bad day... (slipping clutch ? inc.)

[Guest]

Today I finally found time to do my clutch springs and LOF. Everything goes as planned during the actual work. I drain the oil out, finally break loose the 2nd drive plug, change out oil filter(Suzuki brand filter). then move onto the springs. pull brake lever off, pull off clutch cover, loosen all 6 bolts, remove old springs (about 2mm shorter than new springs), take out and inspect clutches(still have some meat on them and steels have the normal little dots), lightly take some fine sand paper to them to rough them up a bit, install all back in the order and direction that they came out just to be safe, re-install all pieces back into the bike, even replace clutch gasket and fill er up with 10w40 Lucas 'high performance' motorcycle oil.
I go to take a test ride after adjusting the clutch cable and at first from a stop it slips worse than before, and I was in 3rd and it feels like it is grabbing good, give it some throttle and it slips some more. from 5k to about 7.5k before settling and grabbing again.

I am getting really frustrated right now and really disappointed at what I thought was a good job. After the day I had at work I was really hoping to have some good news and not this mess.

[7981GS]

It could be as simple as draining that Lucas oil out and pouring in some Rotella.

Daniel

[chef1366]

Loosen the clutch cable and see if it helps

[JCSkokos]

Daniel, I just switched over from rotella because a friend had some extra unopened quarts of lucas from before he crashed. will that make a difference?

Chef, I tried that and it didnt seem to help much, I will try the lower screw/lock nut adjuster tomorrow to see if that helps.

[7981GS]

Some oils have additives in them that friction plates don't like.
Drain the oil out into a clean container with a lid in case you want to use it in something else.
Try the Rotella for 10 or so miles and see if it clears it up.
I have read countless stories on other forums where changing the oil has cured just such a problem.

Daniel

[blowerbike]

if your fibers are hard/can't push your finger nail in them easily ect...
you will need to either replace the fibers or add a half a set of H/D springs.
i don't believe this is an oil problem.
this is assuming you have your cable adjusted properly as mentioned above.

[JCSkokos]

I have been thinking about new friction plates just a few minutes ago. I figure the bike is 30 years old and was sitting for 15 years with the plates all compressed, they may be pretty squished and hard. I didnt think of trying to check how hard they were when I had them out to be honest.

[JCSkokos]

update:
This morning I noticed a little puddle under the bike and thought the nightmare continues. I get to work and check it out to find it is the clutch cover seal.... skip to the end of the day,I pull it off to put a little bit of silicone gasket sealer on it, and somewhere in the reassembly I seem to have fixed the slipping problem! No more slip, no more leak, less noises coming from engine.. Great way to end the week!

[sedelen]

I love happy endings.
Now what do you think you did that fixed it?