Clutch suddenly stiff

Got on the bike this morning and the clutch lever felt suddenly stiff. My questions are:

1) Is this likely to be the beginning of the end for the clutch (like it is if a car clutch gets stiff)?

2) I have done about 13k miles since new. Is this normal mileage for a clutch or should I be expecting more?

3) If this is a short life for a clutch on an SV, am I likely to get a new one under warranty? I'm not really a hard rider and very rarely blast away from the lights.

Many thanks.

Oh, I should have said, it doesn't 'feel' like a lube problem near the lever itself, but I may be wrong.

[dirtydog]

it might be the cable needs lubing
although that probably wouldnt happen suddenly

I'll check the cable, but I suspect something more? Anyone any ideas?

[embee]

I'd have a stab and say it's unlikely to be a problem with the clutch unit itself.

My guess would be either the cable (for example a broken strand inside somewhere which could be causing some binding), or possibly something gone awry with the release mechanism which is mounted behind the gearbox sprocket cover.

Take the sprocket cover off, it's 4 bolts. You need some sort of small body socket to get into the counterbores. Note the cover is plastic so you need only gentle hand pressure when re-tightening.

See whether it's gunged up in there or rusty even.

Check the manuals for how to adjust that mechanism.
http://www.sv650.org/sv_manuals.htm

The release mechanism has ball bearings running on ramps, so it's just feasible for something to have got out of place.

How about the lifter???? Mine is on its way out too. The cable could have a kink in it.