CRUNCH TIME

Henry Gregson did a great job sprucing up the neglected Yamaha XJ650 in RC203, but reports a small niggle in that engaging first gear before the bike has been ridden results in a crunch. This phenomenon is well known to riders of older Triumphs, who always free the clutch before engaging first gear at the start of the day, by pulling in the clutch and operating the kickstart until the clutch plates free.

The Yamaha has no kickstart lever. So before operating the starter button, put the bike in gear, pull in the clutch, and rock the bike forwards and backwards while sitting astride it. The clutch plates will quickly free. Go back into neutral, start the bike and put it into gear with no crunch. This worked very successfully on my 1984 Kawasaki Z650F4, and I hope this advice will enable Henry to avoid the annoying crunch too.

Geoff Painter, member 7965

I wish I’d known this as a nipper. My Kawasaki Z440 didn’t so much ‘crunch’ and ‘BANG!’ when first gear engaged initially. It was so loud that one day my boyfriend thought I’d dropped the bike! Rowena