[schpeener]

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84 Aspy. 109,000 miles on it. At about 3,500 rpm, clutch slips. Used to run Amsoil, switched back to conventional. My local parts dealer claims he has never done a 'wing clutch? Any other possible causes?

 

[Jason m]

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have you put any additives in it that may cause the slippage? Is the cable adjusted right?

 

[schpeener]

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No additives, and clutch lever is hydraulic - bled system multiple times

 

[Mike Toon]

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Conventional what, car oil?

 

[SETHAN12]

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Do you think that maybe 109,000 miles might have a little bit to do with it? Clutches can last longer and some can't.

 

[mikef]

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The clutches are pretty durable. I would trying adding some Seafoam, or MMO to the crankcase, drive it for about 200 miles, drain, change the filter and refill. If it helped at all, repeat the process.


And the oil thing? I would try Shell Rotella T, or Chevron Delo 400, 15w40.

 

[Jason m]

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very few clutch failures unless you are very hard on them. I used the seafoam in my last oil change. just run it a hundred miles or so and dump. Worked pretty well.

 

[Wolfman]

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Unfortunately, it sounds like the bad news option is it.

When mine when bad, I was using synthetic oil and it started slipping. My mechanic told me to switch back to conventional oil. I did and the slipping stopped. It bought me some more time. I don't know how muchtime it would have added, because I didn't wait. I replaced the clutch about a month later.

The 1200 clutch isn't that hard. The first and only clutch I have ever did was the 1200 gold wing. So if I can figure it out, a motorcycle mechanic should be able to figure it out.

The worst problem is that the damper plate is discontinued.You can reuse the old one if the springs are still intact. If not, you need to put an extra friction plate and an extra steel plate in to take up the space. The clutch will be extremely touchy but I haven't heard any other options out there. I ws able to reuse my damper plate.

If a Honda shop/motorcycle mechanic does it, they will probably require you to replace the steel plates as well as the friction plates. When I bought my parts, I got a full set of each. I could have saves about $100 if I didn't replace the steel plates.

 

[mikef]

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You may be right. Being the cheap and lazy SOB I am, I tend to go cheap and easy first....

 

[AZgl1800]

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mikef wrote:

The clutches are pretty durable. I would trying adding some Seafoam, or MMO to the crankcase, drive it for about 200 miles, drain, change the filter and refill. If it helped at all, repeat the process.


And the oil thing? I would try Shell Rotella T, or Chevron Delo 400, 15w40.

I hate myself here , but I gotta back up what mikef is saying.

Before you do anything mechanical, stop, think, wait some more.

Pour in some Seafoam, a full 1/2 can at least into the engine oil. Ride it for a few hundred miles.

Personal experience. I bought a '94 with 60,000ish miles on it. 3 POs and maintenance? None from the evidence I could see. Almost nothing worked right on this bike.

But back to the clutch. It would slip in the higher RPM ranges at full throttle. I had to be power off in a shift, or varoom the engine would go, but not the bike.

I poured in a can of SeaFoam and ran it 200-300 miles. A couple of weeks of work/back. Changed the oil, and a lot of crud came out. So, I repeated that dosage, and ran it two more weeks, More crud came out, put in some Chevron Delo 400 15w40 (Phoenix heat ya know) and Oh My Garsh! No more clutch slipping.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it :action:

 

[Wolfman]

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AZgl1500 wrote:

mikef wrote:

The clutches are pretty durable. I would trying adding some Seafoam, or MMO to the crankcase, drive it for about 200 miles, drain, change the filter and refill. If it helped at all, repeat the process.


And the oil thing? I would try Shell Rotella T, or Chevron Delo 400, 15w40.

I hate myself here , but I gotta back up what mikef is saying.

Before you do anything mechanical, stop, think, wait some more.

Pour in some Seafoam, a full 1/2 can at least into the engine oil. Ride it for a few hundred miles.

Personal experience. I bought a '94 with 60,000ish miles on it. 3 POs and maintenance? None from the evidence I could see. Almost nothing worked right on this bike.

But back to the clutch. It would slip in the higher RPM ranges at full throttle. I had to be power off in a shift, or varoom the engine would go, but not the bike.

I poured in a can of SeaFoam and ran it 200-300 miles. A couple of weeks of work/back. Changed the oil, and a lot of crud came out. So, I repeated that dosage, and ran it two more weeks, More crud came out, put in some Chevron Delo 400 15w40 (Phoenix heat ya know) and Oh My Garsh! No more clutch slipping.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it :action:

It sounds like a good chance of helping. And if it does, it would save a lot of time, aggravation and money. I'm all for that. And if it doesn't solve the problem, it didn't hurt anything anyway.

I'm all for trying this solution.

 

[NeedleNick]

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I have theory on older Goldwings with slipping clutches.

It is related to another common Goldwing issue - the puff of smoke at startup.



THEORY: A previous owner notices his precious Wing smoking a bit on startup. Now while most of us understand this is the nature of the beast, the unsuspecting owner decides to add in some STP or other slippery "smoke cure all" oil additive. The clutch plates become saturated with this slimy concoction and no amount of normal oil changes can remove the slippery additives so the clutch plates slip under high RPM and load.Fortunately, solvent-type additives like Seafoam have the right stuff to remove enough of the slippery goo to restore most of the proper clutch grabbing power, so we read success stories like the one above.



That's my THEORY and it is worth every penny you have paid for it.

 

[freetoride]

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I did some work on a 1500 some time ago that had a slipping clutch. Turned out the master cylinder was gummed up and not releasing completely.

 

[jmcannonball]

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On my previous 1990 GL1500, I ran Castrol 10w40 and/or 20w50 synthetic oil after the first 600 mile changeout. Last year, and 235,000 miles later, I gave the bike to my brother who is happy as a pig in mud. Never had a clutch slippage problem.

 

[schpeener]

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Thank you to all, I will try the Seafoam and Rotella T - Had the engine out last year for the stator , should have done the clutch then!