[alanmcorcoran]

A number of people have commented on pulling the clutch all the way in, and Sarris mentioned this is even more necessary on bigger bikes.

On my GZ it's also important to make sure you are letting the clutch all the way OUT too. I haven't been riding it much lately but when I took it out the other day, I found I was not letting the clutch all the way out and losing power and acceleration (probably not helping the transmission much either.) I suspect it is because my other bike has less travel in the clutch, but I'm not sure why I was doing this. Might also be related to gauntlet gloves vs the thinner ones...

The bike will still ride somewhat normally with the clutch only partially released, but with less torque.

The "two-finger" business is a form of "covering." (Typically the brakes.) There is all sorts of debate of covering vs non covering that I don't really want to get into, (I "cover" approaching intersections and in parking lots.) I don't think it is ever recommended as the standard way to use the levers.

EDIT: I noticed yesterday that I "cover" with all four fingers. I have pretty chunky levers and it's best not to pussyfoot them - two fingers really wouldn't make any sense for me. When I'm on the freeway, I keep my fingers around the grips unless I'm splitting lanes at slow speed.