Clutch not disengaging when in gear

1982 xj750...
I bought this bike as a project. IVE never had it running - but trying to get it going.
The bike had sat for at least one year... so i'm going off of everything just sitting for awhile...

Long story short, when you press in the clutch lever, and the transmission is in gear, it will not roll the rear wheel at all - up on the center stand it WILL but with serious force, and you can hear the engine try to turn as well.
i took a screwdriver and pulled the lever all the way up, same issue... toss it in neutral and it's fine...

i took the clutch cover off, drained the oil and took out the clutch plates and they all look fine... does this mean the clutch is out?

 

Have you checked the clutch cable adjustment and the clutch throw lever?

This thread might help: https://www.xjbikes.com/forums/threads/clutches-101-part-1-the-400-550-600s-with-pics.29541/

 

I did read that earlier to get my head around how an xj clutch works, just to make sure there weren't any oddities I was going to miss.
So even if I take a screw driver and pry all the way up so the clutch is fully out, I can only rock the tire back and forth a few inches and then I hear a click in the engine when it does stop.
Uploaded photos of the clutch engaged and how it looks when I manually do it, so i do get a good spacing. And I feel like it should let me manually move the tire, but it just clicks

 

Not an expert, but if the clutch swing arm was reinstalled/installed incorrectly, even moving it with a screwdriver may not completely disengage the clutch. I will let someone more knowledgeable take it from here.

Best wishes.

 

if the plates were stuck when you were trying to free them by rocking the bike back and forth, with the clutch pulled in, were you using 2nd or 3rd gear?
its much easier in the higher gears, than in first, a higher gear should free them, if the cable and throw out arm are correct

 

I took the clutch completely out and separated each one, so they should be okay id think? As far as them being stuck goes

 

Have a look at this. If the arm and case marks are not set right your clutch will not fully disengage.

https://xjbikes.com/forums/threads/xj750-clutch-question.84846/

 

kk, just tried that - from below (the part in quotes at the bottom) - on my arm piece, there is no dot... i found a small arrow though? but i did rotate it completely so it bottomed out and still had the issue... but i found something else that seems really odd.

is the spacing supposed to be THIS tight? (i didn't tighten down the springs/bolts and just noticed this) i can barely get a .5mm feeler gauge inbetween the wall and the clutch plate. i can't find any other close up pics of this area

 

Here is a photo from the Haynes manual of the clutch crankcase gap.




No it is the wrong photo the clutch in the photo has six bolts yours has five. Can you move the clutch basket from side to side or up and down? If your needle rolled bearing is worn the basket could be nearer the case. Also where your feeler gauge is with loose bolts the reading may not be accurate. To be sure though 750 owners can tell you better opinion @XJ550H and @Jetfixer have 750 Secas.

 

It's now officially working! I ended up squirting some carb cleaner through the discs while the pressure Plate was loose. Dumped some new oil again through everything and after a few tries with the screw driver, it started spinning while in gear with the "screw driver as a lever" to pull the clutch out... Took a few tries but I set the lever on the handle and was able to successfully release the clutch and spin the back wheel by hand...
I feel like this bike was rode hard and put away wet...

Anyway. With that good news... Here is that lever.. Unless I'm blind, I don't see the dot to line up with the line on the clutch case. Tried to line it up with that arrow and didn't work. But hey, at least it works! I'll take it

Although now I'm curious about my starter clutch... If this might cure that?

 

I thought there would be an alignment mark there. If you don't have a Haynes manual you should get one.