The Hodaka Club Forum

I just finished, or so I thought, a '71 Ace 100B+project. The bike was doing fine and on the last ride, the clutch cable snapped. The clutch arm on the "clutch cover" has no spring pressure on it. I removed cover and found that the clutch disc (disc with attached pin and two washers)outside the clutch basket to be fully seated against clutch assembly. Shouldn't that pin have spring pressure on it? Thanks for any help on this.

Sal,
No, the clutch disc (I also off-handedly refer to it as the "throw-out bearing") simply sits well registered in the face of the clutch basket cover (with an appropriate "stack" of shims under it). All "spring force" actually resides inside the clutch -- and with the clutch case/cover removed there is no readily visible way to see/experience the resilence of the clutch springs.

NOTE: You can review an exploded view of all the clutch assembly and the actuating mechanism in the Illustrated Parts Lists which are available on the Hodaka Parts dot com web site. If you are going to do your own work on your Hodie, you should consider purchasing an Official Hodaka Workshop Manual. (Not a Clymer manual. No.)

Ed

I just cant quite figure out what would cause the clutch arm to have no resistance on it with cover on and throw out in place. And thank you so much for your time.

There should be a spring - 908942 - that goes over the exposed clutch cable between the arm and the cable mount on the cover. That keeps the pressure off the throw out bearing and keeps the cable end from falling out of the arm. There is no internal spring. The replacement clutch cable - 928940 - from Hodaka Parts doesn't show this spring but may came with it. The spring is 908942. There's supposed to be about 3/32" of free play in the lever with the cover on.

I was just there yesterday on my B+ and this makes me think that safety wiring the spring to the adjuster so that it doesn't leave if the cable breaks at the arm end is a good idea. A rubber booty to keep the mud out as well would be nice.

Your comment about no resistance on the clutch activating arm is a serious concern.

Something is wrong here.

The clutch pack has several springs & they push pretty darn hard.

IF the lever on the clutch cover is functioning and the throw out bearing looks pretty good I'd guess it's time to pull & disassemble the clutch.

You're gonna want the Hodaka Manual pages for this.

I'd send them to you, but I'm out of town for a week.

If you want to wait,let me know & I'll get them to you Free.

On the mean time, check the parts diagram that was suggested.

Maybe nothing is wrong. The clutch was working until the cable broke. The throwout bearing just sits in there; nothing is sprung except the cable.

If it is apart, make sure the 'clutch pressure piece' roller 901507 in the cover didn't fall out and roll away somewhere. You'll need a bit of grease to hold it in place while putting the cover back on. Without that part, the arm is pretty limp and freewheeling.

Oops, that's right.

The pin that contacts the throw out bearing is about 5 mm diameter & 10 mm long.

It can easily slip out. It's small & you may have missed it.

Put it in place with grease as mentioned. Then put the cover back on.

Without this piece in place you'll get no action at all.

OK, I'm going to hazard some guesses, ask some questions and confirm some of the useful information which has already been posted.
1. Did the clutch work properly right up until the clutch cable broke? If yes, then it is likely that the clutch cable simply broke. It happens, but is fairly rare. However, if clutch operation was rapidly getting, well, strange - and wayeeeee "stiff" to the point that you were pulling with all your might to disengage the clutch . . . and then the cable broke. Well then, your clutch nut has probably come loose. So check that. Remember the clutch nut is a left hand thread.
2. Upon re-reading the thread, I am now assuming that you removed the clutch cover to see what might be wrong . . . and THEN re-installed the clutch cover . . . and THEN found that the clutch lever on the engine just flopped around (no engagement, no spring pressure). IF that chain of events is correct, then it is 99.99% likely that the clutch pressure piece fell out while you were reinstalling the clutch cover. The clutch pressure piece is like an escaped roller from a roller bearing. It fills the space between the "inside" cam end of the clutch lever and the previously mentioned clutch disc (throw-out bearing). If you are lucky, you will find the pressure piece somewhere in the volume enclosed by the clutch cover when you "go inside" to look for it. I don't think it will fit thru the oil passages into the center case - but I'm not sure about that. Ennnnneywayeeeeee, you need to find the clutch pressure piece . . . to be sure that it didn't go thru one of the openings into the transmission area.

We'll be watching for your next report on progress.
Ed

Eureka, You guys are awesome! Reading your responses was all that it required for the "First B+Project-clutch" to be re-named the " First B+Project. The combined information you guys sent got me to take a deep breath and get a little understanding of how this clutch works. I was really panicked, loosing sight of the reason I was doing this. To have some fun.These bikes are a blast. Anyway, all is good, just a case of a broken cable on a bike owned by someone who reeeeealy loves this thing that is Hodaka. I guess if it were too easy, everybody would be doin' it. And again...Thank you guys for your time. Anybody ever gone cross-country on one of these things?

Several have made the trip on a Hodaka. Couple of years ago mike Perrett from Pa went coast to coast then up to Hodaka days on his 250.

Several have made the trip on a Hodaka. Couple of years ago mike Perrett from Pa went coast to coast then up to Hodaka days on his 250.