T500 1970 short ? clutch pushrod

[AndreasT500s]

Hi all, I recently checked the clutch pushrod on my 1970 T500 (eng. # 29162) because the clutch did not pull as smoothly as it should.
Greased the actuator in the left cover and found the pushrod had some wear on both ends. It is short, at just short of ca. 750mm.
The pushrods on both my spare engines with #'s 44421 and 61647 are much longer at 138.6mm. I put it down to them being from later T500s, but: the parts catalog/micro-fiches only show one part number for all years 23111-15001, and as I found out when I got an NOS from ebay, that is the long version.
Any T500 wizard know what is going on in my 1970'ies clutch? And which model Suzuki uses the short push rod?
Thanks,
Andreas
---------
"Nothing is fool-proof for a sufficiently talented fool"

[Coyote]

Have you checked for cable bind? Too bad these old bike manuals don't have a cable routing section. I have a 78 GS1000 and a real service manual. It shows the correct routing for all cables and hoses. Too bad all manuals aren't that way.

[AndreasT500s]

thanks, the cable is ok and greasing the actuator helped, but the pushrod has waer-grooves on both ends and should be replaced.
I am really just trying to find out why I have a different than stock pushrod assembly and which model Suzuki it is from, so I can just replace the short one and dont have to open the clutch to replace both.
Andreas

[Coyote]

By comparison, how short is it (she asked the same damn thing). I mean the one you have compared to a new one. The rods are soft with flame hardened tips. Is it possible you have worn through the hardening and it's wearing quickly? I would think if the heat treat was gone, the ends would start to mushroom.

[AndreasT500s]

see original post: the one I pulled from my 1970 machine is: "ca. 750mm.
The pushrods on both my spare engines with #'s 44421 and 61647 are much longer at 138.6mm. I put it down to them being from later T500s, but: the parts catalog/micro-fiches only show one part number for all years 23111-15001"

So somebody put a different combination of pushrods in during the long life of this T500.
The pushrod 23111-15001 is listed as L:138.5 on the microfiches e.g. this one:
http://www.motosport.com/motorcycle/oem ... 0_2/CLUTCH" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
They show just one pushrod.
But there must be an assembly with two parts, I just have not figured out which bike.
Can anybody help?
Andreas

[diamondj]

"ca. 750mm. - are much longer at 138.6mm.

Hey Andreas - not familiar with this numerical notation. Can you advise what "ca. 750mm means as a straight measure in MM?

The earlier T500s had a two piece clutch pushrod. They must be installed flat surface to flat surface to work correctly. The ends are slightly rounded and hardened.

Jim

[AndreasT500s]

sorry, my mistake it's 75mm or just under 3 inches long, not 750mm

[diamondj]

sorry, my mistake it's 75mm or just under 3 inches long, not 750mm

Got it - so it is a two piece push rod. I'll skim through my parts books tonight and see if I can get an idea of the year they changed it. As I mentioned earlier - it's important to have the two flat ends of the half-rods against each other. The rounded ends go to the outside of the engine. They don't work right (or at all) if mixed up.

Jim

[titan performance]

I have stripped of few of these motors and never seen mismatched rods. I do recall back in my poverty days, suffering with heavy or rough clutch operation, which I'm sure I reduced, (rightly or wrongly), by smoothing down the wear ridges on the push rod.