Today was the first day i got to ride my bike any distance. I found a couple of times the bike didnt want to down shift it seemed to be locked in top gear. This happened twice during my ride. I had to almost come to a complete stop before i could down shift. Any ideas on what could be causing this? When should the clutch ingauge off the handel bar. I notice mine is quite a ways out before the clutch grabs. Not sure if its adjusted right.

 

it should be about 1 inch or so. you can adjust it a little tighter or looser, depending on the feel you like. sounds like your cable not adjusted right. tighten it just to the point there is no free play, then back it off a little. you will notice about an inch on either side of the lever travel. fine tune as you see fit.

 

this can happen when you come to a complete stop from higher gears and try and shift (while the bike is sitting still) back into first,

however normally simply shifting down while moving the bike backwards (or forwards) at the light about a foot or so should allow the gears to shift into place.

if this is what you are talking about i suggest down shifting when you are coming into a stop instead of stopping in a higher gear at a light before shifting still.