clutch gone !

[bigpants]

Hi folks , its been 3 years since my last confession and i been a naughty boy. Ive been riding a honda.
The 1100 sporti got put away because of lots of problems , mostly electrical but also an ever slackening clutch cable.
But the honda just got too boring so ive fitted a new loom to the guzzi and cured all the electrical problems . I took it out for a ride yesterday and fell completely in love with it again but after about 30 miles the soft and slack clutch suddenly went hard and on the next pull stopped working , not totally but enough to not be able to ride it. I replaced the thrust bearing behind the lever just before the bike went into early retirement and had to space it with half the failed bearing , at the time it seemed the long rod behind was running free but I could have been wrong and of course all the adjusters had been maxed out. So I reckon im looking at replacing the clutch , Im on a tight budget so will have to consider doing this myself .
So the question is what parts (and at what cost) do you think Ill be needing and how difficult a job is it ?
As usual all help gratefully received .

[acogoff]

     I would try the mineral spirits in the bellhousing trick before I tore into it, just for grins.

[bigpants]

im not sure what the 'trick' is but "just for grins" sounds like i wont like whatever i find.

[Tom]

Cleaning and flushing the clutch area might help.  There are 3 areas for cable adjustments.  Hope you have done all 3.  How much mileage on the bike?

[bigpants]

now you make me think of it the locknut adjuster at the back of the engine was maxed out but after fitting the new bearing i did reset it so that will be worth a look but im not hopefull because this has been a long standing , ever worsening problem. Mileage is unknown but approximatly 50000 miles.

[Aaron D.]

After you check the adjustments and that the thrust bearing at the back is in place, and you have verified the cable is not giving up (most likely cause of soft slack clutch lever) I'd expect the place to look will be the plates. Itsounds like something has come off.

Cleaning the plates with spirits won't do anything if by soft and slack you refer to the lever. If you refer to the engagement action of the clutch it may help, but if oil is on the linings it will eventually return-any gear oil droppings under the bike?

[bigpants]

No theres no oil leakage but its becoming apparant that after breaking down ive assumed the worst without actually checking the basics. I think the first thing I need to do is get back to the bike with a few tools and confirm all is as I think it is. I cant get back to it till next friday so in the meantime feel free to offer any advice. This bike is getting back on the road where it belongs.

[Chuck in Indiana]

Somewhere around $250 and a weekend's labor, and it'll be like new.

[bigpants]

thanx Chuck.
succinct and to the point.

[Tom]

The good think is that it's a Sporti and not a Cali based bike.  Half the work is already done just the it is.  ;-T