474kz Posted August 3, 2016 Share Posted August 3, 2016 Hello all, My first post, and great to be part of this forum. I have a question though, I've had an FJ-09 for about a year now and the transmission always seems to be a bit harder than I remember my older Kawasaki being - figured this was because the bike was new maybe? The bike has done approx 7000 kms and had its oil n filter changed around 4500kms - Yamalube 10w40. Anyway, came back home today and had the bike on the center stand and was giving it a clean, thought I'd clean the chain and relube it. Didnt want to go out in the cold to get the chain warm, so figured I'd put the bike on the stand and let the engine and chain run for a bit, stop the lot and then clean the chain. So started the bike and put it into first and found the rear wheel moving even with the clutch lever pulled in all the way.. have I broken my bike for it to do this? I put it in neutral and the rear wheel slowed down and came to a stop which I'd expect, but was expecting the rear wheel to stop when in first gear and the clutch pulled in all the way. With the clutch pulled in the rear wheel moves faster than I can stop it with my foot / hand, and goes faster with the clutch released. For what its worth I use the bike to commute to work only, no race type riding - the bike rarely sees rpm's above 4-5k, mostly sits around 3k. I've had a look at the clutch freeplay and possibly have no idea what Im doing there - it appears normal to me - about 12mm ish on the ball end of the lever, and about 3 turns in on the adjuster thing, and on the engine side about 2 turns in. Has anyone else come across this issue and if so how did you fix it? I'd really appreciate any help with this - apart from this one annoyance with the clutch I honestly think this is just about the perfect bike. Thanks Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buggy Nate Posted August 3, 2016 Share Posted August 3, 2016 Perfectly normal behaviour mate. Nothing to worry about, this exact question pops up on motorcycle boards everywhere. There is always some drag due to oil and friction on the plates even when fully disengaged. I'd start to worry if it is creeping when in first with the clutch in and the bike on the ground. Otherwise enjoy your bike! But i'd like my free play to be a bit less than that too, but make sure there is freeplay across the whole steering range. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
474kz Posted August 3, 2016 Author Share Posted August 3, 2016 Thanks @vduboy. Thats good to hear. It doesnt appear to creep forward when at the lights or anything and I've got the clutch pulled in, but was completely baffled when the wheel kept spinning on the stand. To adjust the freeplay would this be the correct order? - adjust at the perch till all the way in (no threads showing) - adjust at the engine side till I have maybe 5 mm of play on the ball end of the lever? Is 5mm too little? Appreciate the help. Should I be changing the oil n filter this weekend to full synthetic as well just to be on the safe side? Was planning on doing it closer to the 10k mark when its due, couldnt hurt to get it done before I suppose Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocky5000100 Posted August 3, 2016 Share Posted August 3, 2016 Yes, as vduboy said, this is perfectly normal on most sportbikes. Also, please DO NOT CLEAN YOUR CHAIN WITH THE BIKE ON AND IN GEAR. Not unless you want this to happen: http://bit.ly/2aN8jgv Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
474kz Posted August 3, 2016 Author Share Posted August 3, 2016 Yes, as vduboy said, this is perfectly normal on most sportbikes. Also, please DO NOT CLEAN YOUR CHAIN WITH THE BIKE ON AND IN GEAR. Not unless you want this to happen: http://bit.ly/2aN8jgv Yup, @rocky, Im definitely not attempting anything like that. Should have been clearer - I had the engine was on and running in gear just to warm the chain up - didnt really want to get out and ride in the cold for a bit so figured I'd let the engine run with it on the stand. Then turn it all off and do the chain maintainence Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skipperT Posted August 3, 2016 Share Posted August 3, 2016 Thanks @vduboy. Thats good to hear. It doesnt appear to creep forward when at the lights or anything and I've got the clutch pulled in, but was completely baffled when the wheel kept spinning on the stand. To adjust the freeplay would this be the correct order? - adjust at the perch till all the way in (no threads showing) - adjust at the engine side till I have maybe 5 mm of play on the ball end of the lever? Is 5mm too little? Appreciate the help. Should I be changing the oil n filter this weekend to full synthetic as well just to be on the safe side? Was planning on doing it closer to the 10k mark when its due, couldnt hurt to get it done before I suppose Just adjust at the perch until you have 10-15mm of free play, when measured at the lever end. Or the thickness of a quarter at the pivot point. Best to do this with the engine cold. Don't worry about the cable on the RH lower side of the engine. That is for major adjustments when you can't dial it it at the lever side. Skip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocky5000100 Posted August 3, 2016 Share Posted August 3, 2016 Yes, as vduboy said, this is perfectly normal on most sportbikes. Also, please DO NOT CLEAN YOUR CHAIN WITH THE BIKE ON AND IN GEAR. Not unless you want this to happen: Yup, @rocky, Im definitely not attempting anything like that. Should have been clearer - I had the engine was on and running in gear just to warm the chain up - didnt really want to get out and ride in the cold for a bit so figured I'd let the engine run with it on the stand. Then turn it all off and do the chain maintainenceAh okay, good to hear! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
