I just bought my bike about a month and was not 100% sure of how well the previous two owners took care of the oil changes. So the first thing i did was change the oil to some random 10w-40 non synthetic(pennzoil or somehting) i had in the basement just to kinda clean out anything that was in there. I was having carb troubles at the time cause the guy had let it sit with fuel in it through the winter, so I was just poking around the Seafoam site and say that you could put it in the Crankcase oil to help clean up deposits and break up sludge etc. So i decided to try it.(I first emailed seafoam tech support to make sure that it was ok to put in a wet clutch application, which they said it was). I ran it for about a week, drained the oil, then switched to Mobil1 full synthetic and new oil filter.

Somewhere in that time frame, between adding seafoam and putting the synthetic in, my clutch has started to act a little funny. Almost like it slips a lot throughout 95% of the handle pull then suddenly grabs. It has become much more difficult to get off the line now, where I never had problems the first week or two that i had the bike.

Anyone have any experience with anything like this?

Thanks,

Jay

Do a search, I remember vaguely some people having issues with certain types of oils affecting their clutch.  You might need to switch brands.

You never mentioned the age of the bike or the mileage, it's very possible the clutch was abused and ready to go prior to you taking possession  of the bike.. I doubt if the oil you are using had much to do with it, none of the things you put in there should cause a good clutch to slip---not from my experience anyway.

Go to the wiki page at look up changing oil under maintenance. You cant use certain oils with additives for reducing friction too much because it will cause the clutch to slip.

I know some people swear by Seafoam but my experiences haven't been good. I had a car that I ran hard, regularly in high revs, but in good condition. I ran Seafoam through the intake and in the oil to help an issue with smoking. I was hoping the solvent would clean the rings a little to help with the smoking.

I cleared it out after a shaZam! ton of smoking and changed out the oil and filter. Not much of a change with the smoking and I had developed a small tick. That small tick turned into a full on knock and eventually threw a rod out the side of the block. Well the last part was a bit intentional since I had picked up another engine.

I tore the blown engine apart and found that the Seafoam hadn't done anything at all. Claiming it cleans out carbon or sludge is total crap. At that point I concluded all it does is thin out your oil. A friend decided to Seafoam his car too. Through the intake and oil despite my warnings. Well he got a ticking sound too, that turned into full on rod knock shortly after.

what would make you think its OK to put seafoam in your oil? does it say it on the can? It contains petroleum distillates which thin oil and break it down. I would never think its OK to run any kind of cleaning agent in the engine oil while the engine was running.

It's says on the can to use 1.5oz to every quart of oil. It also recommends a maximum of 100miles before doing an oil change. So yes it claims its safe to use in the oil system, clears oil passages, cleans lifters yadda yadda. I was wary of running the engine that long. I only ran idled it until the smoking stopped.

Yes it says on their can and on their website that you can put it in crankcase oil. Like stated above it is 1.5 oz per quart and I only had it in for about 75 miles of driving before i changed my oil again. And like i said, I specifically asked Seafoam tech support if it would be ok to put it in my oil with a wet clutch etc before I went ahead and did it.

Jay

If oil & gas additives were good for you vehicles, the manufacturers would recommend them and the oil manufacturers would include them.

Neither of which is true.

Seafoam doesn't impress me.

Seafoam ingredients:

Isopropyl acohol (like from the drugstore), light weight oil, naptha, and water.

Nothing worth the price they charge and certainly not going to help an engine much.

Haha, ok so the jist of this thread is that im an idiot for thinking seafoam in the oil was a good idea and that I should never do it again Anyways the bike is a 2000 with about 10500 miles, I am not sure of the maintenace record as the dude i bought it from never even registered or licenced it so he never rode it or needed to change anything. The original owners work is a mystery to me. Being a new to motorcycles and clutches in general, is this a decent amount of mileage on my clutch?

Thanks,

Jay

Quote from: mass-hole on July 16, 2010, 11:05:09 AM
Haha, ok so the jist of this thread is that im an idiot for thinking seafoam in the oil was a good idea and that I should never do it again Anyways the bike is a 2000 with about 10500 miles, I am not sure of the maintenace record as the dude i bought it from never even registered or licenced it so he never rode it or needed to change anything. The original owners work is a mystery to me. Being a new to motorcycles and clutches in general, is this a decent amount of mileage on my clutch?

Thanks,

Jay

Totally depends on how it's driven.  They can last indefinitely.

Have you adjusted your clutch cable?  It sounds more like it's just not adjusted.

If you want to clean out your crank case, a good Group V 'Ester' based oil like Redline is probably your best bet.

Across the board, clutches running in oil really never like additives in their oil of any type. Can lead to either slippng or, sometimes, grabbing clutches. Best to stick with the recommended oil.