[Hondasonly]

I recently traded my crf100f for a 2006 crf450r, bike runs excellent, but as expected is a big pain to start in this cold. I have come to notice that my clutch isnt disengaging. When i put the bike on the stand and pull in the clutch the tire wont spin, instead it just turns the motor over. We decided to pull the clutch basket, and sure enough there were grooves, so we filed them down great without taking off much metal. When we put it all back together, we had the exact same problem. Now i am completely lost because all of the clutch plates looked fine. What could be my problem?


Thanks!

[Aussiecrf230]

It may have been filed down in the past and with a bit of wear on the tabs on the plates they are cocking over and catching in the basket slots.

[JimDirt]

Welcome to the site !!

Question , Are you just pulling in the clutch with the engine off , and spinning the wheel ??? , if so , then that is normal

If you are running the bike and pulling the clutch , then the wheel will naturally spin because the tranny gears are working and it allows the wheel to slightly spin ..... Otherwise , its possible that the basket is wobbling and causing binding (if you grab it , and try to rock it , it should not move) and either the inner or outer hub is binding and causing the clutch to not completely disengage

For starting cold:

Turn on the gas
Pull the choke
Give the throttle 3 to 6 full twists (you will have to experiment with this as each bike is different)
push the kickstarter down slowly till you feel the compression , then let it all the way up , then give it a full HARD kick , like its a Harley , it should start within 1-4 kicks , if not then repeat the throttle twists till you figure out how many it likes

Example: , my 02 does not like throttle input , it likes Choke , the 4 good kicks , and it usually starts on the 4th kick , from cold , my 06 450X like 6 full pumps of the throttle and a choke , if it does not start right away , then 6 more full twists of the throttle

Each bike is different , and you have to learn/figure out what your bike likes as far as cold or hot starting procedure , and NEVER try to start it in gear unless you have Schwarzenegger's legs and enjoy kicking all day just for the workout .....