OK, YouTube came through.  This vid may help to clarify the issue.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzrkDOeU5hs

Great tutorial Mike.  Thanks for sharing!

Philly - Photo of the flat side of the release shaft in Woody.  It was in decent shape at 11k miles and fit snugly in the cam.  It was even a tighter fit going into the new hardened steel "Sneeze cam" I installed.

Let’s see what Mike says, but I’d do the clutch drag test I described earlier.  Get the rear wheel off the ground, start bike, put in 1st gear, wheel starts moving, pull the clutch lever, and apply rear brake, then let off rear brake while the clutch is still pulled.  If the clutch is fully disengaging, the rear wheel should virtually stop spinning.  A little drag is normal, but it shouldn’t be going crazy aggressive like it’s in gear.  

Does the bike try to ‘walk’ on its own with the clutch pulled (disengaged) while in gear (like when sitting at a red light)?

When you roll on the throttle hard, does the clutch slip (engine is screaming, but the bike isn’t pulling very well)?

You’re right.  I wasn’t thinking about it correctly.

Mike is amazing!  It’s crazy how that little cam and shaft can cause such a nightmare!  I really hope you get it resolved and put this saga in the rearview mirror!

I think I am doing a poor job of explaining what I want to get across.

Let's start with terminology.  

Freeplay is a clearance inherent to the design.  In general, it is desired and intended to provide running clearance to accommodate expansion or wear.  The clutch release system needs freeplay so that the clutch pressure disk is free to apply full spring pressure to the plates.  You don't want anything to prevent the springs from applying full force to the pressure disk.  When your fingers release the clutch lever on the handlebar, you want the release mechanism to get out of the way and not interfere with the pressure disk.

Lost Motion usually is the result of wear and it is not desirable.  You want the release arm on the clutch cover, release shaft, and release cam to move as if they were all one piece.  When the flats on the shaft wear, the release cam can move independently of the release shaft.

You want freeplay in the clutch cable.  When you are not squeezing on the lever there should be some free play.  If you were somehow able to lock the release arm on the clutch cover so that it could not move at all, you can still adjust the clutch cable so that there is freeplay.  When your fingers are not on the clutch lever, you want it to be able to move a bit.  You don't want the cable tight like a banjo string.  

You want freeplay in the clutch release mechanism inside the clutch cover.  Since there is a hard stop incorporated into the clutch cover, the only way to introduce freeplay into the internal mechanism is by changing the length of the pushrod.  Make the pushrod shorter and you increase freeplay.  Make the pushrod longer and you reduce freeplay.  Make the pushrod too long and you eliminate freeplay, and then everything is up hard.  Once there is no internal freeplay, the springs can no longer apply full force to the pressure disk.

As the clutch components wear, the pressure disk moves to the right.  As the pressure disk moves to the right, freeplay is reduced.  Eventually, as wear continues, all of the freeplay is used up and the assembly will hit hard and the clutch will start to slip.  Since the manufacturer knows that clutch plates wear, they provided a way for periodic adjustment.  That would be the pushrod.  It comes in three different lengths (44.5mm, 45.5mm & 46.5mm).

They also provided a way for the owner to check the system.  That would be the two marks on the crankcase.  When everything is new and pristine and adjusted correctly, the lever arm on the clutch cover will fall between the two marks on the crankcase.  To check this, you lift the lever arm gently to remove the internal freeplay.  

If the lever arm is situated too high in relation to the marks on the case, it indicates something might be out of whack inside the clutch.  Maybe the fiber plates are swollen up due to fuel fouling, or the clutch is assembled incorrectly.  Maybe there's an extra steel plate in there.  Maybe a thrust washer is missing.  Maybe the pushrod is just too short.

If the lever arm is situated too low in relation to the marks on the case, it usually indicates wear.  It could also be too low because the clutch is assembled incorrectly.  For instance, the special fiber disk (piece 20 of Philly's illustration in reply #5) may have been replaced with a standard fiber plate, or an aftermarket set of plates may be installed (thinner plates).  Maybe an extra thrust washer was installed.  But usually, if the lever arm is situated too low, it's due to wear.  The friction plates could be worn, the steel plates could be worn, the pressure disk could be worn, or the clutch hub could be worn.  It could be wear on all of the above pieces.

The manufacturer understands that the fiber plates will wear, and that just because the plates are worn doesn't mean they are no longer serviceable.  So, they provide a shorter pushrod to prevent the release mechanism from going up hard and causing the clutch to slip.  Install the shorter rod, reintroduce reasonable freeplay, good for another 40K miles (hopefully).

What the manufacturer didn't plan on was lost motion in the release arm & cam assembly.  Suzuki just assumed that would never wear, and would act as one solid piece.  Once the release shaft wears a bit, now there is lost motion, and the lever arm will be situated too high.  It will give you a false indication.  The release cam and release mechanism can be hard up solid, but you will still detect movement in the release arm, and you will think there is free play in the internal mechanism when there isn't any free play.  So, you will see the lever arm situated too high, and you will figure you need a longer pushrod, and you will put in a longer pushrod (just like you did Philly), and the clutch will slip.

So, mike. And before I ask let me first say I deeply appreciate your attentiveness to this.

1. Wear between the release cam and release shaft, as you mentioned, was not anticipated by the manufacturer.

2. Is freeplay between the release cam and shaft factory intentional, or is it solely due to wear?

3. Could this freeplay cause a condition in which, when you pull in the clutch, you are separating the plates enough to disengage enough to shift, but not enough to fully separate the disks?

I think based on the information you provided that wear between the cam lobe and actuating shaft is preventing the disks from fully separating when I pull in the clutch and this is causing it to burn up. Does this sound plausible or am I totally out of reality?

To answer your questions: I can find neutral easily without any issues while running. However I have had an issue where, during take off, sometimes the bike will shift from second into neutral. I always considered this normal

Mike, your explanation and detail is about as good as it gets! Thanks for sharing - I’m learning too!

Philly obviously needs to replace the worn out parts like his pressure plate and any worn down discs, but in your expert opinion what part(s) are failing and causing the issue?

Or do you think it’s an assembly issue even though Philly is pretty confident he’s assembled everything correctly?  You probably remember that I had a heck of a time wrapping my head around the orientation/direction of the wave washer (even after you sent me a visual and I studied the Clymer manual).