Last night it was around 45 degrees and one of my buddies had to pop the clutch to start my bike. I think the battery may at the end of it's life.
Anyways, he was trying to walk it in 1st gear with the clutch in, and told me it wasn't rolling smoothly. It rolls fine in neutral, so does that mean I'm in need of some sort of clutch or gear shift adjustment? The bike seems to drive fine though. Is this normal for the GS?
I shall attempt to diagnose your problem :)
It can be one of two things.
1. The clutch cable needs adjusting
2. The clutch actuator is worn.
1. is a simple fix, follow the clutch cable to the clutch side of the bike. There should be a place there to tighten the clutch cable. When you pull the clutch in does it pull the lever where the clutch cable attaches as far back as it will go. If no adjust the cable to make it tighter.
2. the clutch actuator being gone is harder, it is a cylinder housed just behind the clutch cover and is connected to the clutch cable on the outside of the bike, when the cable pulls on it it turns in its housing and disengages the clutch. It has a notch where the clutch rod sits, if this notch is worn then it means the actuator has to turn more to disengage the clutch giving the effect of the clutch cable being loose.
Check the cable first, if its not that then u need to drain the oil and remove clutch cover to check for wear on the actuator.
I did find this thread:
http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=37797.0
Folowing on from the above thread.............All bikes are hard to push like this, my clutch is spot-on but its still hard to push it in gear. Its totaly normal. If pushing it in gear with the clutch in is an effort the answer is simple.........just dont do it, there is no need. Test your clutch if you have any doubts, start up, get in first gear, hold the front and back brakes on, hold the revs at about 4k and gently let the clutch out, if there is a problem it will slip and the revs wont drop, if there is not a problem it will stall.....easy. Its also a good tip when buying a secondhand bike.
Thanks. My friends had me worried for a little bit that something was wrong.
clutch drag... it happens. If I start mine in gear w/ the clutch disengaged, it hops a little until it's warm. Wet clutches will do that. My four wheelers did it, my brothers bike does it... don't worry about it man.
If you are pushing it in first while the engine is shut off you will have a hard time, once the oil starts to cool down the clutch likes to grab. I haven't noticed much difference when its running but there is a slight drag when its in gear.
Quote from: ABSOLUTNATI on October 11, 2007, 06:45:11 AM
Last night it was around 45 degrees and one of my buddies had to pop the clutch to start my bike. I think the battery may at the end of it's life.
Anyways, he was trying to walk it in 1st gear with the clutch in, and told me it wasn't rolling smoothly. It rolls fine in neutral, so does that mean I'm in need of some sort of clutch or gear shift adjustment? The bike seems to drive fine though. Is this normal for the GS?
Ditto on the don't worry about it.
Also, did he try to jump start it in 1st gear. In my experience, that doesn't work.
Yeah, he had to do it in 2nd.