bike wont go into neutral while running

[nemethjames1]

friends 95 600 goes from first gear, to neutral just fine with engine off.... with engine running at any rpm, or idle, it will go from first gear to second... anyone know whats wrong? i know in my kawi, it has little bearings that locate neuatral.. any advice would be greatly appreciated

[The CyberPoet]

Re: bike wont go into neutral while running

friends 95 600 goes from first gear, to neutral just fine with engine off.... with engine running at any rpm, or idle, it will go from first gear to second... anyone know whats wrong? i know in my kawi, it has little bearings that locate neuatral.. any advice would be greatly appreciated

(A) The Kawa has a "Positive Neutral Finder" that works differently than any other brand's tranny.

(B) On the Suzuki's (including the Kat), you should be able to find neutral from 1st (up) and from 2nd (down) with the bike running. Put the bike on a center stand, start it, and in 1st with the clutch in, tap up on the shifter lightly. This should take you straight to neutral. I have heard of many cases of being unable to fully engage 2nd from 1st, but never of not finding neutral.

(C) Both kinds of bikes (Suzuki's and Kawasaki's) use a rotator drum mechanism that rotates the shift forks. If the shift forks are bent, or the rotator drum isn't working right, in theory it could miss it (but the design is unlikely to do a 1st-2nd shift while missing N) -- far more likely is the neutral sensor isn't working right (such as a grounding issue when the bike is running), so when you find neutral, you aren't aware of it.

Check it again more closely and let us know.
Cheers
=-= The CyberPoet

[md86]

Does it get hard when it's cold only or all the time ? Once I snick it into first while it's still cold , neutral is nearly impossibly to find again .

[loudnlow7484]

I very seldom get neutral from first.... it almost always goes into second. I find it much easier to get neutral down from second. My shift linkage was also real loose for a while, which made it feel funny, and made finding neutral even harder.

[chriskatana]

sounds like the clutch is not disengaging all the way causing tension in the tranny, which (like when it cold) makes it hard to get into neutral from 1st or 2nd gear

[nemethjames1]

well, it happens everytime, and even when its hot... im sitting at a stoplight... in first gear, kick it up once, and let out the clutch, and its for sure in second.. never thought about going from second to N... i'll give that a try next time im over there

[Dogs&Kats]

sounds like the clutch is not disengaging all the way causing tension in the tranny, which (like when it cold) makes it hard to get into neutral from 1st or 2nd gear

It happened to me the first two or three days riding the Kat. Stupid, but the clutch was not disengaging because of the lever adjustement. Just a couple of turns to the locknut and adjusting barrel, and problem fixed. Simple, but very important.

[ThAzKat]

Ditto Dog!! clutch is too tight, adjust and that should do the trick. when you put the bike on the center stand while running put it in neutral and if the tire still spins the clutch adjustment is too tight.

[dogodell]

I know this post is 2 years old but im having the exact same problems so i wanted to see if anyone would find it here before i wrote the ? as another post.

my pre 98 kat also will not shift into neutral when running shifts fine when off.

I did as you guys suggested and let off the tension on the clutch cable which did work and I can now shift into n. However I have a few inches of free play in the clutch when I get to a point that its easy to shift bike also lurches pretty good when initially shifting into first with things adjusted this way.
A few turns on the find adj on the clutch handle and its once again impossible to shift

Im guessing I need to completely readjust the clutch and start from there. Which way do I need to go with the small adj screw (the one under the rubber cover) to fix the above problem.

I have tried following the instructions in the Haynes manual to adj and ended up with the exact same problem again

Do i need a new clutch cable or am I missing something when I do the adjustment???

[Black_peter]

Do i need a new clutch cable or am I missing something when I do the adjustment???

There is a how to on this I think, done by one of our veterans.
Follow it carefully and you will have a properly set up clutch.
Any problems after following the instructions exactly, you need new parts!

[md86]

The bike WILL lurch a bit when shifting into first at a stop , ESPECIALLY when the bike's cold . Look up the how-to Petey suggested and adjust it like that . Should clear everything up .

[dogodell]

thanks
I found the how to your talking about ill see how that works. For the most part it seems to be pretty similar to what is written in the Haynes manual.

Ill let you know how it goes tomorrow