Vintage Dirt Bike Q & A

I recently bought a 75 125m. The engine needs to be rebuilt and I ordered a shop manual but have not gotten it yet. I am trying to remove the clutch side case. I removed all the screws and when I pry on the case it tries to come apart then snaps back into place. The clutch springs must be pulling it back into place. I removed the large screw in the center of the case and removed the adjuster, no help so I put it back in. I have tried tapping the case with a mallet and it wont budge! What am I missing? what is the trick to get the case off? The bike has been sitting several years but the engine turns freely and the clutch works. Thank-you
Mark

Mark,

The clutch actuator arm must still be in the side cover. If you haven't already, disconnect the clutch cable, and remove the round access cap on the side cover (I use a steel bracket I keep around for the purpose, placed lengthwise in the cap slot; even a giant screwdriver will mess up the cap). Then, remove the Philips-head screw directly below the actuator arm, rotate the actuator lever out, and lightly pull up on the arm while moving it back and forth slightly. At some point you'll feel the arm disengage and move upwards, and you can pull it up through the seal and out.

At this point the cover should come right off. If the gasket sticks to the side cover, there may still be quite a bit of oil trapped in the cover.

Ray

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'74 CR125M (175cc), '75 MR175, '82 RM250Z, '08 YZ250F, '14 Zero FX electric, '14 Zero MX electric, '18 Alta MXR electric

Yessir, that must be it. The arm is still in place. So I remove the small phillips head screw just under the actuator arm then rotate the arm and find the spot where it will come out? Is there only one stop where it will come out?

Mark,

The arm shaft has a sort of hooked peg that engages with the clutch throw-out bearing plate; you'll see it when the shaft comes out. This peg has to be disengaged from the plate, but not turned so far that it catches on the cover. There's a range of rotation that allows it to be removed, too far in one direction or the other and it won't come out. It's a good idea to become familiar with it, because you'll have to re-engage it when you put the cover back on and it's not always easy to do.

Ray

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'74 CR125M (175cc), '75 MR175, '82 RM250Z, '08 YZ250F, '14 Zero FX electric, '14 Zero MX electric, '18 Alta MXR electric

Can they be a bugger to get out? I removed the phillips screw and the arm rotates freely, I removed the adjuster screw under the big flat head screw in the center of the case and I can see the actuator shaft rotating and I can see an "ear"on it when I rotate it all the way out. I am pulling pretty hard thru the full range of motion and it does not want to budge.

Mark,

Yes, I remember having problems with it more than once. If you can rotate the arm away from the bearing plate you should be able to fiddle around and get the cover off, but that won't help you much when it's time to put the cover back on again. I remember using a magnet to pull the adjustment screw and bearing plate out so I could grab and align it with the arm peg once the cover went back on again, maybe that will help you pull the arm out as well. The bearing plate has to be at the correct angle (the flat spot on the bearing plate has to be pointing to around 10 o'clock) to allow the peg to engage.

Ray

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'74 CR125M (175cc), '75 MR175, '82 RM250Z, '08 YZ250F, '14 Zero FX electric, '14 Zero MX electric, '18 Alta MXR electric

I got it!!!!!! The problem was that I was trying to get the cover off without removing the arm (cmon shop manual) When I did that it applied pressure the arm. I noticed that it turned pretty hard. So I reinstalled the case bolts and pulled it back into place and presto.....the arm came right out! thanks for the help. I ordered a shop manual last week, I think that I will wait till it gets here b4 I go any further. Lucky I didn't break something.

'Thanks again
Mark

Mark,

OK, great - I figured the cover would come off quickly once the problem was known. Shop manuals are great - just the pictures alone are a big help.

Ray

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'74 CR125M (175cc), '75 MR175, '82 RM250Z, '08 YZ250F, '14 Zero FX electric, '14 Zero MX electric, '18 Alta MXR electric