1982 Seca 550 Oil Change Clutch Slip

OK, I'm a bonehead. I haven't owned a street bike for awhile. I have a 1982 Seca 550 with 10,000 miles on it. Bike runs/drives fine. I changed the oil and now the clutch is slipping. I used regular automobile oil on the change. After doing some reading, found out that was not the thing to do. If I rechange the oil filter with the proper motorcycle oil, will the clutch slippage go away? Have I done any permanent damage?

Thanks in advance...

 

Yes...drain all of the automotive oil, and change the filter. Only use motorcycle oil and the clutch should be ok.

Kenneth

 

Since you won't find 20W40 easily, 20W50 is fine. Castrol 4T is widely available. Just be sure it's motorcycle specific and stay away from synthetics.

No, you haven't damaged anything, but remember something:

Your clutch only has 10K on it, yes. But it's also 30 YEARS OLD.

Which means, in order to only have 10K on it, the bike had to have spent a lot of time SITTING.

When an XJ sits, the clutch is half in and half out of the oil.

So while half of the little friction pads dry out, the other half slowly turn to linoleum. And all of them "weld" themselves to the plain plates, leaving deposits behind when they're suddenly ripped apart again.

Then along comes the happy new classic bike owner, (you) who doesn't give the clutch a second thought (because it can't be seen and "seems fine") who starts riding the bike again.

This half dried out and half petrified clutch is NOT going to work as designed for very long. It will eventually begin to slip even running the correct oil.

So no, you didn't necessarily damage anything; but that clutch is going to need to be rebuilt just like thirty year old brakes do, and sooner than later.

If the oil change doesn't "fix" it don't fret. It's work that will NEED TO BE DONE anyway.

And here's how: http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=29541.html

At 10K miles, I hope you've checked the valve clearances; if they've been neglected you're heading for disaster REAL soon.

Now about those brakes...

 

I have been thinking about changing the plates and springs just to be cautious. If I had all the parts in hand and I have above average mechanical ability, how long would it take me to change these out? 4 hrs? 6 hrs?

I rebuilt the brakes last fall including stainless steel lines bought from this site front & rear are in good shape.

Now,,,,,tell me about the valve clearance issue???????

 

Even with cleaning up all of the friction plates with Scotchbrite, a clutch rebuild won't take more than a couple of hours as long as you pay attention to detail so you don't have to go back and do it again. Read the how-to I linked above carefully and you won't have any problems.

Valve clearances aren't an "issue" they're the most neglected maintenance item that's likely to hurt your motor.

The valves on these bikes tighten as the valve seats out-wear the rest of the components and the clearances close up. If they get tight enough they fail to close properly and a burnt valve can result.

The valve clearances were to have been checked at 3000 miles, and then need to be checked every 5000 miles thereafter, and adjusted when needed to keep them in spec.

On most of these bikes, they've been ignored. It's not uncommon for bikes with 7000 or 8000 miles that have never been touched to have 7 or 8 of 8 tight valves (mine were.)

If your bike is one of those whose valves have been neglected thus far, at 10K you've got quite a few out of spec and heading for disaster.

This is an important maintenance procedure; one you're going to get familiar with and perform regularly (every 5000 miles.)

The manuals cover it pretty well; but their pictures SUCK. So I did this to help everyone out; enjoy: http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=14827.html and here's Part Deux: http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=29209.html

You should at least CHECK them ASAP.