RS125 Clutch Problem | GTAMotorcycle.com

RS125 Clutch Problem

unL33T

Well-known member
The clutch on my 2009 RS125 was dragging so I tried to adjust it but I can't seem to get it right.

By dragging I mean when I started it in gear (clutch lever pulled in) the bike would try to jump forward a bit and when I was riding I had a very hard time getting it in or out of neutral.

The manuals I can find (as I do not have my own) say to do the following:

1. Tighten the adjuster at the lever all the way into the bar (this gives lots of slack).
2. Remove the small plug in the center of the clutch cover.
3. Loosen the locking nut that is found under the cover with the special tool.
4. Tighten the screw in the middle with a flat head screw driver (I found mine actually has a hex head and a special screw driver in the kit to tighten this) "all the way" (which should result in no cable play). Then loosen half a turn which should give 3-4 mm of play at the lever.
5. Tighten the lock nut while holding the screw in the middle still with the screw driver.
6. Close it all back up and you should be good.

My problem seems to be with step number 4. If I tighten that middle screw I eventually feel a bit of resistance which I think is where I'm supposed to stop. However, at that point I still have over 10 mm (maybe half an inch) of play at the lever. If I tighten it as far as I actually can, I can barely pull the clutch lever any more and even when it is released there is no grab. As in the rear wheel is never connected to the engine. If I tighten until I just feel that bit of resistance on the screw, then use the adjuster at the top (which I need to loosen almost all the way to take up the huge amount of slack), I can get it just about back to where it where I can still ride the bike but it's dragging but now neutral is even harder to get into and out of than it was before I started messing with it.

The cable was recently replaced so I thought maybe I gave the shop the wrong cable and double checked the part number. There is no part number on the cable assembly itself but the number on the bag from Aprilia matches everything I can find for the bike. The only number I can find on the cable is an "IRO" number. The old cable says "IRO 06-08" while the new cable says "IRO 09-11". I can't recall if it was dragging at all on the old cable or not because I never thought too much of it until someone mentioned that my growing issue getting into neutral meant my cable needed adjusting.

Any suggestions? My next step was to remove the new cable and compare to the old one and then if they are the same pull the clutch cover off and start poking around to see if I can spot anything wrong or simply take it to another mechanic.
 
Well I remove the new clutch cable and compared to the old one. The outer body is the same. The internal cable is maybe 2-3 mm longer on the new one, which I found odd but I don't think should cause the problem. No amount of fiddling with the adjustments at either end has gotten me the 3-4mm of play while not dragging the clutch.

I'm guessing something is wrong with the clutch pack.

Right now I've adjusted it in a way that I have zero play (cable is always slightly pulled) but it's still dragging (can feel the bike try to jump forward when I start it) and have trouble getting into/out of neutral but I'm going to leave it that way until I have time to pull the clutch cover off or take it somewhere.
 
How many km's on your bike? I would definitely check the clutch plates and springs right away if you can't adjust it out. Last time my clutch was dragging no amount of cable adjustment would fix it. I removed the cover and started taking the plates out. About the middle of the clutch pack a steel plate was wedged on the basket such that it wouldn't slide at all. Not sure what caused it but I replaced the plates and springs. It stopped dragging after that.
 
Under 6000, I believe. Been awhile since I checked.
 

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