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Hey guys I got a spring kit coming, and while I'm in the clutch I was going to go ahead and change out the plates. I've never put anything other than Barnett clutch plates in my bikes. But I'm not looking to drop that kind of money at this time. I was looking at Caltric clutch plates, has anyone used them? Or have any other recommendations?

You'll probably only need to change the springs.

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Hillsy is correct, unless your bike is really high mileage good springs tend to fix the issues.

Aaron1085 wrote: ↑

Sun Jul 23, 2023 7:59 pm

Hey guys I got a spring kit coming, and while I'm in the clutch I was going to go ahead and change out the plates. I've never put anything other than Barnett clutch plates in my bikes. But I'm not looking to drop that kind of money at this time. I was looking at Caltric clutch plates, has anyone used them? Or have any other recommendations?

I assume you had slippage as to the reason you are installing New Springs
How many miles do you have on your Plates?
Why I ask is that there's a better-then-even chance you do not need to replace them.
Our resident Clutch longevity Expert,...Herb,...reused his Stock Plates when installing High Performance Springs and went over 160,000 miles without and slippage reoccurring.

This might save you some of your hard-earned $$$.

It is more of a preventative maintenance habit. Kind of like changing the water pump out on a Honda pilot when all you need to change is the serpentine belt and tensioner. If the plates are good, I might keep them in there. But I have encountered the smell that gives you the dread feeling when you are 200 miles away from home, I haven't felt comfortable going that far again since. I have already replaced the master and slave cylinders. master didn't match the front brake and slave was a catastrophe to bleed as the bleeder broke off and refused to come out and bleeding from the line was getting me nowhere. Anyways that's why I am on this forum, to soak up as much knowledge as I can.

Aaron1085 wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 24, 2023 6:50 am

It is more of a preventative maintenance habit. Kind of like changing the water pump out on a Honda pilot when all you need to change is the serpentine belt and tensioner. If the plates are good, I might keep them in there. But I have encountered the smell that gives you the dread feeling when you are 200 miles away from home, I haven't felt comfortable going that far again since. I have already replaced the master and slave cylinders. master didn't match the front brake and slave was a catastrophe to bleed as the bleeder broke off and refused to come out and bleeding from the line was getting me nowhere.

Sorry to hear that you've had this many problems! I assume you have the hydraulics back-up-and-running, eh?

Aaron1085 wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 24, 2023 6:50 am

.....Anyways that's why I am on this forum, to soak up as much knowledge as I can.

AHA! SO!......you are here to SOAK US??

Well,. well, well!

(I'm pulling you leg here)

She screams 1st through 4th gear, in 5th it runs ok till you let off the throttle some then get back on it and you can feel the slip. Engine doesn't bog or anything but there is a lag till she starts pulling up on the speed. I really started looking into why on here and noticed the repeat issue of the springs getting wore out, causing the issue in 4th and 5th gears. I most likely don't need to replace the plates it's just a habit. I might just leave them in there and keep the clutch plates for later. I just changed out my mufflers with some slip-ons, K&N replacement filters "not pods" and did a re-jet. If I didn't change out the mufflers, I would have never found out why my bike was running lean no matter what I did to it. found out the hard way check the exhaust bolts on the regular, and the clamp bolts everything was loose. It is taking me a minute but I'm starting to get the feel of what to check on these bikes. I will post a pic on here later, my first Suzuki is a 2001 vs1400, and I have to say I like it more than any of the Hondas and Harleys I've owned. Easily the best 1500 dollars I've spent on a bike. I got it with 3800miles on it and I'm up to 4600miles now and only been on it for a solid 3 weeks.

With only 4600 miles the clutch plates would barely be worn at all. Springs are the usual suspects on the 1400 but also make sure you are using bike specific oil - some car oils contain friction additives which can make wet clutches slip.

hillsy v2 wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 24, 2023 7:04 pm

With only 4600 miles the clutch plates would barely be worn at all. Springs are the usual suspects on the 1400 but also make sure you are using bike specific oil - some car oils contain friction additives which can make wet clutches slip.

Good point on the oil, never use standard car oil. Or you can use Shell Rotella T4 15W-40 Diesel Oil, some guys have had good luck using it.

10w40 car oil has no energy conserving additives, will work with the wet clutch.

navigator wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 25, 2023 7:48 am

10w40 car oil has no energy conserving additives, will work with the wet clutch.

I have been using 10w40 car oil for the life of my 1400s and they have done fine. My 99 had the stock clutch in in it when I changed the engine with over 180K miles. The only thing I did was put Designer's springs in it.

Car oil will not harm the clutch.

Motorcycle oil is only a way to gouge the buyer.

Herb wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 25, 2023 11:53 am

Car oil will not harm the clutch.

Motorcycle oil is only a way to gouge the buyer.

That's not true.

Not all car oils are the same and some have additives that will make wet clutches slip.

Diesel oils are usually fine.

Thanks for the info, guys. I have used Rotella before in other metric cruisers, but they had way more miles on them. I am going to put those springs in in a couple days, at that time I'll be changing the oil out.

btw, there has been people recommending diesel engine oil in bikes. It really isn't a good idea. For one thing it has more ZDDP (zinc compound) that coats parts, like a clutch. For another it does not have the shear strength needed.

https://www.oildepot.ca/diesel-engine-o ... torcycles/

Herb wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 25, 2023 6:21 pm

btw, there has been people recommending diesel engine oil in bikes. It really isn't a good idea. For one thing it has more ZDDP (zinc compound) that coats parts, like a clutch. For another it does not have the shear strength needed.

https://www.oildepot.ca/diesel-engine-o ... torcycles/

Hmmm...that guy says to not use car oil either so you're just left with bike oil. He recommends Amsol bike oils. They're probably not cheap

Herb wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 25, 2023 6:21 pm

btw, there has been people recommending diesel engine oil in bikes. It really isn't a good idea. For one thing it has more ZDDP (zinc compound) that coats parts, like a clutch. For another it does not have the shear strength needed.

https://www.oildepot.ca/diesel-engine-o ... torcycles/

Rotella T4 15w-40 is JASO certified.

navigator wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 26, 2023 9:58 am

Herb wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 25, 2023 6:21 pm

btw, there has been people recommending diesel engine oil in bikes. It really isn't a good idea. For one thing it has more ZDDP (zinc compound) that coats parts, like a clutch. For another it does not have the shear strength needed.

https://www.oildepot.ca/diesel-engine-o ... torcycles/

Rotella T4 15w-40 is JASO certified.

But most of them are not.

I tried the 15w40 and on below 40deg days I got a lot of valve clatter until it warmed up. Never had that issue with the 10w40 car oil. It was also harder to start on cold days. There is a reason that Suzuki recommends 10w40...

page 2-6 of the manual.

Use API classification of SE or SF oil with SAE 10W/40 viscosity.

All of the newer classifications meet the older requirments, according to the people that do the classifications.

So bike oil it is then?

Like the internet needs another oil thread

So, I got my springs changed out, and now when I put it in gear the clutch is grabbing, and it's hard to shift. Are we thinking a clutch bleed would fix this. Or do I have something else going on? Any input would be appreciated.

The first thing I would try is bleeding the clutch. It is the simplest and cheapest thing to try.