CRF 450 Chain/Sprocket Maintenance My Way

[Jperkins]

Hi,
Well I did it... :bang: somehow I managed to completely screw up my clutch on my CRF450 while chainging the sprockets and chain today. I can still shift the gears and get the bike into neutral, but if I pull in the clutch lever, it doesn't seem to disengage the gears.

Apparently you have to keep the wheel and chain on to loosen the front sprocket. I unfortunately did not know that and took the chain and wheel off before trying to unscrew the drive sprocket screw. Since there was no tire/chain to pose any resistance, turning the bolt left basically made the engine go throught a cycle. So I thought that the bolt must be reverse threaded. So I tried spinning the bolt to the right to "loosen" it :clue: . This caused the engine to go through a cycle backwards. At this point I am thinking I bent something in the low end to render the clutch useless.

So here's the question... Is anyone as dumb as me? What possibly could have broke/bent?

Any input is appreciated. Thanks!

-Jason

 

[darringer]

More than likely nothing is wrong. The engine needs to be running for the clutch to work properly. Re-install the old chain and wheel, fire up the bike and let it run in neutral for a few seconds and then try the clutch. Since it is a wet clutch, it needs oil flowing through it to operate correctly. Let us know what happens.

 

[Jperkins]

Thanks!

Starting it up and letting the oil get in did the trick. :cool:

 

[biglou]

I did the same thing myself a couple years ago. Took the clutch arm out of my 426 to lengthen it which required taking the pressure plate off the clutch, draining fluid, etc. After I put it back together and adjusted the freeplay, I noticed that the rear wheel was locked solid when in gear with clutch pulled. After starting it up and kicking it into gear (with brakes held firmly!), everything was cool. :)

 

[Jaybird]

Lou,
Did lengthening the clutch arm make a noticible difference worth doing?