474kz Posted August 4, 2016 Author Share Posted August 4, 2016 Righty, sounds good. I've not done much to the clutch adjustment because it seems in spec. On a side note, I put the bike on the stand and did the same when the bike was warm - just after I rode home from work, so coolant temp was about 90C, and it did the same thing - rear wheel spun with the clutch pulled in - 'seemed' a bit slower compared to when the oil was cold from yesterday, but not slow enough that I could stop with my boot. Is this normal too or sound like I should get it checked? Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supporting Member texscottyd Posted January 20, 2019 Supporting Member Share Posted January 20, 2019 Damn @piotrek... seven preemptive likes! That has to be some sort of record. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koth442 Posted January 20, 2019 Share Posted January 20, 2019 49 minutes ago, piotrek said: I'll just tack on to this thread with my recent (yesterday) experience, relevant or not. After putting the bike together, I hopped on to make vroom-vroom sounds, and then threw the thing into gear for the first time since say November (engine off). To my surprise, the clutch seemed like it was dragging with the lever pulled in. I could force the bike to move, but it was a chore. I replaced the clutch lever, but have done nothing else that could explain why the clutch seems to be dragging. I am going to patiently wait for spring to see if this is just going to go away on its own once I run the bike. I spent a few days trying to diagnose the same issue on an old dirt bike. The back tire would drag across the ground when the motor was off and the clutch was pulled it. Couldn't get it to spin. I never found anything wrong despite taking the clutch basket / plates out. So I started her up and there wasn't any clutch drag. Guess it was just normal. Hope you're in a similar situation. '15 FJ09 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skipperT Posted January 23, 2019 Share Posted January 23, 2019 On 1/20/2019 at 10:59 AM, piotrek said: I'll just tack on to this thread with my recent (yesterday) experience, relevant or not. After putting the bike together, I hopped on to make vroom-vroom sounds, and then threw the thing into gear for the first time since say November (engine off). To my surprise, the clutch seemed like it was dragging with the lever pulled in. I could force the bike to move, but it was a chore. I replaced the clutch lever, but have done nothing else that could explain why the clutch seems to be dragging. I am going to patiently wait for spring to see if this is just going to go away on its own once I run the bike. Sometimes this happens after not running the engine for awhile because the oil drains off the friction plates in the clutch, which causes it to drag more than it should. Especially if it's been on the side stand. Get it hot and take it for a ride and see if it's still a problem. Otherwise if it doesn't free up, you'll need to remove all the plates and soak them in oil for an hour or so, then re-install. If you're pushing the bike around in the garage IN GEAR with the clutch lever pulled in and engine off and it's difficult, yes I would say that's normal behavior too. The clutch is adjusted correctly I assume? 10-15 mm freeplay measured at the lever end, wheels straight, engine cold? -Skip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
new1709rider Posted February 8, 2019 Share Posted February 8, 2019 I recently had difficulty pushing my bike around in the car port. It didn't matter if it was in neutral or in gear with the clutch lever pulled in, it just didn't want to roll without a lot of effort! Found out I had a slow leak in the rear tire, it was down to about 15 psi. It was amazing the difference in rolling effort between that and full tire pressure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skipperT Posted February 10, 2019 Share Posted February 10, 2019 On 2/8/2019 at 1:04 AM, new1709rider said: I recently had difficulty pushing my bike around in the car port. It didn't matter if it was in neutral or in gear with the clutch lever pulled in, it just didn't want to roll without a lot of effort! Found out I had a slow leak in the rear tire, it was down to about 15 psi. It was amazing the difference in rolling effort between that and full tire pressure. Yeppers. Big difference. Now imagine that same under-inflated tire while cornering or braking! There are SO MANY riders out there who never check their tire pressures. Blows my mind. -Skip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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