Motorcycle Repair: Honda CL72 250, oil filter housing, clutch pack

Question
I have a CL72 thats been sitting for 25 years I'd like to restore it. Its in good shape for as long as its been sitting. it runs real good after cleaning carbs, tank, and filing points. My ? is what year is it and how do i get the clutch apart to get it  unstuck?  the no. on it is CL72  -  1100129   THANKS FOR YOUR HELP!

Answer
Rick, your bike is a VERY early production 1964 model. Honda actually built two series of bikes, using different serial numbers in 1964. The second series was numbered CL72-4XXXXX

Stuck clutches are pretty common in cases such as this. Buy a new clutch cover gasket and seal for the cover, drain the oil, carefully remove the forward oil filter housing first (round cover with three screws), then remove the rest of the screws. You probably will want a good impact driver with #3 Phillips bit to loosen them, especially if they have never been out. Once the cover is off, the clutch assembly is looking right at you. Remove the 4 bolts/washers/springs and then outer cover comes off, probably with a good chunk of the clutch pack with it. Carefully, pry the plates apart, wire brush/sand the steel plates and if the fiber plates seem okay, rough them up with sandpaper, wash everything carefully, oil the plates up and reinstall. Make sure that the outer cover is indexed onto the inner clutch hub as you reassemble the cover/springs. The inner couple of plates should be secured with tiny wires, whose ends poke into the inside of the inner clutch hub. You have to push the ends out of the holes with a flat-bladed screwdriver.

Scrub all the gasket material off the clutch cover and crankcase, install a new shift shaft seal and gasket and reassemble again. 1.5 qts of 10-40 motorcycle oil will fill the crankcase. While the cover is off, take time to disassemble the oil filter assembly to clean out the muck inside, oil it up and be sure that it spins easily on the locating shaft. Rotate the small locating pin to 12 o'clock position so it engages with the recess in the outer cover.

I have restoration guides on CD that cover all aspects of owning and overhauling a CL72 Scrambler available from my website.

Bill Silver
www.vintagehonda.com