Indian 741 Clutch Help needed

[Jim M]

A friend bought a 741 in Davenport and the clutch apparently is grabbing since it feels like the engine is still engaged when you engage the clutch. It shifts but grinds as you shift. It was low on fluid in the clutch. He inspected the plates and they seem fine. I am by no means an Indian expert but am only trained on Harleys. Is there something obvious or does some one have an idea of why the clutch doesn't release. The lever coming out of the primary cover is moving from 10 o'clock to 2 o'clock when he has it conected up which he believes is correct. Help!

Jim
46 Knuckle, soon to be an indian expert

[AdminGuy]

Could someone help Jim here?

[inrustwetrust]

The plates are probably gummed up. Put in a King clutch or a clutch by Jerry Greer. They're about $125 and really work nice. They make the bike nice to ride and add life to the transmission. They're easy to do. If you take it apart with no help, make sure you have the adjusting screw for the primary chain backed all the way out. Then, back out the worm gear. To get the nuts back on, put the primary on backwards and tighten it down gently so you can start the nuts.

[inrustwetrust]

One other thing you can check quickly is that the rod length is adjusted correctly. Pull the cotter pin off the arm on the transmission. Pull the rod away from the arm and move the arm back to front . When the clutch is engaged (go position) there should be about a sixteenth to an eighth of an inch play before the arm hits the throwout bearing. An easy reference is adjust it so when the pedal is on the floorboard, the arm should go forward enough to have the rod cover almost half of the hole. Good luck!

[Jim M]

Thanks for the help. I will pass this on to Scott if he hasn't read it already. Since I did this post we had found that this is a common problem with the indian clutch. He changed out the oil that was in the clutch and is using automatic transmission fluid and it appears to have made a big improvement to the performance.

Jim M.