
Once I reprogrammed my muscle memory that issue dissapeared.
The combination of the clutch cable adjustment options and the additional lever in the system made it very easy to completely eliminate the 1st gear clunk while still preventing any clutch slip with the clutch lever released (a chore to get right with the stock setup).

I found that clutch feel was not affected, and I could hold the lever in at stops without any pain at all. The "sweet spot" where the clutch starts to grab is a little wider, which was easy to get used to and should be of benefit on hill-starts.

Thank you all for the help and suggestions. I'll keep you all updated about the longevity of this device, but for now I think I have a (hopefully) permanant solution.

@chacal, I found a way to adjust the routing of the stock clutch cable so it looks tidy and does not have any tight bends. All I really needed to do was side the cable further under the tank.

 

As an aside: This result has me thinking of making changes to the brake side of things even more. Braking isn't an issue, but a lighter pull on that side might help to aleviate pain in that hand too (though I suppose I coud go back to a four-finger approach to braking). I have a set of Blue-Dot calipers just waiting for a reason to be used. It's more of a project than just fitting a......

Oh...hold on......The Brake MC is cable operated.......Hmmm.......I wonder if there's enough room....

 

Pictures of install?

 

Maybe tomorrow. I was too busy trying to fit riding time in between must-do outdoor chores. Thunderstorms coming tonight.

 

I had the time last night to take a few. It's not difficult to install, but it would be nice if the thing came with insructions. These were taken after I had figured out how to get the excess clutch cable routed so it didn't stick out into the way of reading the speedometer.

Front view (the blue stuff is Locktite):


Inboard adjuster:


Outboard adjuster (just to the left of the stock adjuster):

 

Looks quite compact and very useful if it reduces the strain on the hand from operating the clutch lever.

 

Oh it does help. I feel like I’m in my 20’s and still riding my EX 500. No pain in the clutch hand at all from using the clutch.

 

Love it!
Send a link to where it came from.
Thanks.

 

They are all over Ebay, Amazon, Wish, etc.
Search for "Easy Stunt Pull Clutch Cable." for the knockoff like I got. As witl all things China; many brands, one factory.

There may be a way to mount it better. If so that will be announced later on.

 

is it really mounted or suspended on the cable? could it work down on the motor end?

 

It's just held in place by the cables, but doesn't move around at all during use. A bracket might be desirable depending on your handlebar setup.

A different adjuster would be needed for it to be mounted to the clutch throwout arm and bracket.