connecting my battery engages the starter

[mike_of_bbg]

A little drag is normal in gear because of the wet clutch. Yes, mine, too is a little harder to push in gear with clutch out. However, that shouldn't keep your bike from starting!

So is the motor not turning over at all? Got a multitester? Are you seeing ~+12V at the small wire terminal on the solenoid when you try to start it?

[mrbill5491]

Cold bike, cold oil, sticks to the clutch plates like glue. When my bike is cold and I get it started and its in neutral, the back tire will spin very slowly because of the cold oil on the clutch plates. When I let it warm up a bit and drop into gear, you can hear the engine pull down some and the bike move a bit forward with the clutch pulled all the way in. I found this more so with a conventional oil then with a syn type. The heavier the oil the worse it is. The oil just has to get hot then every thing is fine.