On a recent trip - two up - I encountered a of of traffic jams, particularly on uphill stretches. When I got to my destination I noticed a couple of inches free play on the clutch ever. Having had a similar problem some months ago I immediately assumed that the clutch retaining nut was loose. But when I returned after a coffee break all was well! I concluded that the clutch inserts had expanded with the constant clutch-slipping in the traffic and had pushed the clutch outer plate away from the thrust rod thus giving the excess play at the lever. I don't recall this happening when I used to ride into London very day in the ol' days so what is wrong? Do the inserts need renewing? Any suggestions welcome! George
Hi George. As also suggest…
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You know me so well, Les!…
You know me so well, Les! Yes, I recall your earlier comments but had locked them away as part of the loosening nut syndrome. I do indeed slip into neutral whenever possible. I think the problem on that run was the constant uphill traffic jams. Still at least I now know that it's not a fault with the clutch plates/inserts. Many thanks. G
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George has accused me of h…
George has accused me of hijacking his message (see message by George below but I was simply chatting with him about Norton Clutches !!!!) Easily solved though....I've just deleted it!
That'll teach me to be not to be so sociable.......Les
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Interesting Les. Never hap…
Interesting Les. Never happened to my ES2's. Nevertheless, a neat hijack!! 
G
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I wasn't being serious Le…
I wasn't being serious Les!How did you manage to delete it - just out of interest? G
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Hi George. As also suggested by me before, you need to remove the extra play as soon as it starts to appear by having a convenient cable adjuster on the lever end. This will help quench the thermal runaway which occurs when the dragging clutch generates more heat, the clutch plates expand and consequently drag more and so on. Perhaps too little chain-case oil might let the clutch heat more quickly too as the oil must create some cooling effect on the whole unit.
The Norton clutch and AMC ones too always exhibit this behavior so nothing unusual. It's best to be able to learn to select neutral at every opportunity and release the clutch, never hold the lever in more than a few seconds, so only use the clutch immediately you are going to move off and if you do need to go very slowly quickly adjust the cable gap out as said at the beginning of this reply, and obviously don't forget to readjust once things are on the move and the clutch cools....
I can honestly say when I rode a Norton 99 nearly 50 years ago in London the clutch used to drag terribly after a short while in traffic so nothing has changed.....you have probably just forgotten.....more likely though when you were younger you probably overtook everything and never followed slowly behind cars at 4MPH like you do nowadays?...
....Les