clutch slipping after oil change

[Zorlac]

Take a gander at all the qt containers in the store, if there is a circle or a starburst with the words "energy conserving" don't put it in your FJR.

This pretty much applies to all multi-viscosity oils that are under 40W, regardless of the brand or type of oil.

 

[FJRBluesman]

That's not slipping, that's dragging, and quite common when cold. Bleeding the clutch may help. You don't need to drain and refill oil.

Gunny.
Change your oil back to Rotella and sin no more.

Stick to your correct viscosities too.

 

[Yambone]

next time I need to take it out I will let it idle in nuetral for a while and warm up before putting it in gear and see if that helps.
I don't remember having this problem last winter. I'm used to just jumping on the GS and going.

When I got my FJR, the dealer stared me in the eyes and said "Never Ever blip the throttle or ride away before you reach 1 bar" on the engine temp thingie. Not sure how this would affect clutch engagement, but it might at 30-degrees.

My buddy has a GS that he fires up and rides away in short order. One time he left it on fast idle too long, it popped the oil sight glass and nearly burned up his bike and garage! A different beast, that GS.

 

[becoyote]

10 30 not okay?

tune up info

 

[Fred W]

10-30 is OK if it isn't marked "energy conserving". I just had occasion to visit the local Satan's A'hole (aka Walmart) and looked at every oil they had on the shelf. The 10W30 oils marked for "higher mileage" vehicles are NOT energy conserving, so they would be OK.

20W40 is (was?) the recommended viscosity. The 40 is the oil rating at operating temperature, so that is the more important rating, especially for a liquid cooled engine, which is less effected by outside temperature at operating temp. Therefore I would stick with 5W40, 10W40, 15W40 or 20W40 oils. You can still select the lower first numbers based on the ambient temps for easier cold weather starting.

 

[Fred W]

When I got my FJR, the dealer stared me in the eyes and said "Never Ever blip the throttle or ride away before you reach 1 bar" on the engine temp thingie.

Never heard such a thing and have been starting and riding my bike right away all along. I think your dealer is either a simpleton or a drama queen. Though I do not see the point or need for blipping the throttle.

 

[Yambone]

When I got my FJR, the dealer stared me in the eyes and said "Never Ever blip the throttle or ride away before you reach 1 bar" on the engine temp thingie.

Never heard such a thing and have been starting and riding my bike right away all along. I think your dealer is either a simpleton or a drama queen. Though I do not see the point or need for blipping the throttle.

Yea, maybe he's a drama queen, though the owner's manual does state "Caution: For maximum engine life, always warm the engine before starting off. Never accelerate hard when the engine is cold!" It doesn't say it's necessary to wait until 1 bar, however.

Not wishing to start a never-ending discussion on warm up procedures, just thought the cold weather might exacerbate the original problem with the oil he was using when not allowing for warm up.

 

[ionbeam]

...The 10W30 oils marked for "higher mileage" vehicles are NOT energy conserving, so they would be OK...

There are two higher mileage oils that I've seen. One type has higher ZDDP levels (basically zink/phosphorus) which is bad for newer cataclysmic converters. The other type can have sludge cleaners which is not so bad, but they can also have additives to swell seals which does scare me.

Back in the dark ages of FJRs, the earlier Gen I's had a tendency to develop The Tick. After a couple of incorrect guesses it seems that Yamaha found the root cause because Gen II's don't tick. The last thing that Yamaha found was that the valve stem seals were too tight, preventing sufficient lubrication of the valve stems inside the valve guides. This led to excessive stem/guide wear, resulting in the stem rattling in the guide and making the signature TICK noise. Finally the tie-in -- I would be concerned about an oil that swells seals like the valve stem seals. Seems to me that this type of oil *may* promote valve guide wear in newer FJR's. Just a thought, dunno it this line of thought is accurate.

 

[Nightshift]

"okay it wasn't red top, it was mobil 1 full syn grey top 10w 30"

You have to stick with 40W oil viscosities to avoid the evil "energy conserving friction modifiers"!!!!

