I have been procrastinating long enough and finally yesterday did the balancer shaft adjustment.
Once I got the cover off, the bearing from the center of the clutch fell into the cover. No big deal, I put a dab of grease on it before I put the cover back on.
It worked! My FT no longer makes that irritating "whirring" sound.
I took the bike out for a spin, out on the expressway to see what 60+ feels like with the new 16 tooth sprocket. Got it up to 70 and it felt pretty good, I went down one exit & got off. While heading back toward my place on a side road I start hearing this clacking noise from the right side. I limped it in the highest gear possible back home & took the cover off a second time. The clutch pushrod fell out & was rattling around the bottom of the basket. "What the," I can not believe what I'm seeing. If the rod fell out, how was my clutch still working? Very strange, right? So I gave it a dab of grease also, just to hold it in place while I re-installed the right case cover. Filled it up with oil, & started it up. Grabbed my helmet & took it up my street, to see what's what. Holy crap, it's making a noise again, not AS bad as yesterday, but still cause for alarm.
As of now, I am letting the oil drain out while it's on it's side stand, to get as much oil out of my way once I take the cover off for the 3rd time. Again,the clutch lever felt good, good pull and it shifted fine , well I never got out of 2nd- I have no idea HOW it can shift(and yes, I'm aware of "clutchless" shifting, which I am not a fan of) with that pushrod out of place(if that's what it is this time)?
It's 75 here in Maryland, and I WANNA RIDE!!! I'll be back with a report......