EZ clutch

[drewboid]

Arthritis is starting to kick in - has anyone put an EZ clutch or similar on an R65? I have them on my R60/2 and R75/6 but seem to recall that they could not be put on an R65. I looked at the transmission mounts and it seemed possible. Any success stories or failures?

[donbmw]

Below is a link to making your own EZ clutch using a unmodified clutch cable. I do not know why a EZ clutch would not work on a R65. If I get to riding my 1980 more I plan on making this for it. I have been using one on my 75 R90/6 for the last 20 year.

http://www.frankhams.freeserve.co.uk/temporary_uploads/ezclutch_page.htm


Don

[drewboid]

thanks for the response
I got an email back from Vech saying that there is not enough clearance between the clutch arm and the frame member behind it.
that being said I may try to build one from the link you sent.

[drewboid]

OK - I built the EZ clutch - pulley was too large. Then I took the one off my /6 and tried it. It fit but the clutch could not be properly adjusted. There was not enough movement at the clutch arm. If there was a little play at the begionning of the movement the clutch would not fully disengage. If adjusted to fully disengage there was no play at the beginning.  The /2 is almost as bad - it works but needs to be adjusted as the engine warms up.

[Jon_P]

that is cool! think i am going to try to make one for myself and try it out. if i cant have a hyd. clutch that might be the next best thing

[drewboid]

Jon -
It DID NOT WORK on the R65!!!
Neither the EZ clutch from Vech nor the home built versions will work. The 2:1 advantage that you get with a simple pulley system reduces the throw of the lever at the transmission too much and you can't go from fully engaged to fully disengaged.
However - mentioning hydraulics gives me ideas. The /6s had a cable operated master cylinder mounted under the tank. Perhaps a new cable from the handle bar lever to the brake (now clutch) master cylinder could be the start of a hydraulic system. Now we would need a hydraulic line to a new clutch operating cylinder and a place to firmly mount the new cylinder.
Any machinists out there who would give this a try?

[Jon_P]

i am using a non stock clutch lever which as more pull, it is made by Magra which is the same guys who make the stockers but it was made more for the off road bikes. a couple of small mods to the lever and it works great. i will still try, if it works great, if not oh well just means i had more time out in the shop.

[Barry]

Try this - measure the clutch lever pull at the handlebars with a spring balance.  Then remove the return
spring at the gearbox end and measure the clutch lever pull at the handlebars again.  I can't remember the figures but the gearbox end return spring contributes 25% or more to the clutch lever pull. There is some scope here for a weaker spring.

[MrRiden]

Jon,
Anytime you employ a pulley system you are gaining the ability to move greater resistance at the expense of greater distance required or like Drew said above BUT! I was just contemplating the cam shaped pulley employed in modern hunting bows. I wonder if a cam shaped pulley might be a solution to this mechanical advantage problem?
rich

[nhmaf]

The early hunting bows still used round wheels, but used offset/non-centered axles to effect the "cam".   If one could get a machinist to drill punch some different, off-center axle holes in your standard pulleys you might have a go at it..

[drewboid]

I may have found a solution to hard to pull clutches. Mooseracing makes an easy pull device that installs in line with the cable and has a lever inside that will ease the pull at the sacrafice of pull distance. I cannot recommend it unconditionally as I had problems with the unit and also had to cut into the cable to install it (which is not the way it is intended to install). The unit was made to install at the clutch perch and comes with a short cable to link to the clutch lever.

First two problems - the cable does not match up with the BMW design of the perch and there is not enough room to install it due to an interference with the dash panel. Therefore I cut the clutch cable below the tripletree and installed the unit there. This required shortening the cable sheath and fabricating new ends for the interior cable.  (I used a dremel tool with a cutting disk to cut the cable)

Second problem - a manufacturing defect? See the photos. The cable out of the unit binds on the lever and is forced to bend. I filed the groove in the lever deeper until I could get a straight pull.

The lever has a choice of three pivot points - I used the lowest one to give the maximum throw to the clutch rod. Adjustment was tricky - I now had four adjustment points and two cables to adjust. However, My fiance says there is a definite improvement in easing the required clutch pull so I feel I should share this with all of you.  Please don't try this if you are not willing to work "outside the box" by cutting your cables, installing it in a manner not recommended by the manufacturer, and modifying the factory part. Buy a spare cable to carry with you in case something fails. (not a bad idea anyway)  YMMV - let me know if any of you also try this.

[drewboid]

here is a second photo illustrating the bent cable.

[drewboid]

Final photo showing how I filed the slot for a straight pull.