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When I start up cold, putting the bike in gear kills the engine. This is not after letting out the clutch, but immediately, with the clutch engaged. It's as though I have shifted to first without clutching. This of course feels like it is doing the transmission no good as I get a pretty bad metal-to-metal clunk. However, if I really warm up the engine well, plus rev it up a couple of times while holding in the clutch, this doesn't happen. And it never, ever happens after I have ridden that day -- only first start up. I haven't seen this problem discussed anywhere, so I need some input. I'm out of warranty (of course) on my 2008, which otherwise has run perfectly ever since I bought it.

This is normal. What is happening is when you haven't ridden in a while all the oil between the clutch friction plates has time to work it's way down toward the oil pan. With no oil lubricating the friction plates there is drag between the plates even when the the clutch lever is fully pulled. I am by no means an expert, Hell I've never even disassembled a clutch, I'm just regurgitating what I have learned from others along the way.

With this in mind you should always start the bike in Neutral and let it warm up a bit before shifting into 1st. If the bike as set for a long time, it's likely that you wouldn't even be able to start the bike in 1st gear even with the clutch pulled in, and if you did it would put undue stress on your starting system.

I usually start my bike and by the time I put on my helmet and gloves it's warmed up and ready to go. Occasionally when I first shift to 1st I can momentarily feel the clutch drag as the oil is still getting worked in.

With that said if you've got the choke on and the engine is revving at ~3K RPM, and it's killing the engine, you may have a clutch problem.

Ah, that's good to see those first three words in your reply. And although I've never tried to start it in first gear, I'm sure it would absolutely not start cold like that. Thanks much for the reply!

Ditto what Triangles said. I typically warm mine up for about five minutes. My bike is cold natured, so if I'm riding in the winter months I also let it warm up a couple of minutes after a lengthy stop even after I've been out riding that day.