Motorcycle Repair: Clutch, Transmission, and Idle problem, lines tank, clutch lever

Question
Chris, I am a first time bike owner, I have a 1978 CB750K.  I have the Clymer repair manual for the bike.  I am having problem with the Clutch lever being to firm, or hard to squeeze, and the bike is not shifting gears easily, and will not go into neutral.  What should I do?  I have already adujusted the clutch at the clutch housing to hopefully make the clutch grab deeper to hopefully ease the gear change.  However nuetral is still unatainable.  The second part of my question is the bike will start and run, but I need to keep the choke pulled out, and the accelerator turned to maintain around 900 rpm so that the bike will continue to run, as soon as I let off of the accelerator the bike will die.  The carbs are clean, as well as the fuel lines, tank, fuel filter, air filter.  Again what should I do?  Thanks for any help you could give me.  

Answer
Hi Gary.

To start off, the clutch on the old CB series has always been a bit stiff.  I am afraid that you will just have to get used to it.

 There should be an adjustment at both ends of the cable.  If it is too far in at the bottom, then the clutch will not fully engage; too far out and the clutch will not fully disengage. Try adjusting it at the bottom end, then make sure that you have about 1/4 inch of freeplay at the lever; adjustable at the top.

 Check the repair manual for the correct idlespeed.  I believe the idlespeed should be between 1100 and 1200rpm.

After that, check the carb synchronization.

Start with those and let me know what happens.
Good luck and ride safe.
FALCON