Clutch will not fully engage
 

Hello,

I am fairly new to motorcycle riding (got my license last summer), then bought a '95 CBRF3. I have done some work on it, but am no expert.

Over this past winter it has been too cold to ride, so I parked the bike under a parking shelter here at my college. A couple days ago, I got a text from a friend saying that he saw that it was blown over (I am not convinced that it blew over, because the wind was not all that strong and it feels very sturdy when on the stand, but that is not the issue). Went and checked it out. Body damage is minor, but when I pull the clutch lever, the clutch does not fully engage. I took some of the plastic off and inspected the little swing arm over the clutch itself, and it looks fine. I tightened the cable tensioner enough that the clutch partially engages without even touching the lever, but when I squeeze the lever it still will not fully engage. The lever feels like it is working as before, and does pull on the cable.

Does anyone know what is going on here? Am I going to need a new clutch, or take apart this one? If so, is that something I will be able to do myself?

Thanks

Is the clutch lever bent? Are you trying to roll it without it starting it? Sometimes the clutch plates stick when it isn't running.

have you ran the bike or just tried to pull the clutch lever? the plate do stick together if they have been sitting in the cold especially on a 11 year old bike. try running it and warming up the bike and if it hasent been started in a few months, i would replace the oil and oil filter for safety. also the clutch is engaged when the lever it not being touched and when you pull it in it disingages, in your description the wording was funny

First lets get our terms straight as to not confuse anyone. Pulling the clutch in, disengages the plates and puts your bike in a neutral state. Letting go of the lever engages the plates and allows your bike to move.

Anywho...

What exactly is happening? Is it possible to drop your bike into gear with the bike running yet you dont move? (cable too tight..) or does the bike stall when you pull the clutch in and drop it in gear? (cable too loose...)

Figuring out which of the above problems you have will give you your solution if it is indeed a cable slack issue.

Thanks for the replies. Yes, by engage I did mean "pull apart", but I guess that is backwards.

In response to starting it up: no I haven't yet, because the battery is weak and it wasn't cooperating when I tried earlier. I'm going to give the battery a charge and try again. But it is very good to know that that could be my issue. I don't understand why it would be, but its very good to know, thanks! I'll let you know if warming it up works.

In case anyone else has this issue, it turned out to be a result of the bike sitting for a long time. After running for a little bit, the clutch began to function normally again.