On a typical British clutch in addition to the cable adjustment which is available to adjust the free play so as to avoid premature wear as well as to account for cable stretch there used also to be adjustment of the clutch spring tension on the pressure plate. If the springs were not adjusted properly the pressure plate did not lift evenly, as evidenced by it visibly wobbling as one kicked over the engine with the primary chain case removed. This caused clutch drag and hence difficulty in changing gear. AFAIK this adjustment is not available on the current RE clutch.
I always free off the clutch before starting the engine by kicking over with the clutch pulled in. I still get a slight crunch when putting my 1954 Tiger 100 in first gear, after which the change is the definitive "knife through butter" smooth. I once owned an early Evo Sportster than used to wake the neighbours on selecting first gear when cold; with no kickstart I couldn't free off the clutch. All the British classic bikes I've owned have had nice light gearboxes, as long as the clutch springs were adjusted correctly. I've not owned an RE with the Albion box but they didn't compare well with the boxes fitted to BSA, Triumph or AMC being ponderous and prone to false neutrals.
My guess is that not all current REs have pressure plates that lift evenly. You can adjust cable free play until the cows come home but it won't compensate for that.
Beemers (and Guzzis) are totally different beasts in that they have dry, engine speed clutches. There is an art to getting smooth changes on these, but once learnt they are pretty good.