The clutch on my 2000 GSXR 750-Y, same as K1 - K3 in most respects, has been driving me nuts.
When I bought the bike the clutch was a bit stiffer than I was used to but I looked up a few forums and folk said this was pretty normal. After a while I realised it was getting stiffer and stiffer until it reached the point of feeling like one of those sprung hand exercisers when operating. I noticed too that it got stiffer and the lever had much less travel after about 20 mins riding so…
Removed cable, checked routing and adjusted re-installed as per manual instructions. Zero difference. Changed cable and installed new lubed up one. Zero difference.Pulled apart and cleaned inside sprocket cover. Zero difference.Installed different sprocket cover inc. lubed up clutch slave mechanism thingybob. Zero difference.Installed new clutch springs. Ditto.Installed new clutch friction plates. You guessed it!!!
After spending more time with my ear to the bike I did notice that there is a bit of a creak from the slave mech but imagine this down to the extra strain being put on iot from wherever the issue lies.
It’s getting increasingly expensive and time consuming now, those nights in my pals garage are beginning to lose their fun too as we are at a a loss as to where to go next!
The only thing that i can think of is the lever itself , have you overtightned the pinch bolt on the lever , there should be a little slack , and you can also check the pivot bush(normally brass) where the bolt goes through , might be worn , lube up the lever pivot point also .
That is what I got called when I had the same problem on my Gixxer lol
There is a little bracket that southern cross changed for me in the clutch which they said was a little worn, as it happens it wasn’t the problem, though it was worn and required replacing.
It could be that, however, I don’t remember the part they changed.
Mine was simply a crappy cable, and bear in mind, I changed my cable once before, but the one I changed it to was also broken. So make sure the parts you are changing are ok before dismissing that area as a possibility.
I have got over the fear of being a closet weed and found it’s not Monty Burns style limp wrists, it is actually solid as a rock, even more so when the bike’s warmed up properly. Suggests something down below in the engine area? The lever and cable appear to be moving freely so I don’t think it’s them - given how bloody long I’ve spent on the bike now I wont take any chances and plan to revisit every washer and bit that you could smear a bit of lube on from the lever downward.
I did have someone suggest there could be a prob with a gunged up/bent/badly aligned clutch push rod thingie (goes from the slave mechanism in the sprocket cover on the left of the bike through to push the clutch basket on the right of the bike)…I’ll give that a whirl while I’m at it too.
There cant really be too many more things to try left!
