I bought a new (to me) bike this month and part of my BITOG obsession, I changed all of the fluids. Coolant twice, engine oil and filter, final drive, forks, brake and clutch. 2004 Kawasaki Vulcan Nomad FI. Got it for a great price since it needs some cosmetic work, nothing major. Test ride was fine but the only thing that stuck out was a little headshake around 45mph.
I used some BMW coolant since I have a couple gallons. The overflow bottle was empty and nasty; and I was switching from green to BMW blue so I did it twice to clean and get the green out.
Engine oil in the bike was two+ years old with around 1k miles on hit and a factory Kawasaki filter. I filled it with M1 TDT 5w-40 and a Wix filter. Kawi recommends 10w-40 JASO MA but allows 20w-40 and 20w-50 above 32F. Or even 10w-30 under 86F. 10w-50 can be used in any ambient temperature.
Final drive calls for SAE90 API GL-5 above 32F so I filled it with some M1 75w-90LS I had. Old stuff wasn't too bad so it must have been changed in the past.
Brake and hydraulic clutch fluid was nasty. Both levers had stiction and I thought I would have to replace the seals but new Valvoline DOT4 made everything happy again.
A new rear tire; some DEXIII ATF in the forks; new front wheel bearings(and seals); lube and tighten steering stem bearings; and lube the swingarm bearings has brought it back. It takes a little getting used to this tank after riding an Interceptor for the past 12 years exclusively.
I used the M1 TDT since I had some from the AZ sale last year where I picked it up for $12/gallon(I think) and I haven't used it in a bike before. After about 300 miles on the oil I noticed the clutch was slipping in higher gears at lower RPM. 5th gear(top) at 60mph would rev quite a bit. No tach so no numbers. It was really bad yesterday after my first ride in a week waiting for parts so I decided to change to Valvoline synth 20w-50 I picked up at the AZ clearance last month.
No change right away but after ~100 miles the clutch slip is gone. I know the clutch wasn't slipping when I test rode it because I gave it the "Official Click and Clack clutch test". I thought about everything I did for maintenance and the only thing that came to me is the clutch fluid replacement changed the engagement point of the lever. When riding with the slipping clutch the slightest pull of the lever would cause it to slip. So I thought of the lever binding and not letting the clutch engage fully. After filling with Valvoline this doesn't happen.
I have read about many people using TDT in a bike with success but it didn't work for me.
Moral of this long story is: I will be using a JASO MA oil in this bike. I won't try TDT in my VFR either...I'll just use it in my OPE I guess. I've been riding and maintaining shared sump bikes for 24 years and this is the first experience with this phenomenon.
On a sidenote: I test rode a Honda VTX1800 and that had a slipping clutch under full acceleration so I passed on buying that...I wonder if it just needed the right oil?
I used some BMW coolant since I have a couple gallons. The overflow bottle was empty and nasty; and I was switching from green to BMW blue so I did it twice to clean and get the green out.
Engine oil in the bike was two+ years old with around 1k miles on hit and a factory Kawasaki filter. I filled it with M1 TDT 5w-40 and a Wix filter. Kawi recommends 10w-40 JASO MA but allows 20w-40 and 20w-50 above 32F. Or even 10w-30 under 86F. 10w-50 can be used in any ambient temperature.
Final drive calls for SAE90 API GL-5 above 32F so I filled it with some M1 75w-90LS I had. Old stuff wasn't too bad so it must have been changed in the past.
Brake and hydraulic clutch fluid was nasty. Both levers had stiction and I thought I would have to replace the seals but new Valvoline DOT4 made everything happy again.
A new rear tire; some DEXIII ATF in the forks; new front wheel bearings(and seals); lube and tighten steering stem bearings; and lube the swingarm bearings has brought it back. It takes a little getting used to this tank after riding an Interceptor for the past 12 years exclusively.
I used the M1 TDT since I had some from the AZ sale last year where I picked it up for $12/gallon(I think) and I haven't used it in a bike before. After about 300 miles on the oil I noticed the clutch was slipping in higher gears at lower RPM. 5th gear(top) at 60mph would rev quite a bit. No tach so no numbers. It was really bad yesterday after my first ride in a week waiting for parts so I decided to change to Valvoline synth 20w-50 I picked up at the AZ clearance last month.
No change right away but after ~100 miles the clutch slip is gone. I know the clutch wasn't slipping when I test rode it because I gave it the "Official Click and Clack clutch test". I thought about everything I did for maintenance and the only thing that came to me is the clutch fluid replacement changed the engagement point of the lever. When riding with the slipping clutch the slightest pull of the lever would cause it to slip. So I thought of the lever binding and not letting the clutch engage fully. After filling with Valvoline this doesn't happen.
I have read about many people using TDT in a bike with success but it didn't work for me.
Moral of this long story is: I will be using a JASO MA oil in this bike. I won't try TDT in my VFR either...I'll just use it in my OPE I guess. I've been riding and maintaining shared sump bikes for 24 years and this is the first experience with this phenomenon.
On a sidenote: I test rode a Honda VTX1800 and that had a slipping clutch under full acceleration so I passed on buying that...I wonder if it just needed the right oil?