Clutch Adjustment and Missed Shifts

[skibum]

Went for a nice long ride yesterday and towards the end, I was really having a hard time with the 1-2, 2-3 upshifts.  As in, it just wouldn't shift out of the gear it was in........no neutral, just stayed where it was.  I've never had any problems before, in fact I don't recall ever missing a shift before.  FWIW, oil level is correct, it's only been about 500 miles since the last oil change (I use Golden Spectro), clutch free play at the lever is correct, clutch doesn't feel like it's slipping at all.  Also, I was riding with a bunch of friends who are, uh, SLOW.  So......I was short shifting and riding very conservatively so they could keep up.  Any ideas?

Note:  I did adjust the clutch at the engine after I got home but it's been raining since so I haven't had a chance for a test ride.  Anybody have any idea what Suzuki means when the say to, "adjust the screw until strong resistance is felt."?  "Strong" is a pretty subjective term.

[PitterB4]

LOL!  I remember wondering what the hell that meant too.  I was constantly messing with that adjustment trying to get it right.  It's been so long now I don't remember specifically what the issue was, though. 

[erik]

strong resistance occurs when you wind the screw in far enough to start pushing the clutch, if you keep winding it in, it'll make the clutch plates start to separate (same effect as when you squeeze the clutch lever).

Is the clutch dragging excessively? Is it hard to get into neutral when stopped? It could be the steel plates are warped, or the friction plates might have glazed or warped. I've had problems with my bandit clutch dragging in the past, I think it was the friction plates that caused it since when I replaced them it fixed it.
It's still a little bit sticky changing gears sometimes, but I think that's just normal.

[skibum]

Thanks for the responses guys.  Clutch doesn't seem to be dragging at all.  Finding neutral is not a problem.  I'm not so sure this is normal since until a few days ago it shifted perfectly.  I've got to believe that this is a clutch problem rather than a transmission problem though.  It seems to me that a tranny problem would manifest itself as missed shifts (as in hitting neutrals) or popping out of gear under a load.  Does that sound right?

As far as the adjustment goes, I backed the screw off like the book says then turned it in until it made contact with something, then backed of a quarter turn.  Not sure if "until it made contact" equals "until strong resistance is felt".  I'm not quite as fluent in Japlish as I used to be. 

[Banditmax]

It means do it up loosely with a screwdriver and dont use any real force to screw the screw in. Resistance means hardly any just so its pushing all the clutch parts to touch each other.

[gsxr400 racer]

I always turn it till it touches then back off a 1/4 turn

[Chris H]

Hi, hope you fixed the bike!!
If the problem persists and you have to take the RH cover off, give the clutch a good wobble to make sure it aint loose, as ive had mine come loose twice even after correct torching and this gave bad gears, especially 1-2/2-1 and no neutral when hot.

[skibum]

Very interesting.  Still haven't had a chance to test the clutch adjustment since the weather has been beyond crappy.  Hopefully later this week.  I'll keep everybody posted.  Thanks all for the input.