Clutch slow to release especially in 1st

[HarryHornby]

So, my ride home from work last night, work car park, bike was parked on a slight incline, so needed an extra bit of clutch to get going. I noticed it juddered a little. Then, I made a point of riding the clutch a little at the next junctions, same thing. A roads, motorway, A roads for 15 mile and at the next junction I stopped at, I did the same, no judder. Gear changes were smoother. Then, back in town, still smooth. But, I did notice, sometimes a little jerky from 1 to 2 at slower speeds, but fine if giving it more of a handful.

OK, so I asked AI (Chat GPT) about this. Was vague. Just asked if we had spoken about the clutch in a chat we were having about the FZ6 and the results are pretty much what I'm experiencing, so I think, with a cable clean/lube (bits for this coming today) I think I'm ok, but will keep an eye on it over the next few weeks and have mentioned it in my email to the garage yesterday.

Here's what it had to say........

We haven't talked about the clutch yet ? — we did screens, bar ends, buzzing, gearbox whine, but not clutch.

If you’ve got clutch questions, hit me — typical FZ6 clutch chat includes:

Slipping under load?

Grabby on cold starts?

Notchy downshifts?

Clutch cable adjustment?

Lever feel (FZ6 has a fairly heavy pull from factory)

Swapping to a lighter-action lever or different perch

OEM vs EBC plates/springs

Hydraulic conversion (rare but people do it)

Clicking/knocking at idle when clutch out (normal on these)

Let me know what you’re noticing and we’ll diagnose it ?



I've noticed it's got a judder, and yes, as you said, when cold. It did get better when warm. Have noticed it can be a little off/on at times, know what I mean, not always a smooth gear change, even when hot. Usually 2nd or 3rd gear



Yep — I know exactly what you mean.
What you’re describing is very common on the FZ6 and usually points to one of these (in order of likelihood):

✅ Typical FZ6 clutch behaviour

Cold clutch judder (especially pulling away)

Slight grab / on-off feel at low speed

Notchy 1st → 2nd → 3rd shift when cold

Improves once warm

The FZ6 has:

A cable-actuated clutch

Fairly light oil-starved clutch pack when cold

Slight inherent gear lash + primary gear whine

A known tendency to feel "snatchy" below 4k rpm if fueling’s not perfect

So you’re in normal territory… but there are fixes.