Why would you even bother with putting 30 W oil in a motorcycle? You're asking for problems doing that in the first place.

My two cents,

Mick

 

[becoyote]

Why would you even bother with putting 30 W oil in a motorcycle? You're asking for problems doing that in the first place.

My two cents,

Mick

Cause I pulled this up

oil

 

[Willmeister]

Mobil1 15W-50 used to be red cap, then they went to gold cap.. now it's just grey cap..

Old:

New:

The energy conserving symbol you need to look for on the back label:

 

[becoyote]

back to dino rotella, adjusted clutch lever out, and waited for 1 bar to show before putting it in gear.

No dragging what so ever,

I should probably be scientific about it and do a colder start with the clutch lever in the original spot etc. to narrow down what made the difference, but it is working as it should now.

 

[madmike2]

back to dino rotella, adjusted clutch lever out, and waited for 1 bar to show before putting it in gear.
No dragging what so ever,

I should probably be scientific about it and do a colder start with the clutch lever in the original spot etc. to narrow down what made the difference, but it is working as it should now.

At least it was a simple solution!

Just to be safe, you might want to change the oil short of the normal mileage, especially if you notice any clutch slippage.

 

[shuswaper]

Mobil1 15W-50 used to be red cap, then they went to gold cap.. now it's just grey cap..
Old:

New:

The energy conserving symbol you need to look for on the back label:

Willmeister...don`t understand your caption about the "energy conserving symbol you need to look for on the back label". I seem to recall the actual symbol being a starburst kind of thing. What u show is the API symbol that 95% of all bottles have. :assassin:

 

[charismaticmegafauna]

Mobil1 15W-50 used to be red cap, then they went to gold cap.. now it's just grey cap..
The energy conserving symbol you need to look for on the back label:

Willmeister...don`t understand your caption about the "energy conserving symbol you need to look for on the back label". I seem to recall the actual symbol being a starburst kind of thing. What u show is the API symbol that 95% of all bottles have. :assassin:

Correct you are 'shuswaper' -- this is the ILSAC symbol to look for (and stay away from), often found on the front of the container: [SIZE=8pt]

[/SIZE]

But, the most important being this one and the words "Energy Conserving":

 

[Zorlac]

"What u show is the API symbol that 95% of all bottles have."

In the bottom half of that circle it will say "energy conserving" but since his bottle is 20W-50, it's blank.

 

[Steve Hunt]

Well $30 worth of mobil 1 is in a bucket. Hope the dragging was just related to it being pretty cold on start up.
Going back to rotella, next time I need to take it out I will let it idle in nuetral for a while and warm up before putting it in gear and see if that helps.

I don't remember having this problem last winter. I'm used to just jumping on the GS and going.

Why not just use a motorcycle oil of the correct API rating?

 

[droptail]

Wrong thread, sorry.

 

[08FJR4ME]

When I got my FJR, the dealer stared me in the eyes and said "Never Ever blip the throttle or ride away before you reach 1 bar" on the engine temp thingie.

Never heard such a thing and have been starting and riding my bike right away all along. I think your dealer is either a simpleton or a drama queen. Though I do not see the point or need for blipping the throttle.

Sheeeez, 1 bar isn't bad? I was told by the dealer never take off untill it hits 3 bars. :blink:

Edit: And iffen you drive an HD you just head straight for the BAR. :drinks:

 

[ionbeam]

Why not just use a motorcycle oil of the correct API rating?

It's all a conspiracy, plain motorcycle oil is is just no good and will damage your engine, even if the OEM did specify it and warranties the engine. Good motor oil has to be made from Special Stuff with additives, blends and unpronounceable chemicals and cost at least $15/qt. You wouldn't want your baby to have less would you? And, while you are at it, be sure to fill your FJR with premium gas because inexpensive cheap gas will harm your engine and hurt performance.

This is all good solid scientific advice, please donate $100 to my PayPal account for this service announcement which will save your engine from certain destruction and make your FJR faster than a Hayabusa.