a little slippage

[rgierer]

I have a 1982 GS1100G I have had for about 2 months. All is good with the bike but it is a bike that a friend of mine bought from a GS'r in Ark.and decided it was too big, the gent in Ark had bought it from his neighbor who had the bike sitting for about 5 years. The bottom line is since the guy who had it in his basement for 5 years 4 years and 2 more owners have passed through this bike and it had been ridden less than 1,000 miles with the pair of them.

when I got the bike it had tires on it that still had plenty of tread but were at least 10 years old.

The carbs have been cleaned and the tank has been kreamed and brakes and intake boots have been replaced and fulids all flushed.

I have put new tires on it (I know they still had tread but the cracks were getting pretty big) and lubed up the splines and gone through a recent oil change.

this week I noticed the clutch slipping a bit. I have adjusted the clutch but had little impact so I have ordered new springs.

My question is::::: Is there data to support the premise, that when a bike sits for an extended period of time, in the is case 5 to 10 years, is it reasonable to assume clutch springs are at a high risk of failure.

The bike has 34,000 miles on it but the clutch shows no other erratic behavior.

 

[focus frenzy]

just from sitting?? no, clutch is worn out, or a oil not compatable with the clutch plates.

the springs do wear and sag with normal use and should be replaced when the clutch plates are replaced.

 

[jonr]

Robin,

I with FF on this one. Either an incompatible synthetic was used in the bike or the clutch fibers and/or plates are shot. It doesn't hurt to change the springs either. When I overhauled my 750 clutch, I used three of the new (heavy duty) springs and three of the original springs. Using all six HD springs made it uncomfortable for me to squeeze the lever.

My 1100G has 38K on it and the clutch is slipping. The clutch started to wear out on my 750 at about 35K.

 

[rgierer]

I did use Castrol 10w 40 it had a note about a new anti-sludge formula but I didn't take that as a red flag.

r

 

[BikeNut]

If the oil said "energy conserving" anywhere on the bottle, that could be your problem. A motorcycle specific oil will not have the friction reducers that are in automotive oils. Those "energy conserving" friction reducers are fine if the oil is only lubricating engine parts, but will wreak havok in a wet clutch where the friction is needed for forward motion.