2019 EC300 Clutch drag

[Chugga]

Hi, I?ve just purchased a 2019 low hours EC300. Lovely bike! Has some clutch drag, I could try and adjust the lever but it?s very close the the bark busters. Any guidance on what to check? As a test, it will start in gear with revs so is not really bad but would prefer to adjust out if possible. I?ve also posted in another section on Carb settings as running a tad rich. Thanks all, great forum!

[(F5)]

There are several threads on clutch drag, but easiest to try is oil change, at least for the early bikes, and doubt they have changed.

I find I can't kickstart in gear with Motul Transoil std, but can with Motul Transoil Expert.

[swazi_matt]

on earlier bikes 2010ish belray gearsaver oil reduced clutch squeal.

My TXT has very bad drag until it is properly warmed up, but it is old and the clutch may have swelled

[Chugga]

Originally Posted by (F5)

There are several threads on clutch drag, but easiest to try is oil change, at least for the early bikes, and doubt they have changed.

I find I can't kickstart in gear with Motul Transoil std, but can with Motul Transoil Expert.

Thanks for that, yes, I will change the Oil, people are recommending Motul Expert, I normally use Maxima but may try Motul. A lot of comments around ATF also being good.

[Chugga]

Originally Posted by swazi_matt

on earlier bikes 2010ish belray gearsaver oil reduced clutch squeal.

My TXT has very bad drag until it is properly warmed up, but it is old and the clutch may have swelled

Thanks for the info, bike is 400k old, hopefully an oil change will sort it

[Foil]

I've tried some 10w40 motul oil, then some synth 5w30 on my 2018 (19) rc300 and the drag was about as bad as my old dr350 which locked up the rear wheel in first, and second gear, no matter what. Up until I welded the bendix and the starter fried

I flushed the oil with some atf twice and the drag is much better - especially when warm. I think I'm going to explore further with some dexron IV, which is supposed to be a couple of points less viscous cold and hot.

[gasser]

Rotella T6 (full synthetic) available at Walmart or any auto parts store is excellent. Rekluse did recommend it for their clutches but they may have their own Rekulse branded oil now. I've been using it in all my gassers and all my street bikes - it works as good as anything and will save you money. I've been told that gassers have more clutch plates than Jap bikes which ,if true, will cause a little more drag. Some gassers will drag more from new than others so try a quart of T6 Rotella (T5 semi-synthetic and T4 non-synthetic are thicker and will drag more).

[webmaster]

On my old 2001 gasgas I swapped out the clutch master cylinder for one off of a cannondale - it had a large bore so had more throw.... I used the line from it as well. I think I had to use mineral fluid in it after the swap... (magura?)

This, a yz kickstarter, and throwing away the stock carb needle - made for quick and easy starts...

I also like the rotella t6...

jeff

[webmaster]

Another thing I forgot to mention is that I saw something that was written on the rising sun imports page long ago ..

Don't adjust the lever out to far to get more throw on the clutch slave cylinder. There is a bleed hole that allows the line to be replenished from the reservoir. If the lever is too far "out' it will be blocked and it ends up being worse

Jeff

[Foil]

Currently I'm running some synthetic 5wt fork oil in the clutch master/slave and dexron IV in the gearbox.

The warm drag is about as good as it's ever been - will now usually start in first with the clutch pulled in with the button. Kicking was never a problem.

There's still some slight drag, but it's much much better.

With regular dexron II the clutch would squeal if I was abusing it on uphills.