When I shift from neutral into first gear when at a complete stop, it appears to go in hard (hear and feel a noise) and sometimes the DS will move forward slightly as if the clutch was not pulled. I tried adjusting the clutch cable but the problem will not go away. I am wondering if this could be why I am seeing metal shavings on the oil drain plug.

 

Scooby, a little clutch drag isn't unusual; a result of slight warping of discs, perhaps; or even oil "squishing" between them. A respectful question: how many motorcycles and ATV's have you owned prior to your DS?

Tree Farmer

 

I've had no manual clutch bikes. The service manual states not to use synthetic oil or it could throw your clutch calibration off. The dealers messed up when I bought the DS and installed synthetic oil. When I later changed the oil and went to non-synthetic I first noticed this problem. And I heard that you aren't suppossed to break-in a motor on synthetic oil.

 

It is also standard practice that once you do go synthetic after your break in oil change you can't go back-I don't know if this is affecting you as I have never tested this addage.

 

I haven't had any oil leak problems.

 

i thought you just were not to mix oil i could be wrong. i would never mix any brand oil togather.

 

Well, during the break in it should not have the synthetic oil in it, but if it did, it did. The problem is that synthetics have a softener in them that cause the seals to expand if they are not used to the oil. It should not hurt it once you go back to the regular oil.

 

It could be a possible problem or it could be characteristic. Mine does the same thing and has never had synthetic oil in it.
Yella Terra