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i'm an idiot. i don't know much about bikes, but i thought that i could put new handlebars on my bike w/ out too much trouble. well, it turned out to be a lot of trouble.
it took two days of work for one thing and now my bike don't work.

problem 1) the clutch lever was pulling, and there was resistance, but it did not engage, the clutch would not work. messing with the adjustment screw did nothing. so then i squeeze it a few more times, there's a click and suddenly there's no resistance. it's still connected at the lever, does this mean i broke the cable?

problem 2) i filled it up w/ gas and started kick starting it. suddenly gas started pouring out of my carb tubes. did i just flood it? or something worse?

problem 3) my front brake works, but won't disengage, i have to push the lever back out to disengage the brake. messing w/ the adjustment screw did nothing.

unless i get some encouraging advice i think i'm going to have to take my bike to the shop to get it fixed. this also means i'll probably never attempt another bike project since i've never successfully completed one. i'd really like to be able to fix this myself but i'm scared i'll do more harm than aid.

thanks in advance for your help.

First of all, have a beer, a smoke and relax...... don't pack 'er in yet.

Your clutch cable probably wasn't seated properly, either at a ferrel or or where the sheath seats at one end or thr the other. Go back over it and makes sure everything is where it should be and connected, then re-adjust it.

You fuel overflow could be stuck floats or worn seats/needle valves. Try rapping on the offending unit with something fairly hard and heavy, but don't break anything. You just want to jar the floats loose..... If that don't work, open them up and inspect the needles and seats. Good time to clean the whole carb, if your so inclined.....

Front brake not returning/releasing...... hhhmmm. Not intimate with your model bike and too lazy to look it up. What kinda brake is it, drum or disc?

If it's a drum, there is some type of return spring on the shoes to pull them back after the binders are released. If it's a disc, then it sounds like something is sticking. A caliper piston or the master cyl. plunger, something like that. A fluid flush might help, or even a short ride with some braking might loosen them up.....

....but be careful..... and remember, you cain't sue me......

1. The clutch cable is connected to a lever in the case. If you pull the lever in the case too far, it goes past the end of the ramp that causes it to push the release lever. You need to loosen the adjkustment screw on the side case and return the lever back one "ramp"

Here is some info:



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2. The Gas is like Buzz explained, a stuck float valve.

3. Brakes: I assume Drum front brakes? You may have to clean everything. However, the lever is held by a pivot screw and locknut. Try loosening the locknut, then remove the screw, lubricate, reassemble, but don't overtighten. A tight pivot screw will cause the lever to bind.

thanks for the help guys. i'll give it another shot tomorrow. my carbs were just cleaned, so i think (hope) that nothing is sticking in there, and it was happening to both carbs. could i have just flooded it? do the carbs dump gas when flooded? it happened about every 30 seconds, gas would shoot out of the tubes for a couple seconds then stop. this happened for a couple minutes. until i turned the gas off.

also i've had a couple people tell me that the cables i've got won't work with my new lower clubman bars or that they need to be routed a specific way... any truth in that? that doesn't seem to make much sense to me.

thanks again

Gas should not shoot out of the tubes. You may have the float level too high.

Cables should be "loose". If they are routed too tightly, they will bind.

i didn't touch the carbs while changing the bars (obviously) so i can't figure out why they'd give me any trouble, could i have improperly hooked the gas tank back up?

Throttle cables run under the tank, you might have pinched them.