Clutch drag

Looking for ideas, theories or proven fixes here...

Clutch drag: When you pull in the clutch, the pressure plate separates from the clutch pack, but individual discs and friction plates want to stick together. This can make finding neutral extremely difficult, give you some growlies when forcing it into gear, and make shifting more difficult throughout the gears. Sometimes once you unstick everything and force the plates to spin separately it is fine, or may continue to have excess drag even once separated.

Currently in my 650 I have some annoying drag. This bike had sat forever, and once I got it running, still with the old oil, there was no clutch drag at all. Shifted beautifully. Then changed the oil, Rotella T4 15W40 because that's what I had on hand. I started experiencing drag soon after. Assuming the oil was too thick I did another change to Rotella 10W30, but sill have the same issues. Reduces a bit after the oil warms up, but doesn't go away.

I had this happen in my 550 previously after using a Lucas oil. After a change to Rotella 10W30 the problem went away.

My 1100 has some drag, and I can find scores of comments on the XS forum saying essentially "that's just the way all 1100's are"...ok, but why? It's still a clutch pack like every other bike. (New clutch pack including steels)

My 750 has some drag, not really enough to be annoying, but it actually increases after the oil warms up. There is no drag when the oil is cold. (New clutch pack including steels)

Oil too thick?
Wrong kind of oil?
Too full of oil?
Contaminated, rusted, warped plates?
Worn basket splines?
Improper cable adjustment?

Any drag on your bike? What kind of oil do you use?

 

I had loads of cold clutch drag, and worked around it, but when I replaced the clutch at the same time I did the top end, the drag disappeared.
The old clutch had done at least 80K, and while the springs were a bit knacked, it still gripped ok for the most part.
The new clutch hasn't been subjected to anything thicker than a 5W so far, though.

 

Dont ignore the consequences of an old stretchy cable..

 

Yes to the cable, you have to adjust it enough not to cause slip, which then doesn't give you enough engagement.
Also plates not flat or rusty, and then wear marks in the basket. Sometimes all these add up...