Engine power problem?

Hi guys, I was out on the bike yesterday had had to overtake a car and when I went to give it some beans the bike reved fine, but there was a lag in power. And then after 2 seconds or so after opening the throttle, the pitch changed slightly and the bike got some power, almost as if something like the clutch was slipping and it finally engaged? The other thing is, it seems to happen only on 4th & 5th gear. I'd be doing about 5000rpm, try to open up, engine sounds like it's revving but a lag in speed and then the speed increases. Dont get me wrong, im not expecting the bike to take off as iff i were in 1st at the lights! I don't know if this is just how a v twin responds at this rev range as I've only just recently got it after switching from a cbr
Bike is a 99' curvy 650 with about 25k on the clock

[rictus01]

have you actually check the condition and adjustment of the clutch and found those to be correct yet ?

I've had the clutch cover off and inspected the cable as a check due to winter storage. Noticed that a couple ball bearings missing, and didn't inspect the clutch plates or anything. Could the missing bearings have an issue?

[Sid Squid]

Clutch slip is indicated by the engine speed rising but the road speed not doing so. Open the throttle and you should see the tacho needle rise but the speedo needle not rise, or at least not as quickly. Did the clutch actually slip?

You may well be right - bit you need to determine that first, looking for a problem that doesn't exist wastes time, effort and patience.

Sid Squad, that pretty much explains it - the revs rise but the speedo not so much. 1st to 3rd is fine, I can happily rev without any slippage, but when I am cruising about 60-65mph in 5th and open her up, reva go up a bit but no immediate power...
I'll be riding to work tomorrow so I'll do a couple tests and rely back
Hope everyone enjoyed the weekend weather!!

[rictus01]

so as you suggest in the higher gears the clutch is slipping, as I previously asked, have you made sure the clutch is adjusted correctly or just looked at the cable? it's not going to help at all missed some of the ball bearings from the worm drive but you need to make sure that is adjusted properly as well as the cable, once these are known to be correct, then you can move on to the clutch side(off side) if the problem is still there.

[johnnyrod]

If the balls are escaping then the clutch lifter is clapped, regardless of the state of the clutch itself. replace this (it's not a great deal of money) and adjust it up proprely (lkoads of threads on here about it) and see what happens.