Who is a legit motorcycle mechanic?

[Oregonhunter5]

I have a 1974 Kawasaki G5 100 cc 2 stroke.
Thee bike of my childhood.
Been riding it up!
It's leaking some tranny oil. And clutch seems to slip. As I get on the throttle in any gear and starts to act like it's going into neutral.
I know the clutch is maybe original. The oil thing is throwing me for a loop.

Thoughts?

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[Joe13]

Gaskets probably worn out. I'm not a certified mechanic though.

 

[AMT]

Did you do a recent oil change? Did you put in the proper oil?

I had a Goldwing and was doing an oil change. I thought "what's the difference between "motorcycle oil" and regular oil?" So I bought the regular oil to save $$$.

My buddy comes over and has a conniption all over me! He said "YOU DIDN'T PUT THAT IN IT, DID YOU?"

No, but I was about to. Wanna help?

Long story short, supposedly there is a difference and you are only supposed to use motorcycle oil in motorcycles.

Sounds like you've been around bikes a looooong time, and know this. But in the off chance, I thought I'd share my almost huge mistake.

 

[Oregonhunter5]

Did you do a recent oil change? Did you put in the proper oil?

I had a Goldwing and was doing an oil change. I thought "what's the difference between "motorcycle oil" and regular oil?" So I bought the regular oil to save $$$.

My buddy comes over and has a conniption all over me! He said "YOU DIDN'T PUT THAT IN IT, DID YOU?"

No, but I was about to. Wanna help?

Long story short, supposedly there is a difference and you are only supposed to use motorcycle oil in motorcycles.

Sounds like you've been around bikes a looooong time, and know this. But in the off chance, I thought I'd share my almost huge mistake.

Well I did that. Bike calls for 10-30 tranny oil. It's a two stroke so engine oil is in the gas of course. 10-30 for tranny is fine I think.

 

[RVTECH]

An engine this old is in need of a 'maintenance' rebuild.

Gaskets have shrunk clutch getting worn etc.

No real 'repairs' per se just a good bench rebuild to replace time worn parts and make upgrades if available.

At this point its easy - don't wait until something like a chain breaks, rolls up on the drive sprocket and takes out the lower end of the motor....

Odd how I would use this as an example! Almost like I knew of it happening to someone before.......

 

[Oregonhunter5]

An engine this old is in need of a 'maintenance' rebuild.

Gaskets have shrunk clutch getting worn etc.

No real 'repairs' per se just a good bench rebuild to replace time worn parts and make upgrades if available.

At this point its easy - don't wait until something like a chain breaks, rolls up on the drive sprocket and takes out the lower end of the motor....

Odd how I would use this as an example! Almost like I knew of it happening to someone before.......

I agree
I've replaced all that.
And yes that clutch and that gasket needs switched out. Which I do have all the gaskets. I'm wondering if there's a seal we're oil is leaking through to the clutch

 

[cigars]

Did you do a recent oil change? Did you put in the proper oil?

I had a Goldwing and was doing an oil change. I thought "what's the difference between "motorcycle oil" and regular oil?" So I bought the regular oil to save $$$.

My buddy comes over and has a conniption all over me! He said "YOU DIDN'T PUT THAT IN IT, DID YOU?"

No, but I was about to. Wanna help?

Long story short, supposedly there is a difference and you are only supposed to use motorcycle oil in motorcycles.

Sounds like you've been around bikes a looooong time, and know this. But in the off chance, I thought I'd share my almost huge mistake.

Motorcycle specific oils are formulated to hold up against shear from hi revving engines. If you want to pay more, then it may make you sleep easier at night. I have always run Castrol GTX (car oil, not motorcycle oil) in my bikes and have never had any issues. Some people swear by Rotella. Some folks just use standard motor oil. If you're uncertain, the best bet is to follow the manufacturers specs listed in the owners manual. Most modern motorcycles are wet sump clutch bikes. If you find that a particular oil is making shifting hard or affecting clutch performance, try a different oil. Check the motorcycle forums for your bike and see what the general consensus is regarding the best choice for motor oil for your particular bike.

