K75 - 91 - kick stand and handlebar

[drmacak]

Hi All!
I have made my first bigger trip on K75s and I have some questions. First, considering kick stand is it as it should be that the kick stand does not stay in open position. It is under spring tension all the time, which make it harder to use. I read some topics hear and noticed that there should be some mechanism to lock kick stand open and releas it when clutch is pressed. But nothing can be find on my bike. Is it feature or modification, and how can I make it work since thank to this brick kind of fall on my thumb.
About the handlebar, after riding for couple of hours my fingers actually became numb, weak and hard to move in certaing position. Im wandering what I was doing wrong. If it is the position, too tigth grip or just gloves which I know doesn't fit well. Is ok to do touring and long rides with K75s handlebar which I understand are more sporty?

[Martin]

It looks like your stand might have been modified or adjusted incorrectly. It should retract when you pull the clutch in. It is adjusted by screwing the nut#7, confirm whether you have these parts fitted. You may have to adjust your handle bars they can be rotated up and back, or your riding style look up Master Yoda Riding Position. You are also probably gripping the bars too tight, you might also be suffering from tendonitis there are Velcro straps to help with this.
Regards Martin.

K75s Side Stand.png (5.66 kB . 197x139 - viewed 556 times)

[The Mighty Gryphon]

Check the retract mechanism as Martin mentioned.  It could be adjusted too tight.  You should also check the clutch cable adjustment.  It could be that your sidestand problem is caused by an incorrectly adjusted clutch. 

I also have problems with my hands, probably from the vibrations in the handlebars.  The only thing I have found is to let go of the bar with my hand and let it hang loosely by my side for a few seconds to get the blood back into it.

[Past-my-Prime]

There is a clutch adjustment video that someone smarter than I will find for you.
First you adjust the clutch cable at the handlebar so that you have exactly 75 mm of space between the nut of the clutch actuator (by the gearshift at your left foot) and the end of the cable.
Then you adjust the two nuts on the clutch rod that goes through to the clutch so that you have 5 mm of free play on the clutch handle before it starts to pull.
Finally you adjust the nut as noted above. Mine was pretty stuck so I used a lot of lubricant spray before I could adjust it correctly.
Now my kickstand stays down until I stand up the bike and pull the clutch in, and it retracts when I pull in the clutch.

Regarding the numb hands, you don't need a death grip: my problem is I forget to use my core, and grip my hands too tight. Remember to have a soft grip and my hands do not go numb. Your problem could be similar.

[Laitch]

. . .you adjust the two nuts on the clutch rod that goes through to the clutch so that you have 5 mm of free play on the clutch handle before it starts to pull.

Free play is adjusted at the hand lever—not as your description seems to convey. The recommended amount of hand lever free play for a K75 is generally 2.0mm +0.5mm. Although Clymer has a generalized spec of ~3-5mm undifferentiated among models, I tend to go with factory specs.

There are two levers involved in a basic clutch adjustment. One is the clutch lever—a lever hinged on the rear of the transmission into which an adjustable bolt has been mounted that engages the clutch rod piston inside a boot mounted on the transmission. The other is the handlebar hand lever that operates the clutch lever.

My basic clutch adjustment goes like this.

• The clutch cable is disconnected from the clutch lever.
• The cable length from the edge of the barrel where the cable sheath and cable emerge to the cable's clutch lever attachment nipple is set to approximately 75mm using the hand lever's cable adjuster. (The term approximately is used because with some K75 motos that length must be modified slightly to prevent the outboard end of the clutch arm from clacking on the muffler when the hand lever is released.)
• The cable is reconnected to the clutch lever.
• At its inboard transmission end, the clutch lever bolt's lock nut is loosened then the bolt is back out until it doesn't touch the clutch rod piston.
• The clutch lever bolt is tightened until it just touches the clutch rod piston but exerts no further pressure upon it.
• The clutch lever bolt's lock nut is tightened.
• Free play at the hand lever is adjusted using the cable adjuster until it measures 2.0mm +0.5mm. Too much free play will cause difficulty shifting; too little free play will cause the clutch to slip. The clutch wears during use so free play adjustment should be checked regularly when the moto is used extensively.

All this can be found in manuals downloadable from here.

A slipping clutch can be inconspicuous. If fuel economy at speed seems to be lessening but the engine seems to be running well, the spark plugs look good, and you haven't been packing on the pounds at mealtime, the clutch is likely to be slipping. Try readjusting it.

It's time to break for café cubano and a discussion of hair styles among world leaders and candidates for world leadership.

