clutch slip

[suzukibandit]

Oki have a gs550mz katana and when i fire the bike up and go to drive it the clutch slips pretty bad but after about 20 mins of driving carefully the clutch grabs good and i can ride it normal without babying the clutch.So what the hell is going on i have freeplay in the cable and i blasted the metal plates and the fiber ones are in spec.Soim at a loss here trying to figure out whats going on can anyone help?

[Big T]

Did the bike sit for a long time?

Did you scuff up the fiber plates with sandpaper?

Springs within spec?

[SqDancerLynn1]

Did you replace the clutch springs ? What kind of oil are you using

[suzukibandit]

spring are in spec the bike did sit but i did a poor mans resto on it i blasted the metal plates and no i didnt scuff the fiber plate should i have? also i work for a vintage graphics company and my boss has quite a few old bike and he said that i shouldnt have put synthetic oil in my bike as the old ones werent made to run with it is he right?

[Guest]

Clutch cables actually stretches a bit when it gets hot. Does the cable go behind the engine and pick up all that heat? If so I'd say it's an adjustment problem.

[suzukibandit]

ya thats what my boss said so he played with it and it got worse

[Big T]

my boss has quite a few old bike and he said that i shouldnt have put synthetic oil in my bike as the old ones werent made to run with it is he right?

No, he's not

Oil doesn't care how old your bike is - it's still lubricates. Rotella synthetic is used by many members here

It does sound like a routing issue. Get a service manual and confirm the clutch cable is routed correctly. Check Cliff's site

[blowerbike]

worm gear needs adjusted.
does this model have a lever on the clutch cover where the cable attaches?
if not it has a worm gear on the sprocket cover behind a small inspection plate.
run in lightly/bottom out/back off 1 to 1-1/2 turns/jam nut down.
readjust handlebar lever.

[koolaid_kid]

If you work on the worm drive, I suggest cleaning it first. Take the shifter off, remove the sprocket cover, remove the worm drive. Take it apart, clean all the junk out of it, regrease the worm gear, and reassemble. They tend to get clogged with junk over time and become problematic.

[mlinder]

Which synthetic oil did you use? Someone mentioned rotella, but I don't think it was you.

[Rover]

I vote that its the synthetic oil.

[Smokinapankake]

So long as the oil was not labeled "energy conserving" or something it should be okay.
I vote cable/worm/rack n pinion (if it has one).

[mlinder]

That's why I asked which synthetic he used.

[suzukibandit]

i used mobile one 20-50 and ive played with the cable oiled it and it still slips soim going to look at the clutch plates next

[mlinder]

Mobile One Motorcycle, or just Mobile One?