Half way through my ride today, from a dead stop, when letting the clutch out, I could hear the clutch plates "bark" or squeel for just a second. There didn't seem to be any excessive slipping, just the obvious sound. I have never heard it before on my 03 200. I'm a good mechanic, but know nothing of clutches. I thought I'd start with the easy stuff, and change the gearbox oil first. I do that fairly regularly though... Any ideas?
there is a decision to be made on your part. first was the noise definitely the clutch? if your feeling confident it was then you can hope there is nothing wrong or you can be a pessimist like me and start to worry about something coming apart and leaving me in the middle of no where or even taking out something else, like the tranny. Myself i would, while you have the oil drained out, pull the cover and have a look for peace of mind.
I'm sure someone will tell you it's the oil you use. Everyone pretty much has THE oil you should use.
I use motor oil. Always have. I change it often. Used it in my street 2-smokes, too...put hundreds of thousands of miles on 'em with no tranny or clutch problems whatsoever. For that reason I'm a bit iffy on the 'You GOTTA use <hotrod/expensive/super-duper> oil.
But...my oem plates never made a sound. It's just the Vesrah plates that do it..and do it quite a bit.