20w50 too thick?

[courier11sec]

I changed my oil with 20w50 and now it seems like the clutch doesn't want to fully disengage. I figured it wouldn't hurt as the bike is pretty old and wasn't well maintained. Also that's what I had laying around.
Should I dump it and put in something lighter, or is this clutch deal probably just a co-incidence? Never been around bikes or wet clutches before, so I'm flying blind.
Thanks,

[Billy Ricks]

Should be fine in summer months and the clutch thing should sort itself out if it is oil related. When I bought my bike the mechanics recommended a turbo rated 20W50.

[fgh]

On my 83 750ES the clutch would hang when the bike was shut-off. I'd need to rock it loose. If you can put up with that you're probably OK. I'd not use the 20W-50 unless its burning a lot of oil. If its not then I'd get 10W-40 after all the 20W-50 was gone.

[rustybronco]

and then there is 15w40 works great in mine

[SqDancerLynn1]

20/40 will make the clutch stick when cold after it warms up it should be ok

[courier11sec]

Thanks for the quick replies folks. I figured I must be on the right track. I guess it's nothing to worry about as the clutch was fine before and while I can't ride the bike yet, I did warm it up today and it became less severe. I'll probably use a thinner oil next time.

[semerm]

You can always remove 2 quarts or so of the thick stuff and replace with 10w40. This should give overall thinner oil when it is cold without having to change it all. It might solve the problem. Just my 2 cents.

[HobieSun]

20/50 is fine in these bikes. Air cooled and summer rolling around. You will be fine.

[ScottHarriss]

They don't have summer in Washington.:-D

[courier11sec]

They don't have summer in Washington.:-D

:mrgreen: Very true!

[U.P.dragracer]

I changed my oil with 20w50 and now it seems like the clutch doesn't want to fully disengage. I figured it wouldn't hurt as the bike is pretty old and wasn't well maintained. Also that's what I had laying around.
Should I dump it and put in something lighter, or is this clutch deal probably just a co-incidence? Never been around bikes or wet clutches before, so I'm flying blind.
Thanks,

I use 0w40 amsoil in my bandit all year it is awesome stuff

[KEITH KRAUSE]

Ray, put in what the factory manual says. I too had a dragging clutch with 20/50. I went back to the factory suggested 10/40 and the dragging stopped.
I also had a little more trouble shifting, cold or hot, though it was not easy to notice. I wasn't sure if I was imagining the harder shifting or not, but my shift lever (twice) started loosening up on me even though I KNEW its bolt was correctly torqued. This never happened during the 20 years before my rebuild, which included all new clutch plates and the basket welded/heavier damper springs.
I finally got smart and changed the oil and the shift lever never loosened up again. That proves to me that the shifting was effected too, not just the clutch dragging. I was sub-consciencely shifting harder with my foot.
Looking back now, it makes perfect sense. How can a dragging clutch NOT effect the tranny and if continued, the trans will suffer. Trans parts are expensive.
I just wanted others to know there can be more parts at risk that may not be noticed as easily.