Motorcycle Repair: 71 cb350 is very hard to shift, friction plates, clutch lever

Question
Bill,
I have recently aquired a 71 cb350 with right around 1000 miles on the clock.  bike has been sitting for some time.  i have done the usual clean-up / rebuild and it runs great.  when i first got the bike it would shift just fine, only problem being the clutch lever was real hard to fully sqeeze.  i have replaced the cable with a new one.  i followed the procedure to adjust the clutch per the clymer manual and now i am stuck.  to be able to fully engage/dis-engage the clutch i have to set it up to where it is nearly impossible to pull the lever with two hands.  i adjust it to a comfortable level and the cable will not dis-engage the clutch.

i am relatively new to motorcycles and their maintenence, but it feels as if when pulling the lever the small pin that is forced out is being blocked.  

any thoughts/suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

thanks.

neil chace.

Answer
Neil, several things can cause clutch problems. After sitting so long, the clutch should be disassembled and cleaned. Often the plates will all stick together and you have to physically pry them apart. Corrosion sets up on the metal plates and they will drag even when they are apart. Usually a new set of steel plates will cure that problem. While apart, you should check the sliding surfaces of the edges of the friction plates. In high mileage bikes, notches will form on the inner and outer clutch hubs. This should not be an issue on a genuine 1000 mile bike, however.
You might check the clutch springs to see that they are to OEM specs, rather than some aftermarket racing replacements.
Be sure to put lots of grease in the clutch release parts and check them for excessive wear in the male=female thread sections. When these wear out, then the clutch cable motion that is supposed to be turning the clutch release parts are just using up the slack in the parts before the release action takes place. BE SURE that the steel ball is still in there! That must be there to maintain the geometry of all the parts.

Bill Silver