1 yr. Old Clutch, and STILL Can't Get The Sweet Spot??

[shortlid]

THANKS, focus frenzy!

Thanks, Focus Frenzy I thought It was my clutch mis-adjusted! By following the directions in Clymers, I can get N fine and when I rev it it does not move. Sweet, but it does have quite a hard CLUNK when in N with the clutch in going to 1 st. or 2 nd.!

[Jethro]

Yeah man, these bikes all clunk pretty good when you throw it in gear. Even brandy new.

[shortlid]

OK, now what???

OK, so I took your guys advice and it worked great with the 10W-40 weight oil in the bike. Now that I put 20W-50 of the same brand in it the clutch adjustment if all off again! If I don't switch to 20W-50 my '80 GS850G uses oil fast during the 90 degree heat we are having! But now it is back to moving when I rev it and hard to shift to N when stoped!!

[shortlid]

Any insight?

Any one had this happen where you clutch comes all out of adjustment when you switch oil weights?

[Anonymous]

Just replaced my clutch cable on my GS1100GK. What a difference that made! Smoother shifts, and no more clutch chatter under a load. Funny how a cable can make that much change, huh? Well, oil can do the same thing.

My bike was run on regular motor oil when I first got it. It smoked on the left (low) side at start, and the clutch dragged and slipped and generally made a mess of things. I changed to AMSOIL synthetic motorcycle oil, and both of those problems went away.

I've written this schpiel a couple times now, and I think the guys here suspect me of being an AMSOIL salesman, but honestly it was recommended to me by a mechanic and part-time AMSOIL salesman, and even though it was $10 a quart, I still use it today, over a year later.

Even though some bikes work fine with regular motor oil, many will not. Synthetic contains fewer impurities and will leave fewer deposits in the crankcase. That leads to a cleaner crankcase and thus a cleaner clutch, which will drag and slip much less. Further, I believe that dedicated motorcycle oil contains different additives that equip it to run in an air-cooled environment, in a high-revving engine, a wet clutch, and a transmission (as opposed to regular motor oil which runs in a low-revving water-cooled engine only).

Best of all, as long as your bike doesn't leak oil, you can get away with 10k miles on a change of the synthetic.

So, would I advise you to go out and buy $40 oil? Not necessarily. But it worked for me, and it might work for you.

For my $.02, don't worry about the clunk, especially if it's when the bike is cold. That's normal. It should diminish when hot. Also, if you're approaching a stop sign or any situation where you're OK with holding in the clutch for a bit, just apply gentle pressure to the shifter (from N) as you slow to a stop. As wheel speed and engine speed hit a harmonious sweet spot, you'll feel the bike drop into 1st effortlessly. Get the hang of that and you only really need to clunk when you first start out.

[IanFrancisco]

Of course 20-50 is going to make the clutch drag. It will also rob your motor of a little power and take longer to circulate during a cold start. That stuff is designed to get as thick as molasses when it gets hot. Go with a 10-40 synthetic. Mobil 1 is now available in a motorcycle formula for about $8 a quart. What does a bike hold, 3 or 4 quarts? Seems like $32 is pretty cheap insurance. We'd all rather be riding than up to our elbows in grease, right?