I bought a 1992 Suzuki LT230E from some guy on Facebook, and it came in about 400 ziplock bags of parts. I put it together and fired it up, and the engine sounds great, however, when I try to shift into first gear it pops into gear, lurches forward, and dies, all in an instant. My assumption is that something in the clutch housing is over tightened, but I don't know enough about these friction plate clutches. I can shift into all the gears, except reverse, that is froze up. The clutch was still in the basket, in the proper order when I got it, so I just threw it in, threw on the springs, and tightened the 4 bolts, so I am not sure what I did wrong. Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

You are looking at the wrong clutch. The centrifugal clutch lets the engine freewheel when at idle and takes up the drive once you rev the bike. Most common fault if you have had that clutch to pieces is to fit the one way clutch in the centrifugal, the wrong way round. To test, roll the bike forwards, engine off, in 1st gear, engine should be trying to turn over. Roll backwards and it should freewheel.

 

Ahhhhh, thank you. I will give that a shot today. Much appreciated.

 

Just gave your test a go. Spun freely in first going forward, and locked up going backwards. Thank you, sir. You are a gentlemen and a scholar.