Clutch upgrade
 

I've read every post on here about oil for the RX3 and finding neutral. Ive always been a big fan of Rotella's T diesel oils but my RX3 never quite found neutral very easy using it. My friend recently changed his oil in his RX3 and changed to the Rotella T diesel oil and his clutch and shifting went from ok to worse instantly. So that made me think I wanna try something else. I went and bought some Mobil Delvac 1300 same stuff Spud runs thinking this would cure everything with 800 miles on the bike but now the bike is even worse. I ran the bike to 1 bar on temp gauge in the garage while in neutral, and then shifted into first and the bike lurched forward and died with zero throttle applied. Wouldnt start again while in first gear because of all the pressure on the plates I assume but got into neutral started again and same thing when shifted into first. After warmed up more got better but definitely is a bigger problem than it was before. So my questions are this..

1) Assuming that my shift lever is tight and working good, and my clutch properly adjusted, should I switch oil again to something completely different or is there a bigger issue here?

2) Are bikes more finicky with brand new oil? Does the oil need to soak into the plates and "break in" with the motor before it starts running optimum? I think I've used 4 oils now in my bike in 800 miles. Stock oil it came with, valvoline, then the rotella, now the delvac.

3) Would getting a new set of clutch plates or a heavy duty barnett clutch
system fix these issues?

My main concern is the bike being so jerky when I shift into 1st from neutral (and dying on me), and not being able to find neutral at a stop like in my garage or parking lot when I need to. I saw people had some success switching to synthetic oil but didnt want to keep buying gallons of oil with no idea what the problem is.
Any info/experience/insight is helpful. :thanks:

How many miles have you ridden your RX3? As you noted, the Mobil Delvac 1300 works great for my clutch. :) However, the clutch plates will definitely grab less, and shifting into neutral will become easier as the engine mileage increases. My RX3 shifts much better after riding it over 13,000 miles, than it did when the bike was new. ;)

Sorry ... But I just don't understand this diesel oil fad in motor bike engines with gear boxes
& clutches that require the same oil to lube them... not seen a truck that has the engine , G box & clutch as one peice unit like a bike so theres no reason for them to formulate an oil to do 3 jobs...

Put Motul 5100 in and report back... OK it's not cheap...

(Spud you say yer bike shifts much better after 13,000miles... you don't say it shifts great or good)




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Using 15W/40 diesel oil in motorcycles is a very popular fad, because this motor oil works very well. :) You might enjoy reading the following articles. ;)

http://www.calsci.com/motorcycleinfo/Oils1.html
http://www.calsci.com/motorcycleinfo/Consumables.html

800 miles so far Spud...and unfortunately getting worse the more I ride it. I've always had great luck with diesel oils..for a few reasons but one is they are all safe for wet clutch setups most motorcycles have, and second is they are great for high mileage and heavily used applications like a diesel motor which usually applies to the older bikes I wrench on. Don't think it's a fad so much as it just works better IMO than even specially formulated oils. I'm not opposed to putting in something like Motul but would love to have an educated guess as to why that's better before dropping more money blindly on my 5th gallon of oil

Hi Pete , they are JASO certified not too expensive like some speciality Mc oils with same cert.

I think the situation will definitely improve as you ride more miles. However, it's also vital to have the clutch adjusted properly. ;) You should have about one millimeter slack in the clutch cable when the clutch lever is disengaged.

Don't yer just love a oil thread... no one has the same opinion...

I use it in all my bikes.... i put it in the 125 pit bike that was near impossable
to find neutral while running... was still a pain but you could get it into neutral..

Motul 5100... Yamaha has tested the ass off it... then desided it was good enough
to rebrand / re package & sell as YAMALUBE & recomend to be used in there
motors while running in and after.. and surply to there factoy race teams road & dirt..

I'm pretty shore it won't make it any worse... the road you are taking at the moment dosn't seem
to be working.... maybe it's time for another route....



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On my RX3, I've only used the Maxima 10w-40 that CSC sold me, but it has always shifted smooth, pretty much from day one on the original engine. I'm still under 100 miles on the new engine, and neutral to first lurches even with the clutch pulled but it hasn't stalled on me.

