V-Star 650 Clutch Fixes – Moving the Friction Zone Toward the Grip

I recently wrote about the Clevver lever after Roger so kindly gave me approval to use the official images and graphics   That was ¾ of the solution to making the V-Star’s clutch more user friendly.  Having a wider friction zone has really made slow speed maneuvers easier to execute.  I’ve always been good at starting on hills after only driving manual transmission cars for the past decade, but I’ll take help when I can get it and The Clevver has helped with those as well.

The clutch side of the V-Star 650

 So, what’s the other ¼ of the solution you ask?  Well, let me first explain the other ¼ of the problem before I explain the solution.

The V-Star’s clutch has two issues from the factory.  Aside from the friction zone being small which I’ve addressed with the Clevver, it’s also a long ways out from the grip.  Again, it’s like one of those old Alfa Romeo sports cars.  You have to let the clutch out, then go a bit further, keep going, and then you finally get to the miniscule friction zone.  It works, but it doesn’t exactly inspire confidence.  This is especially true when making a U-turn and when approaching traffic is bearing down on you even if it is quite a ways off.  You’re going around the turn and you need to add power, so you let off the clutch lever a bit only to find there’s nothing there.  You didn’t let the clutch lever out far enough to engage.  Or sometimes you do let it out far enough, but you end up letting it out a bit too far and the bike jerks as the power is transmitted to the rear wheel just a bit too quickly.

Close-up view of the lower clutch adjuster and the spring that allows the extra free play

So, how do you fix this situation with the long throw of the clutch lever to get to the engagement point and into the friction zone?  Sure, you could just adjust the clutch cable to allow more slack and free play from full engagement to the friction zone, but then you’d have the lever flopping which wouldn’t be so good…

What you need is some way to add in that free play, but that keeps the clutch lever out toward full engagement instead of flopping around when you’re not using it.  In the end all you need is a cable protector of some sort and a spring.

Close-up of the clutch cable, spring modification, and attachment to the clutch arm

This system was installed by a previous owner long before I got my bike, but the do it yourself instructions can be found on the 650CCND.com (that stands for 650 Custom, Classic, and Drag Star as the bike is known in Europe) site (click here) and a company called Seritec makes a kit (click here) that looks more finished once installed and has all the parts in one place

The idea behind this addition is that the spring keeps a minimal amount of pressure on the clutch cable that’s just enough to keep the lever from hanging loose while still allowing the free play to be increased which brings the entire friction zone closer to the grip.  At the same time, it doesn’t place so much force on the cable that the clutch is partially engaged and it causes no extra wear or anything else problematic.  I like the combination of this spring working with the Clevver.  It’s moved the engagement point closer to the grip and widened the friction zone which has made the bike even more enjoyable

That’s all for now, but I’ll be back with more soon   Have a great day everyone