Hates going into neutral

[Emlupi]

Lately my 350 is getting very cantankerous about going into neutral. I try to do it while on the move but it’s a real bear. I look like Fred Astaire doing a tap number on the pedal.
When the engine is off and manipulating it by hand (rotating rear wheel) it’s very easy.

 

[stl360+450]

How did the tongues on the outer clutch basket look when you were putting it together? Heavy notches can cause this issue — my XL350 was suffering from this and it was resolved with an NOS basket. The notches could also be filed down.

 

[EzPete]

I’ve had that on a couple of bikes with rearsets. Had to play around with different angles on the lever point to get to where it’ll drop to neutral. It feels like it’s a slightly longer rotation from 2nd to neutral.

 

[ancientdad]

If the clutch cable stretches when it gets hot, you might need to re-adjust it to remove some lever slack. The clutch cable on my 450 does it and it requires about 3/4 of a turn additional adjustment on the lever's cable adjuster sometimes.

 

[RobMan]

If the clutch cable stretches when it gets hot, you might need to re-adjust it to remove some lever slack. The clutch cable on my 450 does it and it requires about 3/4 of a turn additional adjustment on the lever's cable adjuster sometimes.

Thanks @ancientdad for this tip, Saw this post this morning and I have been having this exact problem, going into neutral easily when cold but not when hot. Took about another 1/2 turn out of the adjuster this morning before a 30 mile ride and had no issues getting into neutral at stop signs and when I got back home. Always something to learn. BTW just ticked over 400 miles since rebuild and running like a champ.

 

[MrPepper]

i have those issues when time for a clutch adjustment, but if I'm too lazy then I blip the throttle (like when clutchless shifting) and that buys me slack to slip it into neutral

 

[Boomer343]

Trim a mm or less off the shift drum locator piece and see if you get improvement.