 

[Oregonhunter5]

Motorcycle specific oils are formulated to hold up against shear from hi revving engines. If you want to pay more, then it may make you sleep easier at night. I have always run Castrol GTX (car oil, not motorcycle oil) in my bikes and have never had any issues. Some people swear by Rotella. Some folks just use standard motor oil. If you're uncertain, the best bet is to follow the manufacturers specs listed in the owners manual. Most modern motorcycles are wet sump clutch bikes. If you find that a particular oil is making shifting hard or affecting clutch performance, try a different oil. Check the motorcycle forums for your bike and see what the general consensus is regarding the best choice for motor oil for your particular bike.

I will look but I'm 99% sure it's a dry clutch.

 

[Unicykle]

Car oil has friction modifiers that motorcycle wet clutches dont like, spent the other $15 and use the right oil.
WOW! 46 years on the original clutch. If your mechinicaly inclined at all buy a manual for the bike and go thru it yourself as needed.

 

[cigars]

I will look but I'm 99% sure it's a dry clutch.

One thing to consider is a blown or bad crank seal. It's a pretty common malady with the older two strokes.

 

[Oregonhunter5]

One thing to consider is a blown or bad crank seal. It's a pretty common malady with the older two strokes.

This is what I'm guessing it is

 

[RicInOR]

You and your expensive motor oils. Use what ever ...

 

[v0lcom13sn0w]

x2 on the crank seal if its never been replaced. i always used rotella T 15-40 in my quad that had a wet clutch.

 

[aasbra]

For finding oil leaks, I usually try cleaning up the engine case well, and then try to locate where the leak is coming from. Without knowing the specifics of your bike's engine, It could be the main case gasket, a side cover gasket (typically right side wet with clutch side, left side dry with ignition on most Japanese bikes I have worked on over the years), the Kickstarter shaft, or the shifter rod seal. A shop manual, or exploded diagram of the engine bottom end would give some insights of where the possible spots to look are. On a 2 stroke, I have also had a bad seal in the expansion chamber (exhaust pipe) that can get pretty oily and make a mess on the engine and drip on the ground. Changing a clutch On a bike isn't too bad if you have some mechanical aptitude and the basic tools needed.

 

[aasbra]

Crank seal failure on a 2stroke can result in the engine running lean and seizing the piston to the cylinder wall, or burning a hole in the piston (if on the dry side of the case) or drawing in gearbox oil into the combustion chamber (if on the wet side of the case). I've experienced the former a couple times over the years.

 

[Oregonhunter5]

I have a full manual. It's a photo copy book of the original manual. The oil that leaked on the ground was a fair amount. Half cup probably. Bike won't seize piston since it's a two stroke. Right? No matter I'm getting to the bottom of it soon here. Bike hadn't been ridden in 29 years. Again it's a dry clutch that oil is getting to .

 

[notazombie]

Looks pretty wet to me. Same bike?

 

[aasbra]

I've had a couple two strokes seize or burn a hole through a piston due to a bad crank seal, wherein air was drawn into the combustion chamber past the faulty seal, leaning out the air fuel mixture.

If it's a dry clutch, and the gearbox seal is leaking oil onto the dry clutch, that definitely could be causing your clutch slipping. All the Japanese bikes I've wrenched on were wet clutch, but the oldest ones were early 1980s models. Yours sounds like a cool bike. My first riding experiences were on a similar bike (1972 Suzuki 90) that my dad had when I was little. Wish I get one like it, lots of fun memories! Probably 30-40 bikes ago...

 

[Oregonhunter5]

Looks pretty wet to me. Same bike?

The guy is fast. Obviously something his before.

 

[Certaindeaf]

Car oil has friction modifiers that motorcycle wet clutches dont like, spent the other $15 and use the right oil.
WOW! 46 years on the original clutch. If your mechinicaly inclined at all buy a manual for the bike and go thru it yourself as needed.

If it's a wet clutch, you do NOT want an oil with the EC (energy conserving) stamp.. it'll make it slip big time.