Clutch cable adjustment question [min safe engagement point]

[AF4iK]

Hey guys, I installed a RSC clutch lever on sunday which required me to adjust the cable length. I did so from the lower adjustment nuts first followed by fine tuning at the perch. My question is, how much clutch engagement is acceptable when the lever is fully pulled in?

I had the bike up on stands and noticed that when I pulled the clutch handle in and kicked it into first, the wheel would start to spin. I could stop it from spinning by hitting the rear brake or even slowing it down with my shoe so stalling wasn't a worry. But, 'til now, I've always assumed that the clutch plates should fully disengage when the handle is pulled in. Is this not so?

Note: I can adjust the cable so that the tire doesn't spin. The problem is that it still won't spin (not much at least) when I let the handle out. Obviously it's un-rideable this way so I have it set as described above for now.

It's almost as if the clutch lever isn't capable of pulling the cable out far enough to go from fully-disengaged to fully-engaged but, instead, can only go from mostly-disengaged to mostly-engaged. Thoughts?

 

[Scuba Steve]

The lever needs freeplay when disengaged or it will quickly wreck your clutch. The spinning wheel is normal when on stands, adjust it where you want as long as it doesn't drag when in gear on the ground and has freeplay in the cable when released.

 

[AF4iK]

Thanks Steve. Good to know the spinning wheel is normal. I had it adjusted to the other extreme at one point during the install where the tire would spin too hard for me to stop it with my shoe or the rear brake. I feel better now about the setting I have it on. It felt normal on a test ride.

The lever itself has some free play, close to how I had it setup with the OEM hardware.

 

[cbcanada]

my bike spins on stands to but very sliw to the point i can stop it with my finger. still spins though, so i think you are ok

 

[AF4iK]

Just an update: My shifting seemed to get stickier and harder to put into gear after riding with this lever for a while... most noticeably when going from 1st to 2nd. I noticed that when pulling in the lever it partially hits the turn-signal switch cluster. So I slid the entire lever-perch assembly slightly farther out on the bar so that the lever's travel now stops when it hits the grip. This made a huge difference so just thought I'd post it as a fyi. Maximize the available lever travel.