My old nemesis has returned.

So, once again, I'm having clutch issues.

After doing the valves, I took off the front sprocket cover to clean up the ten metric fucktons of crap that the chain spews there; while in the general area, I decided to readjust the clutch. It'd been doing that annoying "Wha? Neutral? Huh?" thing at stoplights again.

With Peter's (very patient) help, we got the clutch back in spec...which means, of course, I can't pull in the lever. My two options with this bike seem to be:

1) Clutch is functional but requires superhuman arm of steel to pull in lever
2) Clutch is accessible to mortals but then does not engage and, in fact, pretty damn well just doesn't work.

Well.

I should also point out that, while working on this, I idly bitched to Peter about "why was this just happening now?" and how "the clutch used to work just fine", thereby proving that I have become senile at 28. In fact, while doing a bit of websurfing just now, I found posts I'd made about this same exact problem back in 2001.

Meanwhile, the riding posture on the SVS is aggravating my shoulder. I know this, but yet I continue to ride the bike to work. I spent my entire commute today thinking "huh, I'm probably undoing all of the good that physical therapy is doing for my shoulder". Sigh. I just don't want to face the possibility of not being able to ride the SVS, whether for short or long term. "Denial" isn't just a pretty river in Egypt.

What I should be doing is riding Dora to work. So far, she hasn't given my shoulder any problems. Perhaps I can learn from my posture there.

At what point do I give up? When do I say, "OK, we've had 60,000 really terrific miles together, but I can't ride you at all without my entire left arm erupting in agony within 20 miles. I've tried everything I know how to do, and nothing helps. I've changed the handlebars and the seat and my own gear and I've been to physical therapy twice and I see a chiropractor every month and I've totally revamped my office cube and home desk for ergonomics and still my arms and shoulder hurt." How do you know when it's time to say so long and thanks for all the fish?

Comments

[Geoff]

As a final, desperate, break-only-in-case-of-emergency last resort you could spend a week riding a newer GSX-R 600. After a week on that orthopedic nightmare, your SVS would feel like a La-Z-Boy by comparison!

But really, I can appreciate the emotional angst associated with putting a dearly beloved bike out to pasture. But as long as you are replacing 'ol Bessie with something better (or at least comparable) the sorrow is usually very short lived.

[ericm]

There's the LSL superbike bar kit (which I have on my SV1k): http://www.spieglerusa.com/cfm/sbk.cfm

Or a DL650. That'd be like replacing the SV with a cousin. The pseudo-dirt-bike position of a big DP bike is more versatile than even a modified sportbike, and better for long rides.

[Kansas]

That sucks to hear. I didn't know the SV was uncomfortable for you.

Maybe a FZ6 or that Kawasaki 750 would be a better match for ya.

[Heidi]

Hi,

You're not alone with this problem ... as you probably know. I, too, find myself challenged with the strength required to continually shift with the SVS (small hands). Although I don’t ride nearly as much as you, after a couple of hours into riding on the weekends I used to have painful, tired tendons around my left wrist with pain radiating up my arm and settling into my shoulder just under the shoulder blade. No fun.

POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS

My husband graciously spent time researching the topic in an SV riders’ forum in Germany: http://www.svrider.de (he’s German and we live in Germany). Perhaps the information he uncovered there is new to you and could prove helpful. I tried out two of the ideas and am so far happy with one of them.

One approach, as you probably know, is to address the small-hand issue and the stress of having to hyperextend one’s fingers to grasp the clutch lever and pull it at a less-than-optimal angle. A cheap way to shorten the width of the handle is to put a rubber washer (like what is used for facets) on the cable between the clutch lever and where the lever is affixed to the handlebar: http://www.svrider.de/index.php?seite=tipstricks&details=55. This probably won’t solve your problem, but for $.035 it is a solution at least worth mentioning. I tried it out and it worked “okay.”

A more expensive way to deal with the clutch lever but one that is more effective is to switch out the Suzuki clutch lever for an adjustable lever. There are racing models out there that are really expensive, but one can do this for much less -- about $50 -- by buying a Kawasaki GPZ 500S clutch lever. It has five adjustable settings and no. 5 has been working well for me. It took about a half an hour to do the work, with the main issue being the electric cut-off switch. The Suzuki plug doesn’t fit the Kawasaki connector, so you either have to try to get a Kawasaki plug and solder it to your SVS or just bridge the two wires, thereby disabling the cut-off mechanism completely. In doing the work, you will find that you have to remove the handlebar balancer, handle grip rubber, and the left handlebar switch to be able to remove the clutch lever holder (see section 6-20 in the shop manual). Here’s a good picture of the end result: http://www.meinmoped.de/Fotos/Umbauten%20sv650s/svkuplungsgriffverstellbarmidi.JPG

One other source in the forum mentions changing the angle from 90° to 70° for the metal clutch cable housing right at the point where it exits the clutch lever holder housing. This is very tricky and one has to be careful not to break the metal housing: http://www.svrider.de/Forum/viewtopic.php?t=18920&highlight=Armnaturist (scroll down until you see “Armnaturist” hightlighted.) This approach attempts to directly address the stiffness-of-cable/need-more-strength issue.

As a last remark, many in the forum recommend giving up on lubricating the cable when it has gotten to such a point and replacing it with a new one. This probably doesn’t apply in your case, though.

Perhaps one of these approaches will work for you. So far, I’m quite happy with the new adjustable clutch lever.

Good luck.

[carolyn]

Wow, that's awesome info, thanks so much! I disabled the clutch lever electric cut-off switch a while ago, so that wouldn't be a problem...I'm definitely going to try to hunt down one of those GPZ levers. Thanks!!

[Ron Napier]

I just bought and wrecked an '07 SV650S. Dislocated my shoulder in a previous crash, and it does get aggravated a bit. Not sure if it's totaled yet or not; if it is, I may go cruiser or some such thing. Who knows.