GS750 won’t go into neutral while running

[Upshotknothole]

Helping a mate with a G750 he bought off another mate. All I know about is that it’s now an 850. Shifts fine, but the transmission is next to impossible to get into neutral while running. First thought is the clutch basket is badly notched, but I’m not familiar with these air cooled engines. 
 

Gonna pull the clutch cover, unless anyone has a better place to start. 
 

 

[Toecutter]

Have you checked the adjustment on the clutch cable? Make sure it has play at the lever. 3mm play ideally. Easiest place to start.

[Upshotknothole]

17 minutes ago, Toecutter said:

Have you checked the adjustment on the clutch cable? Make sure it has play at the lever. 3mm play ideally. Easiest place to start.

The clutch lever was pretty loose when I first checked it. I adjusted it and it didn’t make any difference.

I pulled the clutch cover and pulled the plates out. The basket is notched but not very bad. The frictions and steels look good too. 
Thoughts on this basket?

When dragging a pick on the inner basket you can feel the notches, outer not so much. 

[Upshotknothole]

Went and grabbed lunch and thought about it a bit. Noticed when I put the clutch back together without the springs in, it drags really bad. Like the inner basket is hard to turn with only the plates and pressure plate in place. 
 

Do these frictions look like OEM or Barnett? If they’re aftermarket we’ll replace them. 
 

[Upshotknothole]

Sounds like the previous owner put a full Barnett kit in the bike. 

[Upshotknothole]

I was thinking about this more last night. I don't think the baskets are that bad that they'd be causing this much trouble. If anything, I'm wondering if the clutch pack is too thick. Any help is appreciated, thanks.

[PaintItBlack]

Are the clutch plates new ?

last year I changed the friction and steel plates on my bonnie scrambler, took a good thousand miles before it would easily find neutral, had no problems in that area before I swapped the plates, now after a few miles it slips in easily,

very different bike I know,but you never know 

[Upshotknothole]

14 minutes ago, PaintItBlack said:

Are the clutch plates new ?

last year I changed the friction and steel plates on my bonnie scrambler, took a good thousand miles before it would easily find neutral, had no problems in that area before I swapped the plates, now after a few miles it slips in easily,

very different bike I know,but you never know 

As far as I know the clutch is relatively new, it definitely looks new and I'm not sure how long ago it was installed before my buddy bought it. I think the bike had probably been sitting for some time as well.

Might be worth trying to just put it all back together and ride it hard for a bit and see if it improves.

[TonyGee]

some aftermarket plates are just slightly thicker than OEM, that can cause the clutch to drag which makes it difficult to find neutral 

[Upshotknothole]

5 minutes ago, TonyGee said:

some aftermarket plates are just slightly thicker than OEM, that can cause the clutch to drag which makes it difficult to find neutral 

I'm about 95% positive that the frictions, steels, and springs are all Barnett. Now the question is, do we try riding it hard and seeing if the clutch will break in, or just buy OEM frictions and steels and see if that fixes it or at least improves it.

[TonyGee]

43 minutes ago, Upshotknothole said:

I'm about 95% positive that the frictions, steels, and springs are all Barnett. Now the question is, do we try riding it hard and seeing if the clutch will break in, or just buy OEM frictions and steels and see if that fixes it or at least improves it.

its a how long is a piece of string question ?  theirs a chance the plates will thin out over time (with slipping the clutch) but that could burn them out.  i had the same issue with aftermarket plates, in the end OEM fixed the issue. but not cheap !!!!!  

[Upshotknothole]

17 minutes ago, TonyGee said:

its a how long is a piece of string question ?  theirs a chance the plates will thin out over time (with slipping the clutch) but that could burn them out.  i had the same issue with aftermarket plates, in the end OEM fixed the issue. but not cheap !!!!!  

Thanks, I suspect it's gonna be the same issue. My friend that owns the bike now isn't a super fast rider and this isn't his primary bike, just something old and fun to play around with. I'll let him know the two options.

[TonyGee]

49 minutes ago, Upshotknothole said:

Thanks, I suspect it's gonna be the same issue. My friend that owns the bike now isn't a super fast rider and this isn't his primary bike, just something old and fun to play around with. I'll let him know the two options.

its really hard to beat OEM plates, but the fecking price is nuts 

[Upshotknothole]

First place I looked online here in the states had the 8 frictions at $25/each. Gonna look around some more and see if I can't find a better deal on them. Steels were about $11/each.

[TonyGee]

1 hour ago, Upshotknothole said:

First place I looked online here in the states had the 8 frictions at $25/each. Gonna look around some more and see if I can't find a better deal on them. Steels were about $11/each.

if the steels are not worn and flat you can reuse them.  measure the thickness and get them on a flat plate to check for warp.  

[Upshotknothole]

35 minutes ago, TonyGee said:

if the steels are not worn and flat you can reuse them.  measure the thickness and get them on a flat plate to check for warp.  

The steels look practically new. Gonna try and find the specs on them and measure them up and check them for flatness.

[Upshotknothole]

Found out that the clutch was done 8-9 years ago, but no idea on how many miles the bike has done in that time. Next time I go over to his place, gonna pull the clutch out again, measure everything, but probably just buy all new OEM frictions and steels. Found a copy of the manual to go by for checking everything.