Clutch not disengaging?

[basic]

Hello again.

Well I've got my 1980 GS750L chain running pretty well, starts when warm with 1 crank, everything seems to be working OK, only having a problem with this:

When the bike is on the center stand and the bike is started, if i shift into gear with the clutch pulled the rear wheel starts to spin. no amount of pulling in or out on the clutch will cause the clutch to completely disengage. However, if i pull the clutch and press on the rear brake, most of the time (9/10 in 1st gear, almost all the time in others) the rear wheel will stop and the engine will continue running (the other 1/10 the engine will die) I have adjusted the cable as tight I'm comfortable with, and it seems to work, its just that the clutch will not disengage without help. I have not tried on the road yet as the bike still needs a few things to pass inspection and I haven't learned to ride yet, and I'm working to get everything working as good as possible before.

So what could this be? A stretched clutch cable? Or worse (i hope not) something inside the clutch itself.

I don't know if this is related but sometimes it doesn't sound like the starter clutch is disengaging....get a bit of a rattle. The shaft is disengaged and the starter motor itself isn't spinning so I'm not too worried about this and hopefully i won't have to look into it. I have been discounting it as the sounds of an old bike.

[posplayr]

I think it is normal

Other can explain more, I just wanted to give a quick heads up so as not to worry. My GS750 does same.

Posplayr

[Nessism]

It's normal for the rear wheel to spin like that. Regarding killing the engine, sounds like the clutch is dragging more than it should. Not sure what to suggest since you say the cable is as tight has you want. Next thing to do is pull off the clutch cover and inspect the plates - measure the thickness of the fiber plates and compare to standard, check the metal plates for flatness using a surface plate or maybe a piece of glass.

Good luck.

[bwringer]

Your bike is completely normal. All wet clutches have some drag exactly as you describe.

Stop fooling with it and go ride.

[hampshirehog]

With your wheel off the ground there is almost no resistance to it spinning even with the clutch working fine - it's the drag caused by the oil on the plates. Chances are it won't do it anywhere near as much with warm oil - take it for a spin and see if it sorts itself out.