No Kev, I select neutral so I can take my hand off the clutch and give it a rest, then when it's time to go I pull in the clutch and attempt to find first gear.

And the gear lever is tight on the splines. So it sounds like a 'selector drum' problem? I'm out of my depth, mechanically, with this one so thanks heaps for your advice. As mentioned, I'll take it up with Yamaha as a warranty claim but I'd like to be armed with the right terminology to describe the issue. Doesn't sound like it's a common problem...

Cheers... Dan