Levers and more!

Another week and another small project in the books for the XJR400. Little by little I have managed to squeeze in some time to wrench. When I bought the bike there was nothing major wrong with it. The engine just sings and the handling seems is about right for my size and weight. There are a few small things that I want to correct and improve to make the bike that much better. Follow along as I put the finishing touches on a project a few weeks old.

Back when I was in Oceanside, I had plenty of garage space and the ability to control the climate in it. Since I have gone backwards in my shop accommodations and am now working out of a small carport, I need to time my shop work with the weather. The weather here in Yokosuka has been hovering around the 45° to 50°F (7° to 10°C) most afternoons. The mornings are colder and there is rain occasionally. Nothing too detrimental to getting outside for a ride or to finish up a project. I am going to be improving the carport with motorcycle projects in mind by adding some outdoor storage and horizontal surfaces to make things a bit more convenient. For now I have to make do with what I have. Around these parts, what I have is considered a bit of a luxury.

The project I am covering this week is my levers. When I got the bike it came with these non-branded adjustable levers. While the adjustable reach on them is nice, they are not precision made items. The brake lever worked fine, but the clutch lever flopped annoyingly. Here you can see the between the top and bottom of the flop, there is a 30mm (inch and a quarter) jiggle. I removed the lever and did some checking. It looked as if the lever was undersized from the start. There were no shims in the assembly. I found replacement levers in the OEM style at the local bike shop and replaced both. There was an immediate improvement and the jiggle was reduced by half to 15mm. I tried to shim the lever by filing down a brass crush washer, but I couldn't get it thin enough to fit and not bind my clutch. On closer inspection it looked like the undersized adjustable levers had caused enough excessive play to wallow out the clutch perch. It got progressively worse over the years ending up with the super jiggly lever. I hopped onto Yahoo Auctions Japan and found an OEM replacement clutch perch for only about $15. Then I waited.

I bought the new clutch perch just before the winter New Year's break. Most of Japan shuts itself down for a week or more over the New Year's time period much like Christmas shuts down a lot of the United States. It is a time for families to travel and spend time with each other. People also get out and go skiing or do other winter sports during this time. My part was stuck waiting for the holiday to end and soon enough I had it in my hot little hands. To replace it, I had to remove the grip and left side switch assembly. I found this fun little surprise when I started getting things removed. Yuck, I hate grip glue. I never use it on any of my bikes. Even if I did I wouldn't use this much or put it on the switch gear. I don't have my air compressor, which is the tool I use most to remove stubborn grips so I used a bit of brake cleaner. I spent an extra 20 minutes or so getting the gunk off before reassembling the whole shebang. To keep my grips from slipping I use safety wire since I have safety wire pliers, but a bit of hair spray will work just as well to hold the grip in place.

Before you know, it I had everything back together and had also replaced the brake lever. The OEM style front brake is adjustable. I wish the clutch was as well as the reach is a touch too far for my liking. I like the OEM levers, I think they fit this style of bike better. After I was done I measured the jiggle and found that it was reduced down to about 4 or 5mm. I can reduce this even more with some shims. I haven't found any shim washers readily available, but I found some shim stock at the local hardware store. I used my feeler gauges to check the spacing and got 0.4mm as the right sized shim. I can get 0.3mm aluminum in a small sheet for about $3. I would need to get some hole punches, but I could use those anyway. I feel better knowing that the clutch is a bit tighter and doesn't flop around.

I wrote this right after another weekend ride out around the Miura Peninsula. I am starting to get the hang of the road system and how things flow around here. Since the geography is hilly and none of the roads follow a straight line for more than a kilometer or two, figuring out where one road begins and another ends can be challenging. I managed to get one spirited ride up a twisty road without other cars to slow me down. I did double the speed limit speeds and still only hit 50mph! I don't know how the liter bike guys do it around here. Anyway if the weather is on your side, get out and ride safe friends!

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