Clutch Push Rod

[jhead75]

Hey guys!!

Apologies if this has already been asked/discussed, but I have been looking online for a while and cant seem to find a definate answer for what seems like a somewhat common problem.

The other day my chain came off the rear sprocket and I did not notice. When I put my bike in gear and went to take off, the chain was obviously pulled through by the front sprocket. The clutch push rod was shattered but there is no leaking oil or cracks in the engine case. further more i believe I was able to get the entire rod out of the engine with little trouble.

I have a new chain and a new rod and am going to work on this soon. Is this the only problem? If a push rod gets broke do I just have to slide a new one in and it will be good? today I put it in for a second just to see if it would give the clutch tension and it did. I tried shiftin as well and it seemed to be shifting but it didnt feel like it used to. I havent tried ridin it because I still need to put the new chain on I was just wondering if this happened to anyone and if you think it will be ok once I replace the chain and rod or if something else could be wrong?

Also I have a 2004 gs500f.. that might help

Thanks!!!

[Dizzledan]

Definitely not a common problem. The only time your chain should come off of the rear sprocket is when you take it off to service the bike.

If it were me, I would take off the clutch side cover and check for bits of the pushrod that you missed. Its possible you could have tweaked the hole the pushrod goes through and that would make the clutch feel differently.

[gsJack]

A new pushrod should be adjusted properly.

The pushrod free play adjustment is often overlooked and usually needs adjustment at least once to get it working right.  I put 80k miles on my 97 GS and now have over 96k miles on my 02 GS both on the original oem clutches.  Got both bikes with too much pushrod free play and it had to be set properly to get the clutches working right.  I only set them once on each bike.

Properly adjust your clutch in all three places.  First turn in the thumbwheel adjustment at the clutch lever all the way and lock it.  Then loosen the locknut at the cable end going into the sprocket cover housing and turn it in a few turns to slack the cable.  Then take off that little 2 screw flange shaped cover on the sprocket housing and adjust the pushrod freeplay there.  Loosen the locknut and turn the screw in to touch the rod and back it off about 1/4 turn for proper clearance and lock down the locknut.  Then make final clutch freeplay adjustment at engine end of the cable.

Future occasional free play adjustment can then be made with the handle thumbwheel.

[Paulcet]

What Jack said.

And it has happened to others who neglected chain maintenance.

[jhead75]

Thank you all. I put the new chain on today as well as the pushrod. Basically what is going on is now the shifter moves and I can here things clicking in there and its shifting a little bit, possibly going between two gears, which two i am not sure. For example when I up shift I can here it click but then I can not shift up again the shifter just stays in the up position, when I push it down it clicks and just stays down. I am hoping the clutch push rod adjustment that you gave me instructions on is all that needs to be done. I will try this tomorrow and hopefully it works. Thanks Again!!!

[Dizzledan]

The shifter goes through the engine to the other side (clutch, right hand) to shift the gears. On that side, behind the clutch basket there is the shifting mechanism, complete with spring to return the lever to center position. Sounds like you may have knocked that loose too when the pushrod went.

Have you checked your oil for any metal shavings? If the pushrod did shatter and you didn't get all the pieces, I hate to think what that would do to your engine.

[jhead75]

The pushrod shattered into about 4 pieces, fortunately it broke before where it goes into the engine. I grabbed it and pulled it out so I am pretty confident that there is nothing in the engine since the spots where the pushrod broke were all outside the engine. As far as the spring, I am assuming that the engine would have to be taken off the bike and opened to fix? or is there a simpler way to access that area? also is it possible that it just needs adjustment as someone earlier said?