1982 Seca 550 shifting, did I cause this?

OK, so I have a 1982 Seca 550 that I have been slowly going thru. Here's how the story goes:

So I notice my bike has an "oil" leak on the clutch cover side. Bike has 9,000 miles on it. I say, OK, let's order up a new gasket and replace it. So I pop off the cover and "whoosh" gasoline and oil mixture pours out. So....either my petcock needs a rebuild or the floats/needle valve or both. I replaced the petcock and went thru the carbs.

I completely drained the crankcase and put in a new oil filter. Put the clutch cover back on and fill it with Rotella 10w-30 oil. Bike fires right up and is running good. Take it out for a ride and everything is working great until after about 5-7 miles the bike is getting hard to shift. Bike has never had a shifting issue before ever. So I bring it home and notice that the clutch actuator torsion spring is broken and the clutch actuator is loose and floppy because of that as well as the hand clutch lever. I steal one off my Seca 750 thinking that was the problem. Put the spring on and no changes. Did some adjusting of the clutch actuator and the hand lever but no improvement.

Thinking about it, does this bike need a different kind of oil because of the clutch? If so, would any damage be incurred because of this? Could I just change out the oil if that's the problem? If none of this is related, what other issues could I be looking at here?

 

Don't know the spec of the Rotella oil you used but you bike ideally needs oil for a wet clutch (JASO MA spec) - that said you symptom sound more like clutch drag than clutch slip. Gearboxes are pure magic as far as I'm concerned though so maybe something else entirely. At least with a 550 its not the primary chain tensioner failure that is often mentioned here.

 

Shell's 15w40 is JASO rated...
http://rotella.shell.com/rotella-products/rotella-triple-protection.html

 

I did some research. I had the wrong oil in it. I drained the oil, put in a new oil filter and the proper wet clutch oil and everything seems back to normal. Just to be sure, I'm gonna run it for another 5-10-15 miles and change the oil and filter again.

 

I was surprised to see you had put 10w30 in it. As Nuch mentioned, Rotella 15w40 will make your bike MUCH happier. Much... Nuch... hehe.
Matti and his brain are on vacation!

 

Does it still have the original clutch?

 

K-moe,

Yes, original clutch. I guess that's your way of hinting I should go thru it. You're right, I probably should change the plates & springs out.

I'm kind of planning on doing a "big" go thru on this bike. I've had it for 5 years and have put maybe 5-600 miles on it. I've been looking for a nicer 1982 Seca 550 for all 5 yrs I've owned it but haven't found a nicer one. I'm still looking for a nicer original.

 

It was really my way of hinting that your clutch is slipping.
Since it was set right with an oil change you probably still have some life left in that clutch.