There could be something wrong with your clutch, but I would try a 10w-40 motorcycle oil before I opened it up and dug around.

I don't have anything against the diesel oils, but the shifting on my other bikes always felt gummy with 15w-40 Rotella T and T6. So I went back to motorcycle oil and am much happier. I've had excellent results with Maxima Synblend, Mobil1 racing 4T, Castrol racing 4T and AMSoil ... all 10w-40 motorcycle specific oils.

My bike shifted into neutral and all other gears beautifully until my first oil change I used the Delvac 1300 as well now finding neutral is a bear and unless the bike is fully warmed up I also get lurching, I now have a couple hundred miles on since the oil change. I am wondering what oil CSC sent with the new bike. I may go back to my old Amsoil standby although Mobile 1 is most likely less expensive

[QUOTE=keithmaine;209278]My bike shifted into neutral and all other gears beautifully until my first oil change I used the Delvac 1300 as well now finding neutral is a bear and unless the bike is fully warmed up I also get lurching,
my bike is the same have to go up to 2nd then down into neutral. small price to pay mobil1 12.00 a qt delvac 3.80 a qt waiting for warmer temps. bike has not gone past 2 bars on temp gauge might make a diff. when it warms up more as long as it is good for motor i will live with hard shifting

Ha I am becoming increasingly fearful that I am going to be known as the one responsible for trying to start another oil thread. :D It is good to hear others have the same issue though like Keith and Detours and Willy. Pete I like your thinking behind the Motul what I dont like is the 11 bucks a quart price. I think I will adjust my clutch make sure there is 1mm of play in lever as Spud recommends, and then will switch to the full synthetic Maxima 10w-40 and run that for a while. Hopefully it will get better over time. But if not, does anyone know if new stock clutch kit from CSC or the Barnett heavy duty clutch kit would make a difference? For $89 its definitely worth a look if I cant figure it out but dont want to do it if I'm all but guaranteed to have same issues.

And did you hear about the latest oil additive! Better shifting ,cooler running, more horsepower, and significant hair growth! :lmao:

My first 2 oil changes were with Valvoline 10w40 Motorcycle Oil.

The second 2 were with Mobile 1 10w40 Racing 4T.

I have been pleased with the way the RX3 transmission shifts....a nice click, click, click, ....no clunks as on other bikes I have ridden. And there have been no false neutrals.

When the engine is cold, at 3,500 miles, there is still a slight lurch when shifting from neutral to first, with the clutch in.

And I can rarely find neutral on the first try.

When coming to a stop, with the bike in gear, it is very difficult to get the bike into neutral.

I usually have to let the clutch out a bit, and then back in to get it in neutral.

Only a guess, but letting the clutch out may move the gears so that it is easier to find neutral.

I have read about this same thing on a Honda forum. The concensus was that this is the way the transmission was designed.

On the 2016 Honda CB500 line, Honda redesigned the transmission to alleviate the shifting problem.

Overall, I like the RX3 transmission, just need to adapt to its idiosyncrasies.

jb

Now I don't have an RX3 and oil threads are full of opinion, but I can tell you this for fact in my experience. I've owned now three Victory motorcycles and experience with many others. The earlier ones you kind of had to hunt for neutral. You got in the habit of finding it rolling up to a stop. Whether it was with the Victory brand semi-synth or any dino oil, sometimes neutrals wouldn't like to cooperate. I switched them all to Amsoil (coerced by a friend) and neutrals immediately became easy to find and the bikes shifted noticably smoother...plus they stayed that way the longest between changes. I tried Mobil 1 in the newer ones and it was the same, as well....and no, contrary to rumor, there was zero clutch slippage out of those torque monsters.

Now this is just my opinion...but based on my personal experience out of many, many oil changes....so, there ya have it!

EDIT: As Eco Mouse brought up, the Amsoil I ran WAS their motorcycle specific product. The Mobil 1 was straight off the Walmart shelf and ran fine also, reporting no clutch clippage.