I bought 1990 XJ660 in Oct 2006 with 28,000 miles. From start had difficulty getting into neutral at lights, adjustments to clutch cable have helped, but the problem is still there.

I use it daily for 48mile commute, it gets oils and filter changes, has had new clutch springs and clutch cable. now on 52,000 miles.

It gets worse as the engine heats up, and I got told off on my advanced course for dropping into Neutral as I free-wheeled up to lights. It also vibrates a lot, which will be awful next week after my family planning op.

When I went to my usual garage about the vibes they said it could be the internal drive chain tensioner being broke, and that as the chain slapped around it would make gear changes awkward. Hmmmm

I am not going to spend £300 on labour and gaskets for a £250 bike that is not my favourite.

Any other ideas, or even just confirmation of what the garage said, so i will put up with it for another couple of years / 20,000 miles?

I bought 1990 XJ660 in Oct 2006 with 28,000 miles. From start had difficulty getting into neutral at lights, adjustments to clutch cable have helped, but the problem is still there.

I use it daily for 48mile commute, it gets oils and filter changes, has had new clutch springs and clutch cable. now on 52,000 miles.

It gets worse as the engine heats up, and I got told off on my advanced course for dropping into Neutral as I free-wheeled up to lights. It also vibrates a lot, which will be awful next week after my family planning op.

When I went to my usual garage about the vibes they said it could be the internal drive chain tensioner being broke, and that as the chain slapped around it would make gear changes awkward. Hmmmm

I am not going to spend £300 on labour and gaskets for a £250 bike that is not my favourite.

Any other ideas, or even just confirmation of what the garage said, so i will put up with it for another couple of years / 20,000 miles?

thats why i wont do 'advanced' training - how anal!

btw i smell a rat with their fault diagnosis, cant you get another engine off the 'bay?

I bought 1990 XJ660 in Oct 2006 with 28,000 miles. From start had difficulty getting into neutral at lights, adjustments to clutch cable have helped, but the problem is still there.

I use it daily for 48mile commute, it gets oils and filter changes, has had new clutch springs and clutch cable. now on 52,000 miles.

It gets worse as the engine heats up, and I got told off on my advanced course for dropping into Neutral as I free-wheeled up to lights. It also vibrates a lot, which will be awful next week after my family planning op.

When I went to my usual garage about the vibes they said it could be the internal drive chain tensioner being broke, and that as the chain slapped around it would make gear changes awkward. Hmmmm

I am not going to spend £300 on labour and gaskets for a £250 bike that is not my favourite.

Any other ideas, or even just confirmation of what the garage said, so i will put up with it for another couple of years / 20,000 miles?

did you get it fixed?

tbh for the money you've spent you could of bought another bike! I'm having the same feeling about mine atm, cost me £600 but spent nearly 400 getting it fixed up! I could of saved all that money and brought an even newer bike!!! But it is my first bike and was too eager to get out on the road after my test. Lesson learnt I think for myself

No, not got it fixed, going to live with it till it dies.

I've got 98 xj600, and it rattles like mad in neutral (but not once ive reached biting point). I was told it might be the cam chain tensioner.

Its easy to remove and check, the Hayes manual explains it well, but I can talk you through it, if you know where it is. (I don't mean to be patronising, but I'm just learning, and names mean bugger-all to me until i see a picture). I checked mine, It worked fine, I put it back in, overtightenned and snalpped the bolt. It was easy enough to get a 'new' one from a salvage yard (cost me about a fiver). The rattle is still there, so I'm told it might be the cam chain itself, but that its not an urgent problem at all.

One thing I did find out though, was that my bike was iddle under the recommended revs. When i upped the iddle to the correct revs the rattling died down by about half. Might help? Again, hayes tells you how, Or I could tell you if u like.

Hope some of that helps.

I bought 1990 XJ660 in Oct 2006 with 28,000 miles. From start had difficulty getting into neutral at lights, adjustments to clutch cable have helped, but the problem is still there.

I use it daily for 48mile commute, it gets oils and filter changes, has had new clutch springs and clutch cable. now on 52,000 miles.

It gets worse as the engine heats up, and I got told off on my advanced course for dropping into Neutral as I free-wheeled up to lights. It also vibrates a lot, which will be awful next week after my family planning op.

When I went to my usual garage about the vibes they said it could be the internal drive chain tensioner being broke, and that as the chain slapped around it would make gear changes awkward. Hmmmm

I am not going to spend £300 on labour and gaskets for a £250 bike that is not my favourite.

Any other ideas, or even just confirmation of what the garage said, so i will put up with it for another couple of years / 20,000 miles?

I had gear problems with my 1995 XJ600n last year, problems changing down and finding neutral at lights too. Changed the clutch cable but same problem. I thought it might be the clutch problem opposed to a gear problem.

So I had a local backstreet bike mechanic look at it, and he found that the clutch bearing was badly worn, he replaced it and problem sorted only cost me about £10

Sometimes it's only a small problem but garages want to escalate the problem to get more money.

Clutch release bearing. Goto yamaha diversion club boards and have a poke around - its a common problem, and easily fixed for less than £20. Get the bearings from simply bearings, plus two 1mm washers, and a gasket from wemoto. You can do the job with the bike on the side stand, so no need to drop the oil.

There is also a rattle that all diversions make : that's fixable too, although not necessary. See the boards.

"internal drive chain tensioner" my ar5e!

All the best,

Nigel