Vibrates, stiff clutch, runs bad

[Ralls]

I have a 97 Katana gsx600f with about 18K miles on it. There has been some issues with my bike that I have come to deal with, but it's so damn annoying after a few hours of riding around and I'm sick of it.

One of the issues is the god awful vibration. It's completely RPM related, not speed. It's more noticeable around 5,000-7,000rpm. Not as apparent for the first few hundred RPM or top end. The whole bike will rattle and hum from it. It's a very high pitched vibration like those arcade games that you hold onto the handles it vibrates extremely fast and stings your hands. That's what it feels like driving all the time.

The clutch is also annoying. It's really tight and hard to fully disengage the clutch. I've adjusted it from the handlebar adjuster a few times. Untreading the adjustment out makes it tight it's whole travel. And when its threaded in just makes it loose (and not even engage the clutch) half the travel and tight the rest of it's travel. It's tight enough tire my hand out by third gear so sometimes I'll just shift without using the clutch. I haven't rode another Katana before so I can't compare. I've only rode newer bikes like 2005+ Kawasaki's, Triumph's, and Yamaha's. I can pull those clutches with practically my pinkey finger, but those are also new bikes with new technology.

Lastly, it doesn't like to run good. It takes quite a while to fully warm up enough to not die on me from a stop. Once it fully warms up after about 10 minutes of driving it will idle and accelerate fine. For instance, I would stop somewhere for no more than 10-15 minutes and it will die on me unless I give it some RPM"S to warm it up again. I have it idling at 1,000rpm right now. I've messed with the idle screw so many times trying to get it to about 1,400rpm. I would make an adjustment (fully warm) and then go drive it for a little while and it would be off again. So I have just left it where it's at now.

I'm thinking of just having my local bike shop clean and tune the carburetor, replace the plugs and wires, do a valve adjustment, look at the clutch, and pinpoint the vibration. I could probably do most of the work myself considering I work on cars for a living, but I'm not very familiar with bikes or carburetors. Sorry for the really long post. I'm just hoping you guys could let me know if anything of this is normal for these bikes or typical issues. Any advice would be helpful, thanks.

[IndyGunner]

Carbs.... CLEANED, and synced. Also... drill the brass caps and tune the AF screws (idle)
Valves... TUNE THEM! Im expecting your intake valves are lose and the exhaust are too to tight... that would explain the vibrations (these bikes all vibrate somewhere though)
get new spark plugs if you havent
and make sure when they clean the carbs that they also clean the float bowls.

Do that and she should be perfect.

Also... if theres an RPM you dont like after you do the above (say highway cruising) maybe you should switch sprocket sizes so you can lower rpm at that same speed.

[Ralls]

Yeh I hoping a good tuneup will clear up most of the drivability and vibration problems.
Could it be running really lean? Because my front fender actually melted and was rubbing on my tire. I figured the exhaust got extremely hot from a lean condition and melted it.

I got the bike about 6K miles ago. I remember it vibrating then, but I wasn't sure if it was normal since it is my first bike. I bought it from a shady character so who knows it's history...

[scottynoface]

Ok, one piece at a time.

The Vibration: This is the annoying part. My 1993 600 was the exact same way. The vibrations in that range KILLED my hands. So much so that I could never drive between 70-80mph on the interstate (always went faster anyway, but slowing for traffic was painful). The best way to combat this would be to get some gel grips, get some heavier bar ends, and get your motor in top running with good synthetic oil and such. The valve train could likely use some attention, and the carbs being out of synch could also contribute to the vibration. Also, as Ed said, if you do a lot of highway cruising, you might want to consider a new gear ratio to put the buzzy rpms at a different speed.

Stiff clutch: Have you tried lubing or adjusting the cable? You've run the gammet on the fine adjustment, but there is also a coarse adjustment on the top of the sprocket cover (http://katriders.com/vb/showthread.php?t=64698) If following those directions doesn't help, you might just have to live with it.

