[Scotto75]

Hi everyone. I’ve started to experience some minor clutch slipping on my CL350 when I change up a gear and rev hard, usually in 2nd. It happens when I first start the engine and ride for a few miles, but eventually disappears when the engine has run for a while and warmed up.

The bike has a set of straight bars and the P.O. made a bit of a pig’s ear with the cables, so my first thought was whether the cable was being pulled when the bike turned, or not releasing fully when I let go of the handle, but i’m fairly convinced it’s not that, as it only happens When riding the bike cold and can occur when riding straight.

I have also recently changed the oil. The bike had no clutch slippage when I first bought it a few months ago. I changed the oil not long ago as part of my new bike routine, but I used the oil David Silvers recommends listed on his website - Liquid Moly Mineral 10w 40.

Not sure what to do. Don’t want to go buying more oil, as it may still slip, but replacing the springs may be unecessary too? Any thoughts? Thanks for any advice!

 

[J-T]

If your clutch cable is properly adjusted and it's still slipping you'll need to disassemble the clutch and inspect the springs and plates to determine what needs doing.

 

[spirograph]

I’ve never used the Liquid Moly stuff, I was always under the impression you only want moly on a fresh rebuild (far from an expert opinion there though, so someone please correct me if I’m wrong). Personally, if all you’ve changed was the oil, I’d try a different one - oil is cheap. I’m in the Rotella T6 5W-40 camp, but make sure it’s JASO-MA rated on the back and it should be OK.

From there, in order, I’d check:

Clutch adjustment
Clutch adjustment
Replace clutch cable (I’ve had trouble with wonky length cable housings, so this is on my list if it isn’t closing all the way)
Clutch adjustment (yes.)
Check clutch plates for wear/possibly replace
Replace the stock clutch springs w/ Bore Tech heavy duties

I’d check back in before you get all the way down the list though

 

[spirograph]

Plot twist. I can’t find anywhere that says LiquiMoly’s JASO-MA rated (e.g., you can use it for wet clutches). Look at the back of the bottle for certifications; if you don’t see JASO-MA, you need to flush it and put a certified oil in.

As an aside, much love for DSS, but...that’s a bit of an oversight? They definitely have it, and you can use it on BMW dry clutches, but that’s a problem if they have it listed with motorcycles and don’t note that it’s not for wet clutches

 

[Scotto75]

Thanks for the replies and advice.

Yes. I would be surprised if DS had sold it knowingly. I have emailed them to find out what their opinion on the subject is, but oil choice seems to be a funny subject, and my choice was based on it being a purely mineral oil, with no synthetics stuff as I thought that was preferable. It is MA2 rated (it’s Liqui Moly without the ‘d’) but my understanding is that it would be more suited to a modern dry clutch bikes? TBH i’m finding the whole oil thing a confusing subject. Unfortunately in the UK Rotella is not easy to find. We have Rivella but not sure it’s the same. You’d think the would be a 4T mineral MA 10W40 available though.

I’ll let you know what DS says when/if they get back to me. In the meantime, my only solution to diagnose whether the oil is the issue is may be to try out another oil and see if the slipping disappears!

 

[Scotto75]

Sorry, I mean Rimula not Rivella.

And done a bit more reading and think i’ve got majorly confused with the difference between a labelled MA and MA2 oil. Does an MA2 oil work as well on a wet clutch as an MA (what I suppose is MA1?)

 

[spirograph]

The way I’ve heard it discussed is that you should stick with whatever was first put in the bike after a rebuild, e.g., if you rebuilt it and put synthetic in, stick with that, and conventional if you’ve never rebuilt it or put conventional in after, stick with that. Personally, I throw synthetic at everything I own, rebuilt or not, and I’ve never had any problems.

Anyway, JASO-MA2 seems to be rated rated for modern wet clutches (2006+), so YMMV. My move would be to go to your local parts store and see if they have a motorcycle specific 10w-40. We get really spun up over oil with these old bikes, but the reality is that you should be changing it every 1500 miles absolute maximum - just about anything that’s JASO-MA (presumably not MA2) rated will keep your bits from grinding for that long.

 

[Scotto75]

Hehe. Thanks Spirograph. It’s been good to chat it through. Funny thing is I have two other old honda’s with wet clutches and stick any cheap synthetic 10w40 in them and have no slipping. I decide to buy a proper oil and start getting problems. That’s ‘sod’s law’.

Silvers BTW replied that they “can confirm this oil (Liqui Moly Basic Street) is suitable for motorcycle wet clutches as written on the back of the bottle and by the JSO MA2 specifications listing.”

There’s a cheap synthetic MA 10w40 oil available. I may try that and see if anything changes. If not, i’ll work my way through your list!

 

[Scotto75]

I finally replaced the friction plates, steel plates and used heavy duty springs and the clutch now works great with absolutely no slipping from the start. Job done.