No neutral when hot

Hi,

77 Z650. I cant get a neutral when the bike is hot. When it's cold, it's veyr easy to find, but when hot, it's like the clutch is not quite disengaging and the gear lever just goes straight to either first or second.
I don't mind holding the clutch at the lights if it's only a short wait, but if it's a long set of lights, or when I have to open the gate at home, it's a little annoying not being able to get neutral!
Oil is fresh 20w/50 mineral and the clucth lever has very little free play.

Regards, Andrew.

Sounds like clutch problem due to the problems showing up when hot only (i've been through this exact problem). If adjustments don't work and you end up replacing it, I'd get Kaw factory parts if possible. I've had a bunch of probs with aftermarket crap.

Post edited by: loudhvx, at: 2006/03/12 14:32

Your external shifter has three springs associated with it. The largest wraps around the shaft and is used to provide return pressure for the shift peg. The other two are much smaller; one pulls your shift pawls together. These grasp the pins on the end of your shift drum. The other provides a return for the detent mechanism. It is located up in the right corner of the area exposed when you remove the inner countershaft sprocket cover. One of the two springs may be worn and not have enough pressure to allow the external shift mechanism to work properly. I would buy ALL THREE springs and an inner sprocket cover gasket and replace them.