Is this my clutch plate?

[TownsendsFJR1300]

In all seriousness, with the introduction of "car" oil into this FZ engine, will the additives (not used in MC specific oil for wet clutch reasons), SOAK INTO the friction plates permanently?

I suspect it'd be fine after the oil /filter change, (hopefully the op will post the results) being it was only slipping at the top end RPM's.


I ask as some earlier FJR's had clutch plates stick (frictions) making shifting difficult. The fix was to pull the plates out and do a soak in MC oil which solved the problem.

 

[samlynn37]

during my ride to whistler last week, i experienced the exact same thing as clay did. over 12k rpm, no thrust.

i do my own oil change every year in the begining of the season, and i always buy parts from my local yamaha dealer. that being said, this year i have not change oil since last summers weather was pretty crappy, didnt ride much at all (maybe 2000km??). so i figure i would skip an oil change this year... so far this year i've rode almost 3000km, so that would make it a grand total of 5000km without oil change, which is still within yamaha's recommended interval.

i am a car mechanic myself, so i have a pretty good understanding on the importance of oil viscosity, slippage, etc.. but in my case, i use yamalube, which means oil is not an issue here. the only thing i can think of is maybe theres too much clutch material in the oil??? but every time when i did my oil change, the oil always looked like it was brand new!!! so... maybe someone whos a bike mechanic can chime in???

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

during my ride to whistler last week, i experienced the exact same thing as clay did. over 12k rpm, no thrust.

i do my own oil change every year in the begining of the season, and i always buy parts from my local yamaha dealer. that being said, this year i have not change oil since last summers weather was pretty crappy, didnt ride much at all (maybe 2000km??). so i figure i would skip an oil change this year... so far this year i've rode almost 3000km, so that would make it a grand total of 5000km without oil change, which is still within yamaha's recommended interval.

i am a car mechanic myself, so i have a pretty good understanding on the importance of oil viscosity, slippage, etc.. but in my case, i use yamalube, which means oil is not an issue here. the only thing i can think of is maybe theres too much clutch material in the oil??? but every time when i did my oil change, the oil always looked like it was brand new!!! so... maybe someone whos a bike mechanic can chime in???

If you've pulled apart one of our clutches, the main difference between an automotive clutch is there's numerous STEEL PLATES and numerous FRICTION PLATES vs an automotive pressure plate(acts as the clamping force of course, grabbing the friction, center clutch splinded ((to the transmission)).

The steels in our bikes can warp/blue with severe abuse, the cutch plates can wear and again with extreme abuse literally explode (clean up is a PIA as clutch plates are all over the place in the engine). Of course there numerous springs in the FZ holding the assembly together. If they lose their clamping strenth (overall lenth), that'll allow the clutch to slip under load.

The more likely issue you probably have is to check, clean and lube the clutch cable. If its hanging up and not fully releasing the small "clutch lever arm" (on the rt side of the engine, next to the filler cap), the hanging up could stop that lever from fully releasing (thus holding the clutch from fully clamping together).

I'm assuming you haven't hade the clutch apart recently as there are some marks on the plates and a specific order for them to install. Curious as to how many miles on the bike and if its had numerous burn outs, etc, accelerated wear and tear.

Worse case scenerio, you can change the frictions (there are spec's for wear) and steels if needed (warped/blued, overheated) and springs, fairly easily. I don't believe you even have to empty the oil if doing it on the side stand.

Of course, after checking/cleaning the clutch cable, you could try changing the oil again, inspect that oil very closely.

You won't see shiny steel from the steels, the frictions are similar material to a car clutch (but for wet clutches) and are not shiny.

Hope this helps, please post what you come up with..