clutch lever play/fade

[tt_four]

to blue your clutch plates they would have had to have reached a temperature of between 560degrees to 640 degrees fahreheit inside your clutch basket which tells me your clutch is not running as free as you think it is.

I have no idea how hot this would make them, so I don't know that it's really part of the problem, but I'd imagine if a clutch cable was pulled too tight, and you spent months riding around with a slight amount of tension on the clutch cable, it would cause constant slipping and heat the up more. I hate that tiny bit of free play in the clutch cable, and always wish I could tighten it up right to the point of contact, but there's some things you just have to live with.

As far as neutral at lights, I do it all the time. I live in the city, and unless I leave town, I could spend half of my ride at redlights. I never just pull up to an intersection and pop it into neutral without thinking about it, but I will put it in neutral and keep an eye on my mirror until a car is pulling up behind me to make sure they're stopping properly, or else if it's a busier time and you're just moving light to light, as soon as you stop at a light you'll have 4 cars behind you and you don't really have to worry about the rear ending chain effect, as a 20mph car isn't going to be able to bump that many cars along. Streets are also tight enough that there isn't really a chance of a car shooting sideways and hitting you as it would be physically impossible for them to cut through the corner of a building, plow through a parallel parked car, and still get to you.

I still agree with what they teach you, but I know that with the riding experience I have, there are times I know it's safe to put it in neutral and a safety instructor isn't going to stand in front of a class and say "never put it in neutral, unless this happens.... this is going on.... or you're in this certain situation....", they're just gonna say no because there are more important things to focus on when someone is trying to learn. If I try to leave town out right after work for a nice ride I end up on a long downhill with cars stopped for probably 2-3 full city blocks, and it's a guarantee that you're gonna sit and watch the light go green and back to red more than 4 or 5 times, and there's no chance I'm gonna sit there with my hand on the clutch for 15 minutes as I'm sitting there in the sun in full gear now soaked in sweat. I pop it in neutral, unzip my jacket, keep my foot on the rear brake, and just let myself move up 5 feet at a time with the help of gravity. Sometimes I even shut the bike off and just start it when I get back to the bottom of the hill by the light.

[twinrat]

you got it TT four I just didnt want to give a long winded explanation of something that you get from experiance.     cheers

[Twisted]

Took it for a good 100mph 50 mile ragging last night.    Was a bit weird at first, clutch cooked a bit and acted up at 90ish. pulled over, readjusted by slacking it off slightly, i reckon i got it perfec now. Didn't play up at all and i went nuts on the poor girl. 

Good to hear you got it sorted. As long as you keep the oil up to her she can handle a good thrashing.

[mysterious_rider]

Okay well an update. 

Last night went for a run, had to adjust cable (slacken), was literally biting at the end.  So anyway im riding along, eventually the clutch lever gets too slack so again, (probs an hour of riding) I readjust cable to tighten it. Ride home. This morning I ride to work, all seems okay, bits a bit at the end but not too bad.... After work, ride home, some pretty bad rattling going on and its biting right at the end. So I slacken the cable. Thing is, after a while it will get too slack and ill have to re adjust again so its tighter. Why???

Going to open it BACK up tomorrow, and check the friction plates. I reckon they got burnt out while I was riding around with the clutch push rod overadjusted slightly. 
Also replacing all the metal plates.