How To Adjust A Clutch On A Yamaha V Star

2003 Yamaha V Star XVS1100

Welcome to The Masterlink! Today we will be discussing how to adjust the clutch on your Yamaha V Star 1100. My scoot is a 2003 Classic model, and while much of this will be specific to this bike, a lot of it will also apply to other motorcycles. So let's jump right in.

First, we need to lift the bike in order to be able to move the side stand out of the way for this job. In order to complete this task I actually made a lift myself for less than $20 and 15 minutes of my time. You can check our Mods, Mutants, & MoneyMakers blog for information on how to build this lift for yourself. That will be a future post over there. Here is a picture of the lift in action.

Now that we have the bike lifted it is time to get to work. This whole project takes about 20 minutes once you know the procedure.

First we need to adjust the handlebar adjustment for the clutch all the way in to set handle free play as loose as possible. To do this, just loosen the lock collar and twist the threaded end of the cable in a clockwise direction until it is seated against the clutch handle bracket.

Next we move to the lower left side covers. The two covers we need to remove are the ones near the rear wheel at the bottom of the frame. You will need a set of Allen wrenches to complete this part of the job. Loosen the bolts on the larger of the two covers, but remember you do not need to take out the top 2 bolts. They are not attached to the frame.

Note that you will have to move the side stand to the downward position to get to the bottom bolt in the middle. For the bottom bolt nearest the front of the bike, the side stand safety switch is directly in the way of getting to this area. You can either remove the switch, or simply depress the button that activates it and hold it out of the way. I chose not to remove the switch...this added a little frustration to the job but I was still able to remove the bolt.

Now remove the bolts in the smaller cover that was held in place by the rear cover. This will expose your clutch adjustment screws and the lower end of the clutch cable. As you can see in the pictures, this compartment had a little dirt and grime in it. A rag with a little carburetor cleaner sprayed on it wiped this clean in just a few seconds. Do not spray the cleaner directly into the compartment.

Use a 12mm box end wrench to loosen the nut on the clutch adjuster. No need to remove it, just loosen about 1/2 turn or so.

Now that the nut is loose we can actually adjust the clutch. Use a Phillips head screwdriver to rotate the screw in the center of the nut. Yamaha recommends turning the screw to the right, just until it feels like it makes contact. They say to then back it out 1/4 of a turn. I had to back mine out about 3/4 of a turn to get the contact I desired, because the previous owner apparently spent a lot of time riding his clutch.

Once you have the screw set where you feel it needs to be, place your box end wrench back on the nut, and then hold your screwdriver tightly against the screw. Hold the screw still while using the wrench to tighten the nut. This prevents the screw from being moved while you tighten the nut.

Now move back to the handlebar and tighten the free play in the handle to take up any slack in the cable. You will want to test your clutch to be sure it is adjusted properly. I left my scoot on the lift for this step, but it is safer to take it down.

Start the bike in neutral, and shift into 1st gear keeping the clutch depressed. If your bike is still on the lift, the rear wheel may be turning. Add pressure to the rear brake and then release it to see if the wheel starts turning again. If it does, you need to tighten the set screw a little bit more. If it doesn't, slowly let out on the clutch lever. Watch for the wheel to begin to rotate and take note of the clutch lever position. You may need to alter your adjustment a couple of times to get it perfect, but this task is fairly simple.

Put your side covers back on, take the bike off the lift and go get some wind therapy.

There you have it! Now you know how to adjust the clutch on your Yamaha V Star 1100!

Be sure to check out our Facebook group, the XCIX %ers, as well as our website here. Comment and share this post with your friends so they can learn too!