Motorcycle Repair: Gear problems, kawasaki ninja ex500, falcon

Question
Falcon,
I am new to motorcycles and I just bought my first one a few weeks ago so I don't know much but I think I have a problem. The bike is a 1993 Kawasaki Ninja EX500 and it has about 12k miles on it. The problem is that sometimes when I am downshifting when I get to first gear it goes in really bad sounding, almost like a grinding sound and sometimes it goes into neutral instead. I figured out that if I push it real fast and smooth into first it doesn't do it as often but it still sometimes happens. Another problem I have is that if I stop while I am in any gear other than first, I will not be able to shift back to first. In fact it doesnt shift at all. I have to get moving in the slightest way to get it into first or else it won't shift. Are bikes not supposed to shift while you are idle or is there something wrong? Thank you for helping.
-Sean

Answer
Hi Sean.
 There shouldn't be any great difficulty shifting.  Shifting from higher gears down, while at a stop, will be difficult, but not impossible.

Get the bike to a mechanic to look at it.  There could be any number of things wrong, but I think that it may be in the clutch.

Good luck.
FALCON