250-500cc wr300 dramaa after changing clutch cable

Hi everyone,
I changed my clutch cable as the cable was frayed. I had never done this before, but it looked easy. I did it in the dark and I did have a little trouble getting the old cable out of the arm that it connects to at the motor. I ended up getting it out with a bit of heavy pulling and twisting.
Problem is now the arm that the cable connects to at the motor now moves but there is no resistance when I move it by hand. It is not working either, as in I move it by hand and I cant move the bike forward when its in gear. Like the clutch will not engage. Could my pulling and twisting on the cable at the arm it connects to on the motor end of the cable done some damage? Any suggestions?

have you hooked the clutch cable to the lever and adjusted it yet
the lever on the engine moves some and if you look at the mechanical advantage the lever on the bars has about a 3:1 advantage so moving the part on the would be difficult at best

I just changed my clutch cable and needed a big screwdriver to pry the clutch arm enough to hook the new cable housing end into the cable housing stop under the carburetor. There was a lot of resistance to the arm. I disconnected and reconnected the cable under no tension, then attached the cable housing under tension at the motor end.
Sounds like you may have pulled the lever up enough to disengage the clutch disengagement rod (#7 in the picture). I don't know how the lever (#8) is fixed down. Did you physically move the lever up while pulling up?
Can't tell by the diagram how the rod is pushed by the arm/shaft.

Thanks guys. Yes I did actually have it hooked up for a bit and it didnt work so I disconnected again. From memory i could move it and feel resistance in the beginning. Now there is no resistance there. It will move freely for about an inch or so. I did it at night and i may have lifted it up. Crap...

I had the same problem about 6 months ago when I changed my clutch plates. I had tension at the arm, moved it and then there wasn't any. I took it apart 3 times to try to figure out. For the life of me I can't remember what the problem was, but once I figured it out it was simple and I called my self a dumb@**. I'm sorry, but I just can't remember what the fix was.

Thanks for that. I wish I had paid attention to how far that arm went down into the motor. It does seem to be sitting up a bit high so I think I must have lifted it up and disengaged it somehow. I will try what I can to push it back down but I don't think that's going to work. I will need to disassemble it. I better get my self a workshop manual first I think.

How many of you guys when you change the clutch ever look at the clutch hub and basket.
Today I spent about 3 hours with a flat file working on making the hub and basket have no little pumps.
It takes time but if you do not do it the clutch will not work correct as the plates get hung up in the grooves.
I have a 2006 Wr 250 that gets all the old parts off my 300 race bike. It is amazing how well the 250 works when I clean up the 300 race parts. Today I put a used clutch in the 250 which I had cleaned up the basket. The bike will start in gear I lubed the motion pro 3 inches shorter then stock cable and it is a 1 finger pull. Attention to detail and time = a fun easy bike to ride. I also have a old 2006 CR 125 that gets all the old parts of the 165 race bike and it works great to. Crazy to have extra bikes but what are they worth so keep them for fun rides and parts bike on race day.

Im at a loss with this. There is a little less than an inch of play in the leaver at the motor. When i connect the clutch cable and adjust the cable to remove play it moves the leaver forward but clutch is still not engaging.

Could someone possibly post a pic of the clutch leaver at the motor? Want to see how far it sticks out.

Here's a couple pics ... Hope they help and if not, I'll try again



Note: I was gonna ride the 4t bike today but after rolling out the 2t in the light, it's another 2t day here ... Thanks for the indirect help on my riding today ... Forget that dirty bike ... It was rode yesterday and it's going back out today ...I'm glad its ~muddy here

I'm sure you know what you are talking about and maybe you can do a thread with some pics on this work ... I'm on the clutch and need all the help I can get here ...

PS -- I know what you mean on extra bikes ... Hard to keep all of them running 100% at the same time but good to have to help smooth out any parts issues that pop-up ... And in the long run, it is like a micro parts supply warehouse ...

If it were me I'd pull the clutch apart and see if that horizontal rod can be pulled out a little, then the lever pushed back down. Maybe the horizontal rod will then push back to where it needs to be against the lever.
Here's a link to a link to the workshop manual. Its full of bad translations and hard to find torque specs but you'll figure it out:
http://www.cafehusky.com/threads/wr300-service-manual-where-can-i-get-one.27015/

Thank you very much for the pictures. I will check when I am back home. Much appreciated. For the life of me I don't know what could have gone wrong. Again very much appreciated. Also thanks for the link to the manual. Cant wait to get this sorted.

Hi Ray,
Any chance you could post a couple of pics from the other side of the motor where the cable slides into place? I think i see something not right. Thanks heaps mate.

Its dark here now and my camera has no flash so this is about the best I can do now ... Let me know if you need more ...

Hi Ray.
Thank you for that. Mine looks exactly the same. I am at a loss here. Im going to do some searches and see if I can find a procedure for disassembling and inspecting the clutch.

Too bad ... Getting a look at that clutch is not too big a deal ... Many guys here can help ...

I will take a look at some videos on youtube. I cant find any husky stuff but hopefully they are all similar. Thanks again for the help. Will let you know how it goes. This is a great site. Lots of support.

I feel like such a fool. I spoke to a bike shop who said its normal for the clutch to drag. I has only tried pushing it in gear with the clutch pulled in and it was draging heaps. Anyway i started it up and it works fine (well as good as it ever was).thanks heaps for the help everyone, especially Ray. Next time I will work in daylight so I can see what im doing so I know how its ment to go back together! Glad my bike is working again.

For the record, some of the confusion might be the fact that multiple times you said that the clutch was "not engaging." Generally, an "engaged" clutch is one that is "locked up" and transferring power to the wheels, whereas a disengaged clutch is one that is disconnected, such as when you pull the lever (disconnected as in being in neutral). So, the description didn't quite match the symptoms.

Glad you are back up and running!