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I have an old (1976) Honda XL175 that is a great bike except for one thing.

When it is cold, everything is fine, but when it is hot, after riding for half an hour or so, the clutch starts to act up.

I squeeze in the handle, shift, then when I let out the handle, the handle goes back out but it is like the cable does not let off. It is like I am still sqeezing the handle, so I sit there like I am in neutral.

My first thought was the springs are gone, but this only occurs when the bike is hot. If it were the springs the problem would occur all the time ( at least I think so )

If anyone has any ideas as to what ight cause this to happen I would sure appreciate some help.

Thanks, Max

First of all make sure that the cable is clean and lubed.

I thought of the cable, but again, if it was the cable that was faulty, wouldn't the problem be there all the time?

My thought is because it is only after the engine gets hot, it must be something internal.

I only got the bike a few months back so I don't know much about the service history. I do know that the first time it happened I thought it was the cable, and the Honda dealer said they can not get them anymore from Honda. I would have to have one made up.

Lube the cable, you should do that once a month or so anyways as part of regular maintance. When is the last time the oil was changed? Could be time. Maybe.

Or your springs could be weak enough that they lose tension when hot, or the plates could be worn or glazed. I would be looking at the clutch plates pretty hard before deciding what to do next.

That is typical of worn clutch plates. Need to open it up and inspect them. Clutch plates usually have grooves in them (radial(. When you are worn down that you can't make out the grooves they are in need of replacement. Wouldn't hurt to replace the springs too, they tire out over time.

Have you checked that the cable is adjusted properly?? Make sure that it is not keeping the clutch pack from totaling engaging. If the cable is too tight it will cause the clutch to slip. Just something simple to check before pulling clutch off. Hope it helps.

Well, took it all apart, it all looked to be in pretty good condition inside, which it should be. Even though the bike is almost 30 yrs old, it has less than 2000 miles on the odometer.

Put it all back together, put a little stronger spring on the end of the cable on the inside of the engine, and used the Castrol Grand Prix instead of just plain old 10/40.

That seems to have done the trick, rode for over an hour and the clutch didn't crash on me.

Not sure what it was that worked, but thanks to all for the replies.

Max