The Yamaha Road Star Warrior Forum

Hey guys, ill start by just saying that Im new to the motorcycle world, at least owning them anyway, and I dont know that much about how to work on them. Ive always just played with Mustangs and the drag strip. I just purchased a 07 RS Warrior about a month ago and I cant get enough of it, Ive already put 2100 miles on it.  The only thing that was giving me any probs was the clutch, it was alittle tricky getting it into neutral at a stop. I saw some other posts about this, but, I had it taken care of. I just had the first service and I told the mechanic about it and he adjusted the clutch. The one thing I liked about the set it was at was that it entered the friction zone almost imediatley when releasing the clutch. Now that the mechanic changed the set, Ive got to almost let it go all the way out before it starts to grab. I dont want the probs getting into neutral but I dont want to have it grab so far back. Is just turning the sets on the clutch all I have to do to try and find the even medium on the clutch? If it is, which direction do I have to adjust it, further towards the machine or away from it?Like I said, Im new to workin on bikes and I didnt want to go start adjusting sh*t until I knew for sure I was playing with the right parts. Thanks in advance for the help.

 I currently have that same issue with my '02 although i have not had it corrected, like you i want to have the response of the clutch right away. Just wanted to let you know that it is not a rare issue. 

Well hopefully we will be able to set it as we want too soon, im pretty sure all that has to be done is just set the clutch again, I just want to be sure.

That is the way mine works too. I let out the lever almost all the way before it grabs and I have had the Yamaha Mechanic adjust it.

It's really a personal preferance. If you wan't you clutch to engage sooner just adjust your cable free play. There are two places to do it. the first and easiest is at the clutch lever perch on the handle bar. Underneath the rubber boot (assuming you have one I do on my 06) there is a cable adjuster, just like on a bicycle. You just loosen the locknut/thumbwheel and then screw the adjuster in for more freeplay (sooner clutch engagement). I think the manual recommend 1/8" freeplay, I prefer about a 1/4" freeplay for earlier engagement. I would go with about a half turn on the adjuster at a time until you get the desired effect. Just be careful if you get to much freeplay then your back to the condition having a hard time finding nuetral and the clutch may drag when the hand lever is fully pulled in. There are only two conditions you don't want. 1 to much freeplay for the above reason. 2 no freeplay so the clutch disengaging diaphram spring always has pressure on it. There is another freeplay adjuster about half way down the cable. it's like a two piece threaded coupling with a locknut. It has the same affect as the adjuster at the clutch lever perch. You can use this one if you have no adjustment at the bars. It's really very easy if pay attention to the free play. Try it.

youngja:

 

It's really a personal preferance. If you wan't you clutch to engage sooner just adjust your cable free play. There are two places to do it. the first and easiest is at the clutch lever perch on the handle bar. Underneath the rubber boot (assuming you have one I do on my 06) there is a cable adjuster, just like on a bicycle. You just loosen the locknut/thumbwheel and then screw the adjuster in for more freeplay (sooner clutch engagement). I think the manual recommend 1/8" freeplay, I prefer about a 1/4" freeplay for earlier engagement. I would go with about a half turn on the adjuster at a time until you get the desired effect. Just be careful if you get to much freeplay then your back to the condition having a hard time finding nuetral and the clutch may drag when the hand lever is fully pulled in. There are only two conditions you don't want. 1 to much freeplay for the above reason. 2 no freeplay so the clutch disengaging diaphram spring always has pressure on it. There is another freeplay adjuster about half way down the cable. it's like a two piece threaded coupling with a locknut. It has the same affect as the adjuster at the clutch lever perch. You can use this one if you have no adjustment at the bars. It's really very easy if pay attention to the free play. Try it.

+1,  i could not have said it better myself

dualxhst289 ... Any adjustment to the clutch cable should be done with the engine/oil cold.

As the engine heats up the clutch lever will develop additional free play as the components expand! If you slip your clutch excessively on a very hot day and the bike starts to walk away at a stop light while in 1st gear you'll know what to do ... adj the cable .... lengthening the sheathing/covering removes the slack.

Just look at the clutch lever where it contacts the housing & adjust the thumb wheel so you have somewhere between the thickness of a credit card & a nickels worth of free play.

This is not a set it & forget it adjustment. On occasion I adjust the cable at a stop light.

Suggest down shifting through the gears as you roll up to a stop & selecting neutral before you make a complete stop. 

The trans design will not let you ratchet through the gears if the bike is not moving.

Also: The clutch has an inherent drag on it which can make gear changes difficult.

Compared to other Yamaha producte the Warrior clutch is not the best design in line up.

Thanx guys, I really appricate the help. I fig that was what I had to do, just wanted to be sure. Ill turn some screws tonight, and post how it turns out. Thanks again!

dualxhst289:

Thanx guys, I really appricate the help. I fig that was what I had to do, just wanted to be sure. Ill turn some screws tonight, and post how it turns out. Thanks again!

Where you at in the south burbs? The Ridge, Orland, Oak Lawn? Or on the east side with the hooligans?

Churchkey:

 

Where you at in the south burbs? The Ridge, Orland, Oak Lawn? Or on the east side with the hooligans?

I live about a half a mile north of the middle of no where. Matteson. Orland is to damn populated, but im not far from the hoologans, chicago and ford hts are only 3 mile down Rt 30. Are you from IL?

dualxhst289:

Churchkey:

 

Where you at in the south burbs? The Ridge, Orland, Oak Lawn? Or on the east side with the hooligans?

I live about a half a mile north of the middle of no where. Matteson. Orland is to damn populated, but im not far from the hoologans, chicago and ford hts are only 3 mile down Rt 30. Are you from IL?

Sent PM

That's pretty good advice as far as I'm concerned about hitting nuetral before making a complete stop, I do that constantly. It's far easier than "finding" nuetral when stopped or making my clutch slip through adjustment.

Churchkey:

Just look at the clutch lever where it contacts the housing & adjust the thumb wheel so you have somewhere between the thickness of a credit card & a nickels worth of free play.

This is not a set it & forget it adjustment. On occasion I adjust the cable at a stop light.

Suggest down shifting through the gears as you roll up to a stop & selecting neutral before you make a complete stop. 

The trans design will not let you ratchet through the gears if the bike is not moving.

Also: The clutch has an inherent drag on it which can make gear changes difficult.

Compared to other Yamaha producte the Warrior clutch is not the best design in line up.

 

Thanks for the help guys, I adjusted it last night. Its right were I want it, grabs faster and still shifts smoothly.

I do normally hit neutral before I come to a stop. Its on rare occasions that I have to go from a gear to neutral from a stop, but it happens.

Thanks again...

Churchkey:

Suggest down shifting through the gears as you roll up to a stop & selecting neutral before you make a complete stop.
The trans design will not let you ratchet through the gears if the bike is not moving.
Compared to other Yamaha producte the Warrior clutch is not the best design in line up.

 

I actually like that, it teaches you how to properly shift down, old school method.
All this new technology makes you forget how to use your machine the right way...

One tip that some do not know, about reducing the clutch disc excessive usage. Every time I shift down, while I release the clutch, I quickly give a little gas... to increase the disc rotation before couple and allow reduce the friction between discs. Works wonders, it doubles the clutch disc life. When I've got my Warrior, I had to learn all over again how to touch that throttle while shifting down, or else the bike would shoot like a bullet forward...

Any of you use this technique also?