I'm revisiting the issue in hopes of getting wider audience.
Basically, the slack that should exist on the clutch lever - the one on the engine (not the squeeze lever), it doesn't exist.
I pushed that lever by hand about half an inch in and tightened the clamp there. That didn't work as the start kick just goes straight down without engaging. So the "solution" is to have that lever resting and removing the slack by turning the adjustment barrel. The clutch now engages about an inch and a half before the squeeze lever is fully open.
Any ideas what the reason is? Or how to fix this?
Unfortunately this is the only picture I took of the (initially frozen) clutch before I serviced it