Not running well: The only problem from what I can see you have is that you can't set the idle right? If so, it's possible you have either a vacuum leak somewhere or a dirty pilot jet. Clean the carbs and synch them, and pay special attention to the pilot circuit. It wouldn't hurt to pull the plugs and see what they look like

[md86]

Nice , kid : .
Yeah , the Katana is a one-finger cluthc pull if you ain't too girly (please don't kick my *** , ladies :worried: ....) , 2-finger at MOST . If it takes more , your cable has problems , and maybe the lifter mechanism under the sprocket cover .
It's a bike . It vibrates . Get used to it .
These ARE kinda slow to warm up . If it runs decent when warm and holds a good idle , deal with it . You COULD benefit from a carb clean MAYBE (but they're costly) , and possibly new plugs (easy enough to do yourself when you get the right tools) , but the coils/wires ain't like a car , i.e. they don't have a change interval . They're good until they're NOT . And getting another set will set you back a bit , too ...

[IndyGunner]

Ok guys... if he MELTED a fender then obviously something is wrong past "katanas just vibrate"

If I were you the first thing id do is change my oil. If your engine was that hot you MUST have some breakdown going on.

Now... why do engines run at super hot temps.... id say your running super lean.... now like we said these bikes vibrate, but if its so lean it can melt fairings, then it could be lean enough to dramatically effect how smooth your bike runs.

[rydethis]

This thread is misleading!!!

I'll kick your a$$ Matt... but in a good way

[Ralls]

Describing how tight the clutch is based on how many fingers I need to use is a good scale. Let me put it to you this way, I need all 4 fingers and I'm already worn out by the third shift. Sometimes at a light, I will lock my arm and just use my bodies weight to pull back without doing a gripping motion. I don't consider myself weak either. It's extremely easy to pull the clutch with 1 finger on new bikes.

The melting of the fender draws a red flag. I didn't notice if I bought the bike like that or it happened since I owned it.

I can deal with some vibration. I've dealt with it this long after numerous trips and cruises. But there is no way it vibrated this much from the factory. I can't imagine anyone buying a bike brand new that makes your hands numb after 20 minutes of riding.

[IndyGunner]

tune your bike like I said, if it still happens were be here to help.

[md86]

I didn't see the melted fender part .

[IndyGunner]

Ed 1 MD 0

[scottynoface]

I can't imagine anyone buying a bike brand new that makes your hands numb after 20 minutes of riding.

They don't. Your bike is 12 years old. My ninja is smooth as silk, but I paid a lot more for it than my Katana

[IndyGunner]

They don't. Your bike is 12 years old. My ninja is smooth as silk, but I paid a lot more for it than my Katana

While I 110% agree with scotty here (the katana is an 88? engine design... it cant compare to modern day FI bikes) I have to say that if your really experiencing THAT BAD of vibrations then it must be because your bike is drastically out of tune.

Once again.... I say... Go get it tuned, come back and post the results and ask anymore questions afterward.

[coggs]

Describing how tight the clutch is based on how many fingers I need to use is a good scale. Let me put it to you this way, I need all 4 fingers and I'm already worn out by the third shift. Sometimes at a light, I will lock my arm and just use my bodies weight to pull back without doing a gripping motion. I don't consider myself weak either. It's extremely easy to pull the clutch with 1 finger on new bikes.

The melting of the fender draws a red flag. I didn't notice if I bought the bike like that or it happened since I owned it.

I can deal with some vibration. I've dealt with it this long after numerous trips and cruises. But there is no way it vibrated this much from the factory. I can't imagine anyone buying a bike brand new that makes your hands numb after 20 minutes of riding.

Ref the heavy clutch - if the clutch is still v.heavy as you describe after lubing the cable and checking that the push mech inside the left cover is clean and working freely and the push rod is cleaned and lubed (these parts can get very s**tty from the chain) then I would suggest looking at the springs as you don't know the history of the bike. They may have been replaced with heavy duty types!!

Mine tends to vibrate most around the 80mph point but is smooth either side - so
Ditto previous posts - a good carb clean and balance, valve gap and a new set of plugs is desperately required and don't forget oil and filter - then your baby should purrr

[scottynoface]

I have to say that if your really experiencing THAT BAD of vibrations then it must be because your bike is drastically out of tune.

Yep, mine was out of synch, shouldn't have shaken as bad as it did, it was truly unbearable.