First thing is to make sure the clutch cable is adjusted correctly. Then try changing the oil to fresh, good quality, correct grade motorcycle oil. Many times bad or old oil can cause hard shifting.
the oil is only a couple of months old about 300 ks there is also a rattling noise when I take of and slow down in first and second gear once shes in gear its fine
If the cable is adjusted correctly and the oil is good, the next thing to look at is the clutch. You could have warped or worn plates, or grooves worn into the backet fingers causeing the problems you describe.
Its a 1996 Yamaha XTZ660 Tenere and it is near impossible to find a workshop manual for it, The problem started over night , To save writing out the whole story again I have posted 'gearbox clutch ' a few down the list
Thanks for the help so far
Worn chain and sprockets can also make a bike feel that way sometimes. Especially if the sprocket teeth are hooked.
If the clutch is fine, and the chain is good, then you might have deeper trouble, like shift forks worn or bent. Did you recently blow a high RPM, high load shift? Or add any additives to the motor oil? Or anything else odd or different happen lately?
no no oil additives and I changed gears as normal but last week the bike wouldnt fire up so I checked the spark plug and it was fouled it was one of the Iridium tip ones, so I changed the to a standard plug and on my test ride is when all this started surley a spark plug shouldnt cause this as the bike runs fine until I start changing gears that is
