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Fluid Changes

  • Thread starter Thread starter kdupont
  • Start date Start date
K

kdupont

Guest
Since Im new to the whole bike scene can anyone here tell me about the different fluids I need to maintain in my bike? Someone said something about primary fluid? Does my 1980 Suzuki gs850 have clutch fluid? Primary fluid?

Also what kind of oil is best for bikes? Can I use regular motor oil for my bike.

I have a fluid leak coming from the casing behind my gear shifter. Im not sure if its motor oil or some other fluid. The P.O said he changed the clutch springs recently and im under the impression he may not have sealed the case properly.
 
Your 850 has three different places you need to change the oil. First in the crankcase you have normal motor oil. This includes the oil for the clutch. Others will be along shortly to detail (fight about) which specific oil you should use. You have two different places where you stick gear oil. One is where the drive shaft meets the engine and the other is where the drive shaft meets the wheel.

Look at BikeCliff's website for specific instructions on how to change these three.

http://members.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff/

Look at the links named Oil and Filter Change, Secondary Gear Oil Change, and Final Drive Unit Oil Change.
 
kdupont said:
Since Im new to the whole bike scene can anyone here tell me about the different fluids I need to maintain in my bike?
Click to expand...
You will need engine oil, hypoid gear oil and brake fluid.


kdupont said:
Someone said something about primary fluid?
Click to expand...
Not sure what they were calling "primary" fluid.


kdupont said:
Does my 1980 Suzuki gs850 have clutch fluid?
Click to expand...
Yes, sort of. Your clutch is bathed in the same engine oil that runs through the rest of the engine. Change the engine oil (and filter), you have also changed the "clutch fluid".


kdupont said:
Primary fluid?
Click to expand...
Again, you will have to define what "primary" is.


kdupont said:
Also what kind of oil is best for bikes?
Click to expand...
At the risk of starting another "Oh, NO, not THIS again" debate, I will merely say that motorcycle oil is probably best, but is also very expensive. An affordable oil that does a VERY good job is one that was designed for diesel engines. The forum favorite is Rotella. You can get the regular "dino" oil or synthetic.


kdupont said:
Can I use regular motor oil for my bike.
Click to expand...
Yes, you can, but why would you want to? Regular motor oil is designed for cars, and all of them have catalytic convertors. As cars age, they tend to burn a bit of oil, so the oil manufacturers have been reducing the number of ingredients that might possibly contaminate the convertors. Those are the ingredients that make them desirable for motorcycle use. So far, oils designed for diesel engines have not been affected, which is why we use them.


kdupont said:
I have a fluid leak coming from the casing behind my gear shifter.
Click to expand...
Remove the shifter and that cover. Clean the area, put it back together and go for a ride. Open it up again to see where it is leaking. Two possible sources there are if the secondary drive has been overfilled or if the o-ring around the starter is leaking, allowing oil to come into the starter cavity and trickle back under that cover.


kdupont said:
The P.O said he changed the clutch springs recently and im under the impression he may not have sealed the case properly.
Click to expand...
If he did, he would have opened up the large flat area on the right side of the engine, not the left, where the shifter is. Hopefully he used stock springs, not heavy-duty aftermarket ones.

.
 
Alright, thank you guys. I have no problem spending the money to buy proper motorcycle oil. How often should I change the different fluids?
 
Steve said:
Not sure what they were calling "primary" fluid.

Yes, sort of. Your clutch is bathed in the same engine oil that runs through the rest of the engine. Change the engine oil (and filter), you have also changed the "clutch fluid".

Again, you will have to define what "primary" is.
Click to expand...

The primary is the connection between the crankshaft and transmission input shaft. Some bikes, not ours but notably harley-davidson's, have a separated transmission that utilizes a chain to connect engine with transmission. This chain like our shafties gears has oil in it's housing to keep things (the chain) lubricated. The oil for this primary chain is what is commonly referred to as primary fluid/oil.

Clutch fluid would be for hydraulic operated clutches. Lubricating the actual clutch discs is not a huge necessity for operation and many bikes (most ducati's) have a dry clutches which have no oil or fluid of any kind bathing the discs.
 
Rotella is just as good as any overpriced motorcycle oil, if not better.
That's why so many riders use it.

The fact that it's not overpriced is a bonus, not the main reason.

BMW, KTM, Yamaha and the Suzukis, I use it in all of my bikes, it's good stuff.
 
If you want to be thorough, don't forget fork oil. :)

If you don't have it already, get the GS850 factory service manual from the link that Triam posted in comment #3.
 
The guy who was telling me about primary fluid was a Harley owner so that makes sense as to why he said primary fluid. When I change the oil here this week im going to pull the cover that's leaking and re-seal it with rtv.
 
I change my bike's fluids every two years, brake, and fork. Engine oil is changed every 4-5 thousand miles, with a new oil filter. Air filter is cleaned and reoiled once or twice a year depending how dusty it has been. I have a K&N air filter, going on umm 30 years old.
 
kdupont said:
The guy who was telling me about primary fluid was a Harley owner so that makes sense as to why he said primary fluid. When I change the oil here this week im going to pull the cover that's leaking and re-seal it with rtv.
Click to expand...

Go ahead, seal it with RTV, be prepared for unhappiness.

.
 
Oh crap, I didn't see that "reseal with RTV" No, like Steve said be prepared for unhappiness. Order a new OEM gasket for the cover.
 
where can I find the gasket for the cover. Im not sure of the name of the cover. Its in in front of the secondary cover by the gear shifter.
 
I think you're talking about the stator cover?

Regardless, you don't need to know the name. Just go to a vendor's site with parts diagrams (like partsoutlaw.com), look up the part on the diagram, and order by number.
 
I think it might be, Im new to the whole bike scene so I really don't know much about bike terminology or part location. I know electrical systems really well from auto school and I understand basic motors, but I have never messed with bikes.
 
According to partsoutlaw.com the cover Im referring to is the crankcase cover. It shows it to be on the left side of the bike, however there is also a crankcase cover on the right hand side as well.
 
That's OK there are covers on both sides of the crankcase.Parts lists tend to give generic names like 'cover, crankcase'. As you get more familiar you start to call them by what they cover like stator on the left and clutch on the right. In your original post you said the leak was from the cover behind the gearshift. There are two covers on the lhs. The larger forward one covers the stator and the starter motor clutch and gears. The cover behind the gearshift is separate and smaller. It doesn't have a seal but behind it are the drain and level plugs for gear oil. Gear oil would smell of cat pee.
Despite what any previous owner says it would be safer to assume that fluid changes have been neglected and for the first year double up on changing especially if the old stuff coming out reminds you of Starbucks:)
 
kdupont said:
I think it might be, Im new to the whole bike scene so I really don't know much about bike terminology or part location. I know electrical systems really well from auto school and I understand basic motors, but I have never messed with bikes.
Click to expand...

I don't want to sound preachy but............... there is a world of difference between car technology and old bikes. A flat or a sticky brake caliper is inconvenient in a car but it's your neck on two wheels. Things wear out faster and things need retightening or at least checking frequently.
Get stuck into the manual linked earlier and get organised for completing the maintenance checklist from top to bottom. If you get stuck remember that the only stupid questions are the ones you didn't ask.
 
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