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Its normal for all bikes even new bikes with a wet clutch to have some clutch slippage, clutch slippage is caused by the dirty combustion deposits in the motor oil, these deposits stick to the fiber clutch plates. When you use a good synthetic these deposits are purified by the synthetic by the strong detergent additives in synthethic oil. When you use a FULL synthetic you will have LESS clutch slippage, or NO slippage at all, that will increase ur top speed, ur top speed is limited due to clutch slippage. If you switch to synthetic you will see between 5 to 20 mph higher top speed. If you own an air cooled or oil cooled bike synthetic motor oil is perfect, it will keep ur bike running cooler.

MotoF150 wrote:If you switch to synthetic you will see between 5 to 20 mph higher top speed.

Gosh, if synthetic gives that much of a power boost, all bikes should run it. That's, what, a 10 to 20 percent increase in power?

I ain't buyin' what you're sellin', still.

CrotchRocketeer wrote:Hey Mintbread,

Thanks for replying. Actually the previous owner (who I work with) did put standard oil back in it after the synthetic made it slip, but it did not help. I have read the '98 and '99 B-1200's have notoriously weak clutches for the power they deliver, and the 2000 and ups have a stronger clutch with a different design. Maybe its just a combination of an old tired clutch and the synthetic oils "slickiness". Also maybe some synthetics are designed to work with wet clutches, I am not sure.

There are actually two different issues that many people tend to mix up. First is using an oil with a synthetic base stock as opposed to one with a dinosaur base. The other is using oil with friction modifiers (often labelled "energy saving") as opposed to an oil without friction modifiers. These are two completely different issues.

You can buy synthetic oil with friction modifiers and synthetic oil without friction modifiers, as well as dino oil with and without friction modifiers. Where motorcycle clutches are concerned, you want to make sure that the oil you choose does NOT have friction modifiers, whether it's synthetic or not.

To elaborate a wet clutch has oil in it. Friction modifiers are teflon based substances that'll attach to the clutch plates and cause it to slip. Very Very bad.

Well that certainly clears the subject up a little, thanks for the information everyone. I did not know "friction modifiers" can be in dino oil as well. With that out of the way can anyone recommend a friction modifier free, well priced synthetic oil, as I am not sure how you check to see if any particular brand has them or not.

Shell Rotella T 5w40 synthetic. $14 per gallon at wal-mart... very good oil in my experience. There is also a rotella 15w40 which isn't so good for motorcycles. Mobil Delvac 1 (not Mobil 1 nor delvac 1300) is also good.

My bike is past break-in now (~2000 miles) so I'm putting Rotella T 5w40 in this weekend... it is widely recommended on V-Strom, Ninja, and a bunch of other motorcycle enthusiast forums. I've been using it for years in my diesel and a few other vehicles and have nothing bad to say.

BTW: The bottles of oil have a circular seal that has the grade of the oil. If that circle has "energy conserving"... the oil has those friction modifiers and you should not use it. in your bike

Sevulturus wrote:To elaborate a wet clutch has oil in it. Friction modifiers are teflon based substances that'll attach to the clutch plates and cause it to slip. Very Very bad.

Friction modifiers aren't necessarily Teflon-based. There are some friction modifiers that are, but most aren't. Common friction modifiers in oil additive packages are zinc and molybdendum. These guys are real slick, which is great for bearing surfaces, especially under high load, but are bad for motorcycle wet clutches.

I was told to be nice by the board of directors of TMW. You guys don't know whats in the motor oil you buy its not listed on the bottle so you really have no idea whats in it, if you go to www.amsoil.com its listed and I really don't care what kind of oil you use in ur bike, its not my bike, i don't care if you need a $600 clutch job at 4000 miles, its ur money, i was just trying to help you guys out.

MotoF150 wrote: i don't care if you need a $600 clutch job at 4000 miles, its ur money, i was just trying to help you guys out.

Oh no! Nobody told me that my last bike should have had a new clutch at 4,000 miles. Stupid me! I rode it 76,000 miles on plain old car oil without changing out the clutch. I hope the new owner doesn't find out. He's put another 15K on it since. My current bike is at least 3 clutches overdue. I'd better get to a shop.

MotoF150 wrote:You guys don't know whats in the motor oil you buy its not listed on the bottle so you really have no idea whats in it...

*Ahem*



Sorry for the huge image, but there is a small chance he might read it. Also, who pays more than $150 for a clutch kit and gasket? Heck, you get wrangle all-new parts for $100 to your door, most of the time.