K5 GSXR 1000 grabby clutch

[AmirGSXR]

When I brought my K5 in 2013 it had a grabby clutch and made a 'whirring' sound as I released it. I took it to a Suzuki dealer who changed clutch plates, wave washer, clutch spring, gasket etc at around 11,500 miles. The bike was largely OK in the proceeding years, but now, at 38.5k miles, the same problem has re-appeared.

I remember reading at the time that the K5 clutch was a weak point, and many owners did the 'ZX-10 mod'. This involves:
1) remove one steel and one friction plate
2) replace with 04 ZX10R cushion steel (apparently its a perfect fit) - The idea is the cushion steel works as a damper when the clutch is released.

I do not perform hard starts, or ride the clutch or do much city riding. Thus, the clutch has a relatively easy life.

One other issue to note is that despite adjusting clutch, sometimes when I put the bike in first gear and clutch lever is pressed, the bike pulls forward. This does not happen all the time, but is annoying.

Any advice on the above would be welcome.

[KTMsm]

I find specific forum fixes generally work well so I'd give that a try

[AmirGSXR]

Good shout...the only thing is that the forum posts for this issue are all about 10-15 years old! The only UK forum that I used to be part of (called Gixxerboyz) is now defunct I think.

I know a few on biker banter have K5/K6's so hoping they might have some perspectives.

[trickywoo]

Has it had a new clutch cable at any point?

A new one would be a good idea at that age and mileage.

Also what oil are you using? I’ve always found a good quality fully synthetic bike specific oil helps.

[AmirGSXR]

trickywoo said:

Has it had a new clutch cable at any point?

A new one would be a good idea at that age and mileage.

Also what oil are you using? I’ve always found a good quality fully synthetic bike specific oil helps.

Yes, new cable in 2015 and cable is in good health.

I have always used 10w40 Halfords Fully Synthetic and change the oil at 3.5k intervals. It's not oil related, this is a known issue on the k5/k6 1000.

[MK3 Dan]

I would be looking at the centre hub, it most likely has grooves worn in it from use that then causes the clutch to grab. Then the clutch basket to see if that is the same.

Regardless of it being a known issue they are fine out of the factory and we rebuild a number of this engines, used in cars, with the standard set up (other than HD clutch springs) and they do not suffer in general.