Bike Dies when put into gear...

I have a 1994 xj600s...just got it running after buying it from a guy that left it sitting in his garage with rusty tank and bad gas...got carbs all cleaned, starts and runs GREAT. But when I pull clutch and even barely start to push down on the gear shift, it grinds a bit and if you fully engage first gear it completely dies. I have completely disengaged the sidestand switch, as a previous post had mentioned. Only two things I know of is, maybe it needs an oil change...only thing i haven't changed...or a new clutch? Please help, SOOOOO wanna be riding this bad boy soon. Thanks in advance.

 

I'm still thinking its your side stand switch. I dont remember on these bikes what you have to do when you disconect it. If it was a BMW you would twist all 3 wires togeher but I don't remember with the XJ without looking at the manual and its not here with me at work. I too was having this same problem so I cleaned the switch and it went away till I put some aftermarket pipes on that set lower than the originals. Now ever once in a while I have to give the sidestand a little extra enforcement to through the switch.

 

I'm not at all familiar with the newer XJ's, but..... The side stand switch kills the bike electronically, a bad clutch would kill it mechanically. Does it feel like it just shuts off or does it feel like the transmission kills it. The grinding into 1st gear doesn't sound good. Your clutch may be sticking cause the PO let it sit for so long.... Have you tried bump starting it?

 

bump starting? what/how do you do that?.....i disconnected the wires that are below the tank that work the sidestand switch...bike starts like normal....with the clutch engaged, when i put it in first it jumps forward a bit and dies....if you lightly press down on the gear shift while holding the clutch it grinds like the gears are catching or something.....also i read that it might be that the oil is dirty and that i need to adjust the clutch cable on the right side where it goes in the tranny...i only adjusted the cable at the handle to get rid of slack

 

Problem solved.....ended up changing the oil (didn't fix the problem, btw) and then I pulled the sidestand switch off the bike...disassembling it and cleaning the copper connections....worked like a charm. thanks for the tips....although, now i have a different problem at high speed. Will post new post for that topic.