Quote from: prmas on July 03, 2014, 10:36:30 PM
Agreed, Stevo. Oil viscosity cannot have any effect on stalling or otherwise. I always hook my clutch lever back when I am parking the bike overnight to prevent clutch "stick" in the morning. That solved my 1st gear clunk a long time ago. During the day it is not necessary. I have a half-done cable tie (zip tie) that fits nicely around the heated grips controller when riding and slips over the left grip/clutch lever for longer term parking.

Macka

I tie the lever back a few times a year, and every time I have a fresh oil change, I have done this since I was a kid racing motocross. My V-Strom drops into 1st from "N" without making a sound, the tie back process works...better with some bikes.

My friends call it the "Stevo Ny-Ty Trick" 

Does hooking the lever back to keep the clutch disengaged overnight affect the cable or the springs? Also how long can this be done -- say I park for a week, can the lever stay hooked with no ill effects?

Quote from: Rallyfan on July 11, 2014, 10:15:49 PM
Does hooking the lever back to keep the clutch disengaged overnight affect the cable or the springs? Also how long can this be done -- say I park for a week, can the lever stay hooked with no ill effects?

I have been tying back clutch levers since the '70's on all kinds of bikes, and I have never seen any ill effects from doing it. As far as the time, I have left levers tied back all winter until spring.

I have been tying my clutch lever back during parking for nearly 4 years with no ill effects. No cable stretch or any other nasty symptoms. Sometimes the bike is parked for 6-8 weeks with the lever tied down and there are no problems. I guess that over many years that it might cause the clutch springs to sag a little but remember that even when the lever is free that the springs are under compression force anyway. If they were not you would have no drive.

I usually use 20w50 oil too.

Macka

I'll give the tied clutch a try thanks!

I also Rotella T3 15w-40 because  it's a popular choice not only among GS owners. So far it doesn't give me headache.

I was always taught to park the bike in first gear with the clutch out, just like a manual car, because that serves as the parking brake of sorts.

Be cautious about where your bike is and how level the ground is before you decide to tie that clutch in.

Quote from: Watcher on July 19, 2014, 09:35:32 AM
I was always taught to park the bike in first gear with the clutch out, just like a manual car, because that serves as the parking brake of sorts.

Be cautious about where your bike is and how level the ground is before you decide to tie that clutch in.

I think as long as everybody is smarter than the bike they ride, everything will be fine 

Yes Watcher, when I am out riding I always park in 1st gear with the clutch out. When it is parked overnight on the level concrete garage floor, under it's doona, it is on the centre stand with the lever hooked back. It has now been sitting like that for about 5 weeks and I know that I will have no trouble selecting 1st gear on my next start-up, perhaps tomorrow if the rain stays away.

Macka

It's been a long while since my GS has been in neutral outside of the garage.  When I make stops for coffee or ice cream I kill it with the kickstand deployment and am ready to pull out again in !st gear.  Never had a problem going from neutral to first in the garage regardless of temperature riding year around here in NE OH, no need to bother tying anything.   

Quote from: gsJack on July 20, 2014, 05:32:18 AMNever had a problem going from neutral to first in the garage regardless of temperature riding year around here in NE OH, no need to bother tying anything.   

It will always go into gear, tying back the lever just minimizes the "clunk" when you do it.

Quote from: Suzuki Stevo on July 11, 2014, 11:11:37 PM

I have been tying back clutch levers since the '70's on all kinds of bikes, and I have never seen any ill effects from doing it. As far as the time, I have left levers tied back all winter until spring.

Great tip. I'm gonna do this to my bikes.
Only issue I possibly see is my other bikes have hyd clutch actuation. Keeping pressure on them for extended periods, an issue ? ? ? ? ?

Quote from: Suzuki Stevo on July 20, 2014, 08:08:12 AM

Quote from: gsJack on July 20, 2014, 05:32:18 AMNever had a problem going from neutral to first in the garage regardless of temperature riding year around here in NE OH, no need to bother tying anything.   

It will always go into gear, tying back the lever just minimizes the "clunk" when you do it.

After 100k miles of clunking into gear in the morning I think my bike would be disappointed if I mended my ways now.   

Quote from: ace50 on July 20, 2014, 08:10:48 AMGreat tip. I'm gonna do this to my bikes.
Only issue I possibly see is my other bikes have hyd clutch actuation. Keeping pressure on them for extended periods, an issue ? ? ? ? ?

I do it every time I have fresh oil in the engine, take your bike out and and get the oil good and hot, and then take the free play out of the cable at the lever before you tie it back.

  My GSX650F has a hydraulic clutch and I'm kinda chickenchit about tying it back for long periods, I do tie it's lever back, but only for an hour or so after an oil change. I also release it a few times during that hour, my GSX is my first bike with a hydro clutch. It may not be an issue tying it back overnight, I am just leary to try it    

I would be less comfortable doing it with a hydraulic system, especially as it gets older. With the lever out there is just natural expansion of the rubber holding the seal onto the cylinder bore. With the lever held in for long periods in an old system, there is a possibility that the rubber, under pressure and expanded for a long time, could stick to the cylinder bore and when released it could tear off the tiny sealing edge of the rubber, resulting in internal or external leaks.

If it was done from new, and the fluid was kept clean there should not be a problem. 

I was surprised to see the use of diesel motor oil on bike on here but anyways I was under the impression that motorcycle oil was different and car oils would cause damage to things like Wet clutch? Not the case from what I have read here? have I been steered wrong just so i spend way to much on Motul ...

I found this article by Mike Guillory a retired oil company chemist on a VFR forum about 15 years ago before I started using the diesel oils and have used them on GS500s for about 130k miles since.  See Addendum at bottom of article.

http://www.vfrworld.com/tex_vfr/tech/oil.htm

Rotella T carries the JASO MA rating for usage on motorcycles with wet clutches.

Today was over 40C in my area and I commuted 150 km round trip at speeds up to 110 kph. Rotella 15W-40. Shifts felt great and in fact now, contrary to my initial impression, 1st is easier to find.

thanks for posting that link great info about motor oil

Quote from: gsJack on July 24, 2014, 05:23:08 AM
I found this article by Mike Guillory a retired oil company chemist on a VFR forum about 15 years ago before I started using the diesel oils and have used them on GS500s for about 130k miles since.  See Addendum at bottom of article.

http://www.vfrworld.com/tex_vfr/tech/oil.htm

Rotella T carries the JASO MA rating for usage on motorcycles with wet clutches.

Not that I would recommend doing what I did but.....I used "Energy Conserving" or Automotive type oils for years in all my dirt bikes both 2 and 4 strokes and never had an issue with any type of clutch slippage, bikes where...'67 Honda CT90, '73 Honda XR75, '75 Honda CB400F, '76 Yamaha MX125C, '76 Maico 450, '77 Yamaha YZ80D, '77 Yamaha YZ250D, '77 Yamaha DT250D, '78 Yamaha YZ80E, '79 Honda XR185, '80 Honda XR80, '81 Honda XR200R, '81 Honda XR100 

Knowing what I know now...it's easy enough to use something like Rotella T3 15w-40 that has the correct JASO MA rating