Motorcycle Repair: Yamaha Virago 250 clutch, friction zone, clutch lever

Question
My girlfriend just bought a used Virago 250 and the clutch engagement does not have a very wide "friction zone" more on an all on nothing feel.  Can this be adjusted or is the problem more serious?  The bike has ~ 6000 miles on it.  Thanks, Jim


Answer
Hi Jim.
 The clutch should be engaging almost at the begining of clutch lever travel, so if it isn't there could be a couple of things wrong.  Since the 250 is not a "true" Virago like the XV700 - XV1100, there are going to be some differences.

 You may want to get the repair manual for the bike so that you can check clutchsprings, clutchplate and frictionplate wear as well as any of the myriad of things to check, adjust, maintain on the bike.  All of the specific information will be in that book.

The first thing that you want to think about is; How well was the bike maintained as well as how often and how hard was it ridden by the previous owner.  These things have a major effect on how certain components wear.  For example, if he was slow on the clutch, then the wear would be more than if he were faster on the clutch.

How old is the clutch cable?  Is it in need of replacement or just simple adjustment?

On the larger XV's, there is one and only one adjustment for the clutch and that is at the clutch lever.  I am not certain if there is a second one on the 250, but I doubt if there is.  If there is, it will be at or very near the spot where the cable enters the casing and it will have 2 nuts on the end of the cable with a threaded end from which the cable comes out.

If the cable is adjusted as far out as it can be already, then the only thing to do is to replace the cable with the correct one.

Start there and let me know how it goes.
Good luck.
FALCON