Hi brains, I'm having an issue in 3rd. Sometimes, it feels as though I'm still letting the clutch out while accelerating when I've already fully released the clutch. I don't get this problem in 1st or 2nd and might of felt it once in 4th. Bit of a pain because the power seems at the whim of when it want to fully engage. Is this a clutch cable or plate issue.. or something far worse?
I'd start with one of two things:
1. the "three-point" (is that what they call it?) clutch adjustment, which involves adjusting at the clutch under the cover as well as at the lever.
2. your choice of oil. For example, when I use Rotella 15W40 non-synthetic, my bike does this. The 15W40 full synthetic does not do this. 5W40 probably wouldn't do it either. Or a proper 4T oil like Castrol Power-1 10W40 like I use in my Triumph.
Could also be worn clutch, but these other things are like 100x more likely. Still, clutches do wear.
Thanks for your help 72.
I opened it up. Thought I'd clean the clutch and put some better oil in. When I inspected the plates they didn't look too bad, without a precision measuring device you could not tell the difference between the new plates I had and the old ones I'd cleaned. I put the new ones in anyway since they're quite cheap on eBay. Filled with some of the old oil I had and 3L of Silkolene 10w40.
First thing I noticed was clutch is so much smoother and easier to move in and out of gears. As for my 3rd gear problem I haven't been able to replicate it yet so I'm putting it down to plates sticking due to residual bad old oil. But it's possibly the premium oil used that fixed the problem too.