[drmacak]

Just checked the side stand one more time, and there is for sure lot of missing. Actually only thing that is there is the plate that holds the springs.
DSC_0128.JPG (21.37 kB . 768x433 - viewed 567 times)
I tried to take pictured but its hard to get there. So the next question, can I buy this whole locking set somewhere?

[Laitch]

I tried to take pictured but its hard to get there. So the next question, can I buy this whole locking set somewhere?

Is that a chocolate bar with spiraled biscotti attached to it under there?

[Laitch]

Here's the story. Some countries in the EU made self-retracting side stands a safety feature requirement. In other countries, like the USA, a side stand retracting device was coupled with clutch hand lever action.

Your side stand isn't defective; it was made that way as a safety feature but it is inconvenient and cumbersome. You can modify it so it will stay down until you kick it up. That will be convenient but it also means that if you forget to kick it up, you will likely be visiting a doctor after your first left turn at speed.

All the parts for modifying the stand into the clutch hand lever retraction style are available in both the USA and likely the UK or other countries, too. Read this thread.

[drmacak]

Here's the story. Some counties in the EU made self-retracting side stands a safety feature requirement. In other countries, like the USA, a side stand retracting device was coupled with clutch hand lever action.

Your side stand isn't defective; it was made that way as a safety feature but it is inconvenient and cumbersome. You can modify it so it will stay down until you kick it up. That will be convenient but it also means that if you forget to kick it up, you will likely be visiting a doctor after your first left turn at speed.

All the parts for modifying the stand into the clutch hand lever retraction style are available in both the USA and likely the UK or other countries, too. Read this thread.

Thanks that makes sense!

[Past-my-Prime]

There is a video from  Chris Harris showing how to do it

[BlitzenGruv]

Thanks for the video. I'll have to look to see if my K100 has this feature. It won't start with the stand down, so I always retract it manually before hitting the button.

[Martin]

BG it will have a switch on the side stand that stops you from starting with the side stand down.
Regards Martin.

[atarifan2600]

The Chris Harris video seems to indicate that the cable length is modified by the hand lever, but the free play is adjusted at the clutch lever-  which is opposite of what Laitch is stating?

I think they have to be interconnected-  but when I was troubleshooting yesterday,  I shortened  the barrel to and ended up with  “free play” just 2.5mm of floppy handle with no return, and a clutch lever that banged on the muffler.
As soon as I ran the barrel out to the original position (and verified 75mm), then I modified the lock nuts at the clutch lever.  Now I’ve got free play at the handle, but the handle still returns that last 2mm. 


My bike was suffering from all Vroom, and not enough Zoom-  this made it right as rain.
Everything I’d read was making it clear that free play was adjusted at the clutch lever.  It seemed to be right to me,  because it worked!

Now I are confused.

[Laitch]

I think they have to be interconnected-

Of course they are interconnected; that's why adjustment of each is part of the total process.

If the outboard portion of the clutch arm is clacking on the muffler, in the first of the adjustment step lessen the adjustment of the free cable length at the clutch arm by means of the hand lever adjuster. How much is up to you, but write down the final length measurement  so if it works to stop the clacking at the end of the adjustment process, you can use it for the next time the adjustment is necessary. Then, loosen the bolt of the clutch lever bolt, back it out then adjust it forward to just touch the clutch rod piston. Then use the hand lever adjuster to 2mm +0.5mm.

Freewill allows you to adjust any component in any sequence into any clearance spec desired regardless of the depth of your understanding. It's important to keep in mind though, that if at the end of the adjustment the clutch lever bolt is applying pressure on the clutch rod piston, the clutch disc will wear out sooner and/or slip. If the clutch arm bolt is not engaging the piston at all then shifting is likely to be difficult the greater its distance from engagement.

The process was designed in the sequence presented to optimize ease of measurement, clutch life and performance.

[atarifan2600]

But if the clutch is dragging, and the obvious symptom is that there’s no free play at the clutch lever, no amount of adjustment at the barrel is going to give me free play.   You have to screw the clutch bolt out, which now frees up the clutch plates, and gives the requisite slack at the lever.   

Some fine adjustment with the barrel after may be needed, but there’s more to the statement than just “the barrel Adapter at the handle is what controls free play.”

So for anybody that doesn’t have free play at the handle, there’s more to it than “you can getbslack by adjusting the barrel Adapter at the handle.”

[Laitch]

But if the clutch is dragging, and the obvious symptom is that there’s no free play at the clutch lever, no amount of adjustment at the barrel is going to give me free play. 

What does dragging mean? Maybe your clutch disc is at the end of its life. Maybe your clutch cable is at the end of its life. Maybe a lack of understanding is at play. Maybe there is more that a person can do; you did more. When free play can't be adjusted as designed, needing to do more seems like a warning to me.

Enjoy the ride.