Hi. Any suggestions welcome: Usually (but not allways) from cold, my 2003 950 will shake quite violently when engaging gear from neutral. This can happen when engaging either 1st or 2nd gear. It feels like the entire bottom and back end of the bike is shacking apart. A quick flick back into neutral and then a re-engage usually sorts it, but the problem is getting worse and has started to happen when moving, for example when engaging first on the run up to a stop light. On one occasion it happened under hard accelaration in first gear. The bike's got 73,000 miles on it. Clutch plates checked 500 miles ago and friction and steels were in spec (clutch was replaced at 45K miles). Oil is about 2,000 miles old and not emulsified, so water pump is good. The carbs need a balance and I suspect I've lost a fair bit of compression over the past few thousand miles, but that's an untrelated issue, I suspect. My only two guesses are either the clutch booster ramp assembly is worn or the transmission itself is fecked. Any other suggestions Many thanks
Need a bit more info/comfirmation: do you mean the bike/drivetrain shudders when you are letting out the clutch on a cold engine? If so, that is stick/slip in the clutch. Check the clutch basket fingers for wear marks where the driver plates contact it. Small wear marks there mean the clutch plates will not slide along the fingers of the clutch basket; instead they stay in their little wear grooves, meaning the plates do not separate easily. This could be what you describe. What has helped me with this problema is new oil, warming the bike up a bit more (not much help really), cycle the clutch lever a few times and raise the revs a bit to work the plates apart. Or pop for a new clutch basket, not cheap!
I am about to start trying to solve this on my SE. I was having very rough clutching and grabbing sitting at a stop. I did the smooth out the last metal disk trick which seemed to work but got bad again quickly. I cleaned out my oil jet and for such a tiny hole, that did wonders. My theory is that the clogged jet leads to the wear of the last clutch plate. Anyway, I may go redo the last plate again. That said, I am now getting the shudder. Just by timing, I don't think it is the basket. I am going to check and see orientation of all my plates and make sure none of the 4 plate bolts has loosened up. It has to be something related to my servicings.
The 32mm nut has been reported to get loose. I have seen it on a friend's bike. This could be the reason. Specs ask for 130Nm. Cheers.
By way of reporting the outcome - It did turn out to be a clogged clutch oil jet. There's still a little quiver when not fully up to temp, but the problem seems to have been pretty much sorted. I had cleaned the jet when checking the clutch plates, springs and nut, but the little bugger must have got clogged again pretty quickly after that. Live and learn. Thanks for the replies