I recently realized the my clutch is no longer slipping. I went back to mineral oil in October/November of last year, and the issue went away. It was only happening with Synthetic Suzuki and Luqui Moly oils. I think I will stick to mineral oil from now on.

ThumperPaul wrote on 03/24/23 at 09:08:50:



Yep, I too was thinking I was doing the bike a favor with the synthetic oil, turns out it like dino juice better. I will most definitely try the Shell oil for my next oil change. What is the recommended oil change interval with mineral oil? I used to do 2-3k on older cars with dino, and 5k on cars with synthetic.

ThumperPaul wrote on 03/24/23 at 10:49:39:


But here is a dilemma, since the clutch is slipping with synthetic and does not slip with mineral oil, it means that synthetic oil is indeed more slippery, and is probably good for the rotating parts inside the engine, but not good for the clutch.

Quote:


Good info. The engine and the rest of the components were designed for mineral oil anyway, so I'll just continue using it. Right now I have the Suzuki branded oil in it, but on the next oil change I will try the Shell product you recommended.

I'm pretty opinionated, but when someone has well over 100,000 miles on a motor, I'm probably going to ask
What oil do you use?
What filter?
How often do you change oil?
Filter?


For me, I ran dino. The oil usage changes as miles build. When oil use got bothersome to keep up with, I dumped the oil.

I think my clutch is fried, with just over 6k on the clock. As I explained in my original post, at first I was having an issue with the clutch slipping under hard acceleration from dead stop - up to about 10mph, after which it would lock up and had did not slip at all even at WOT up to its top speed. I don't know if it was doing it since day one, this is my first bike that I bought new and learned to ride on, so I can't account for the first 1-2k miles, but it was most certainly happening after the first 2k miles onward.

The bike hasn't been ridden much over the years, but I remember doing the first oil change at 1k with Suzuki synthetic, the 2nd oil change at around 2.5k also with Suzuki synthetic, and then at about 4,5k with Liqui Moly synthetic motorcycle oil.

Then last year when I was battling a leak, I switched to Suzuki mineral oil, and coincidentally the problem seemed to go away. The clutch now locks up right from the dig and the bike pulls hard.

Right now I am sitting at about 6.5k, and a new problem has developed. Two weeks ago I went for a nice long ride and I noticed at going around top speed, 78-80 mph, increasing throttle slightly was sometimes causing the RPMs to jump  up, as if the clutch was pulled in. Where the highway had any sort of incline, it was impossible to make the bike reach 80, it would top out at 78ish at WOT, and it just felt weird, as if the engine wasn't transferring all of its power to the wheel. It didn't cross my mind that it may be the clutch, I thought that maybe the air was less dense since I was riding through the Pocono mountains.

Then for the last two weeks I've been playing with my carb and rejetting it with the kit that Lancer sent me. I got the engine running well, but now my clutch is certainly slipping really bad. It is not slipping from the dig, but if I'm riding steady at low to mid RPMs in any gear, and give it moderate to high throttle, RPMs just jump up as if the clutch lever is being pulled in. I have to very gradually increase the throttle to keep the clutch engaged and make the bike accelerate.

I understand the clutch job on this bike is not very difficult. Should I go with OEM parts, or is there anything better?

och wrote on 04/15/23 at 12:27:45:


I think you are getting gas in the crankcase (like carb flooding).  When this happens, the bike will consume massive amounts of oil fast.  It will also make your clutch act totally messed up (glazed plates).  I had this happen once.  I resolved the flooding, changed the oil with Rotella T4 and my clutch was able to salvage itself after a couple hundred miles.  Drain the oil and give it a whiff, it will be thin if gassy, and you'll kinda see it.  That's my guess.