84 240 WR clutch actuator device upgrade?

Is the clutch actuator shaft shown below with the notch in the paddle an upgrade for the early models originally with a flat paddle? I think this one is off a late 80's bike.

I am looking for ways to make my 84 240 WR clutch pull easier. Currently I have the flat paddle actuation device, longer actuating arm from a later model (gives less rotation for the same lever movement of course), Terry cable from Phillip and Magura levers from Bear Motorsport. Running the blue paint clutch springs. Basket is good with no notches. Using original clutch pack with aluminum plates.

Clutch pull is much harder than I would like and it doesn't disengage properly once warmed up making neutral almost impossible to select (a good thing when racing but not so good when wanting to stop for a while without stalling). Cable is well lubed.

I use Castrol VMX 80 oil which is SAE 80W viscosity – (equivalent to 10W-30). It's recommended by Castrol as a low drag oil suitable for 2 stroke gearboxes ...... and has a cool name!

Does anyone have a nice clutch set up on their 84 240/250 they can share i.e clutch lever, cable, actuation mechanism, oil, clutch springs etc?

do you grease the ball end of the cable where it sits in the lever? also the lever where it pivots? this always seems to help alot.

an angled lever like this helps effort quite abit. i use sea foam deep creep for a cable lube. i like the motion pro terminator cables, they seem to have the best action by far. not sure what the blue paint clutch springs are, since you are running a 250 i would make sure you are not running bigger bore springs.
i run steel plates and find that makes a huge difference in clutch drag. can easily start in gear and find neutral since ditching the aluminum plates.

Bump.

Have changed to steel plates, installed a fancy pants modern adjustable Pro Taper clutch lever assembly and fitted the lighter springs Andy sells. Still drags like crazy and neutral can only be selected with the engine stalled ! Ideas anyone?

When i made the switch to ATF type F i felt way less drag and never had a cold stuck clutch situation like i use too with Bel-Ray.
Make sure you dont have to much end play on the arm with the internal adjustment.

always had clutch drag on any husky that was not running the correct Magura lever set up.

Also have 4 84 Huskies and the clutch pull is different on all 4!¬!

Try atff and to lower fill mark, check for notching on basket inner and outer and sharp edges on fibers where they contact basket also .

with cable disconnected, how much play do you have at the end of the actuator arm? should be very little. almost no other lever has the throw of the magura, and is hard to match that. should be no drag with things adjusted right, and things mechanically ok. atf works well and so does a few good mc oils that arent too thick. the rotella works with no drag too.

Mick hughes has a fancy lever with three adjusting holes for more or less leverage. have you replaced the seal on the shaft?. I use a 30wt mineral oil in the gbox and I have a light clutch pull using one of Phill's longer clutch arms (lighter than a hydraulic) but it still drags just enough that it is difficult to find neutral but it wont stall the engine.
sometimes the alloy plates can warp causing drag ive heard. ol mates 400 has a gorilla grip clutch pull its a shocker! we are getting a mirror and we are going to look into it.

I set the clutch lever on the case during assembly so it has about 1/16" to 3/32" play. The lever on the handles bar gets a tad of play also. Is your cable pulled in and out freely when disconnected? I also lube the cables too. On your cable actuator grease the body of the actuator lightly also. How free is the clutch rod that goes through the tranny input shaft? Check the clutch lever for drag too. Maybe a cleaning and lining of the shoulder bolt that holds the clutch lever to the bracket.

As for my ideas, Look at what was done as this set up continued for the next 10 years in the single cam section. I only have done that to the extent of looking at the parts sheets, looks like they added a bushing at the bottom of that actuator thing. The shaft you picture appears to have a shorter half round section and the round portion is in two sections, I have taken a number of 1988 engines apart and what I found looks like what is in the picture I attach.

How can the simple half round not push the rod farther and hence separate the plates farther? That seems to address the stuff brought up lately.

I have stated before I think sleeving the bore in the case with bearing bronze is the answer or least worth a try as to the pull. Have you tried and are Motion Pro terminator cables still available? That Is what I found was the best so long as you do not get them near the exhaust. Things may have changed by now I can not say.

Fran...k. You have a longer lever arm in the pic. I didn't know there is a different length that's leverage too. How about making the added flat spot on the flat cam a half rounded area? The wear on the flat cam can be caused by the clutch rod that goes through the input tranny shaft is stuck in the mushroom chutch release bearing housing. So it turns causing wear. The release bearing is there to eliminate the rod from spinning somewhat.

Didn't someone offer a force reducer that gives us a mechanical advantage at the clutch lever on the handle bars?

The newer clutch baskets have holes to allow more oil into the clutch plates. The inner driver drum was drilled with holes too. It might be a good idea to up grade the older clutch parts with these oil holes.

the longer arm is a four stroke unit

More leverage?

extending the arm will give more leverage but takes away travel. the engineers have it figured pretty close to get maximum leverage while still getting full travel to get full engagement. its kind of a balance thing. thats why when using levers other than the magura often there are problems getting that actuator arm to fully swing enough. its likely the four stroke lever is the absolute longest actuator arm possible, but i do know the four strokes have different clutch plates.

I had that picture from quite a while ago. I have not taken apart any four strokes, it seems somewhere about the time they went to water cooling the arm got longer with a bit of offset, similar with the more complex part that contacts the rod, at least in the 430/500 that I generally disassembled. I put the picture for comparison to the one in post #1 that has two separate fully circular sections up near the seal. Now that I think about it that is probably there the piece that keeps it from coming out goes.

Back in the day I swapped the actuator shaft seal for a sealed bearing, I remember it helped a little.

When I want to shift to neutral I go back to first, with the bike still just moving forward slowly,

don't use the clutch lever and just snick it into neutral.

How the cable is routed matters too like ruwfo said. I try do make nice smooth radious bends and go down the front vertical tube, go through the hole in the front motor mount to the engine cable mount. I make sure there are no pinch areas.

I know it's not period correct, but this seems to lighten the clutch pull considerably according to the owner! I'll be able to confirm it later today since he's
bringing his family out to my property and has offered me a ride on this beast.

nice! get some details on that hydro clutch for us