ST1300 Dirty Clutch Fluid

It is the heat that breaks the fluid down fast on the clutch side. You may want to lube up the shifting linkage under the bike as this will cause you issues shifting gears also.
 
The slave cylinder is in close proximity to the exhaust pipes and lives in trapped heat. The fluid is highly stressed and should be replaced regularly but in this case - a few months and 3000 miles - suggests the fluid was not that good to begin with. Change brands and use a synthetic and see what happens.
 
I think there's something going on beyond clutch fluid.
I shift up through the gears without the clutch regularly. If the shift lever didn't want to move there's another problem afoot.
Maybe the lube, as previously mentioned...

Steve :04biker:
 
Don't forget that brake fluid will want to absorb moisture also. If one lives in a humid area then the fluid will get darker sooner. I live in Colorado where the humidity is very low, and my clutch fluid and brake fluid will last two years or longer on my ST1300. I also use Valvoline Synthetic Brake Fluid. Works good last a long time.
 
I don't recall ever seeing the clutch fluid turning grey. I usually see it turning a reddish or a brownish color. A greyish color almost seems like water contamination. It could just be my limited experience in changing clutch fluid I suppose. One of the things that I don't like with the design on this bike is that the fluid stays trapped in the slave cylinder doesn't get flushed along with the rest of the fluid when you do the clutch bleeding procedure.

I would also suggest, like Mike did, looking at the shifting linkages as to a possible reason why you had problems shifting into third or higher. I seem to recall (perhaps incorrectly) some time ago, someone having a similar problem that was solved by lubricating the linkages.
 
This is just a thought as to something that I noticed recently.
Last month I serviced the preload adjuster on the rear shock. Flushed the cylinder and then replaced the oil.
When I initially drained the resevour I was surprised that the fluid was a grey color and very opaque.
(similar to yours).?
I was very puzzled by this so I put the old oil aside and kept it in a sealed glass container.
Some time later (a couple of days) perhaps, I then noticed that the old oil had become clear and had returned to a light brown color. There was no sign of sediment or water in the sealed jar.
I could only surmise from the change of color that there had been a lot of very small air bubbles in suspension in the hydrolic oil and then that had eventually worked is way to the top of the fluid and then the oil became clear again.
I thought that the situation was very interesting , and I am still puzzled.
The rear shock preload is now working again and the ride has improved.
Cheers to all,
winston66
 
Grey color is probably from water.
Was the container sealed when you last did the change? Or was it previously opened and could have attracted humidity?
 
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