Something with the clutch? Or clutch cable? Help.

So I need some help with this...my bike has been running pretty good lately except for this one problem. When I turn my bike on and pop it into first gear it kind of jumps a little and doesn't feel smooth. Also sometimes when I am driving and down shift into first gear, once again it feels rough and sometimes (possibly when I don't fully pull the lever all the way to the handle bar) it grinds a little bit. Is my cable not tight enough? Any suggestions on what it might be and how I can fix it?

 

You need to tighten the cable adjuster on the lever mount. I would be more concerned with it going in and out of neutral smoothly. When it will do that, it should go in and out of 1st smoothly also.

 

It's just a simple cable adjustment that needs to be done. You need to put more "pull" on the cable, so turn the adjuster up by the lever out. You should still have a little free play on the lever (not very much) so the clutch does not start to slip.

 

So do I want to spin it in the direction of the adjustment arrow or in the opposite direction?