AJS & Matchless Owners Club

Jai wrote:I'll try a quarter and see what difference it makes Spriddler; I've got nothing to lose by trying it.

If I screw the springs in more will that cure the dragging do you think?

No Jai, it'll just make the h/bar lever stiffer to operate.

Just a thought: Have you fitted new h/bar grips? I fitted a pair of 'cushion' grips to one bike which reduced the range of lever movement.
And another........are you using a different oil in the chaincase? Maybe the plates are gummy and sticking together, but I think you've just had them apart when checking the nut.

Jai wrote:I ran the bike up today with my newly found 8mm of slack in the cable at the clutch lever adjuster.

Do you still have 8mm of slack after fully adjusting the cable? If so, that's too much - a couple of mm is sufficient.

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If that's not the problem I'm wondering if something is amiss with the clutch operating mechanism at the cable end (inside the g/box outer casing) although I'm not familiar with the AMC 'box.
There's a useful illustrated article in the link below which may give you a clue...

http://archives.jampot.dk/technical/Tra ... ebuild.pdf

and here:

http://archives.jampot.dk/technical/Tra ... Oliver.pdf

and an exploded view here:

http://archives.jampot.dk/technical/Tra ... d_view.pdf

Mea Culpa Spriddler, what I should have said is, I now have 8mm of adjustment on the cable at the lever end.

I still have the problem that the bike is reluctant to be pushed backwards when held on the clutch and feels like it wants to get away when the clutch is in.

Should I be tightening the springs up a bit more and then re do the thrust rod?

thanks

Jai

Jai wrote: Should I be tightening the springs up a bit more and then re do the thrust rod?

No, tightening the springs will have no effect other than making the h/bar lever stiffer to operate. As a guide the springs should tightened to the point where the springs' screws' heads are flush with their cups in the pressure plate.
Just to prove a point, try adjusting the thrust rod clearance to 1/8th of a turn or even zero clearance and see what effect it has on the dragging. If it still drags the problem is not in the cable or clutch adjustment.
Is the movement of the h/bar clutch lever restricted by thick h/bar grips?
What is the distance between the centre of the h/bar lever pivot bolt to the nipple centre? It should be 7/8".

Bored in hot northern Spain but still not read every single entry. However clutch drag and clutch cable adjustment may be two different problems.
Clutch drag in my experience can be caused when the pressure plate does not pull out equally. This can be caused by either wrong adjustment of the clutch spring screws Or one or more weak springs. The other cause can be ridges where the moving clutch plate tangs run in the clutch basket.
B**gered if i know what has caused your cable inner to suddenly become too long unless the top or bottom is pulling out of the nipple. They can sometimes do this quite slowly. Now back to my beer 😎

Thanks Spriddler and Clive, I'll get check out both suggestions today and see what's going on.

I slackened the cable, took the nipples out of their respective holders at both ends so the cable was completely loose.
I adjusted thrust rod until it touched but only backed off an 1/8 of a turn then locked it off.
I tightened up the cable at both ends to give some slack at the lever end and still the dragging persists.

When I kick the bike over slowly with the clutch held in, I can see the basket wobble slightly (could just be my eyes as the plates are wobbling around too) but it does feels like the clutch "tightens" a little (there's some resistance) when I'm doing this but not at the same point at each swing of my leg. Weird.

Does this indicate a basket problem. I did check the centre nut and re-tightened it when I inspected the plates.

Hopefully, this rings a bell with someone.

cheers

Jai

Attach a pointer somewhere and adjust the screws so that the top plate pulls up without any wobbling. If it wobbles you will get clutch drag.

Thanks everyone; I really appreciate your thoughts, advice and more importantly, time on this one.
I'm not having any success really & as I clearly have zero mechanical aptitude and have reached the limit of my patience I've decided the bike will be going on eBay over the weekend.
Thanks again,

Jai

Hi
I have a feeling that your problem is that you have wound the spring adjusters in to far. Try loosening them off then
adjust them until you can stand on the kick start without it slipping, now pull in the clutch and turn the clutch
watching to ensure it is running true if not only use a half turn at a time or you clutch drag will return. Good luck.
Tony