| Author | Message | ||
     Petro_freak |
Guys, The time has cometh to the change ye ol' oil for my Uly "Betty". So, not trying to start a oilA vs. oilB thread, just wanted to know if anybody here has used/using this oil and any luck with it ? It says that its good for both Primary and Engine and seems to be good with O2 sensor. The reason I ask is because, I have been using this on old RD350 for transmission and the 2T version (both full synth) as pre-mix. I have had the smoothest ride and feel as reported by my butt dyno. The Uly would be my first big league motorcycle and I don't wanna Fluck things up. Please enlighten me. Thanks.... | ||
| Hdxbones |
I prefer Harley's Formula + for the primary, it's designed for that specific application. In the engine, good engine oil is good engine oil, I like Redline products in my air cooled v-twins..... | ||
| Reepicheep |
It's a full synthetic 20w50 from a name brand manufacturer, it should be good oil. In terms of using it in the primary, it will work there fine as well, and you have the advantage of packing just one kind of oil on trips. But if you used the HD Formula + in there, you will get oil that has additives that make it last much longer in the "chopping" environment of a transmission. These additives can't be put in "engine oil" because they would leave bad deposits if they ever got in a combustion chamber. The net effect is that you can leave the formula+ in for 10,000 miles... not sure how long the non gear oil would last, I never tried it. Don't run "other" gear oils in the tranny... you also have a stator in there and we don't know which dissolve the insulation on the windings. There was some anecdotal evidence that some might. | ||
| Buewulf |
I have not used the Motul, but I have used various lubes in the tranny: full-syn, motorcycle-specific in 10w40 and 20w50 grades and Formula+. The only conclusion I have drawn from my experimentation is that new oil works better than old oil. I change the tranny oil when I change the engine oil , and the bike seems to shift a little better after the change. I have found that I can't tell a difference in shift performance between the brands / weights. If you want to leave it in for 10K miles, I would go with the Formula+ for the reasons Reep suggested. I'd sleep just fine using your Motul with a 5K interval. | ||
| Tootal |
I'm not here to say Formula+ won't work as the evidence shows that it does. I also believe as Buewulf does that clean oil beats old oil! The thing is that Formula+ was used in the primary of Harley's which is separate from the transmission. It was designed for the lubrication of the chain and clutch, not the shearing done by gears. Evidently it works fine doing that and maybe they changed the "formula" to handle the extra load of the transmission. As far as switching oils, that's more important. In my experience, changing primary oils or more importantly, clutch oils, can cause slippage. If you experience slippage after changing oils then you will need to disassemble the clutch and thoroughly clean the plates with brake cleaner, alcohol etc. Sometimes they mix and sometimes they don't! | ||
| Petro_freak |
Gentlemen, its decided then. Looks like it will be a Formula+ for transmission and a Motul 7100 for the engine. I hope the local Cajun Harley stocks them. Thanks... | ||
| Buewulf |
"Sometimes they mix and sometimes they don't!" Fortunately, I've never had any mixing issues with any bikes, though I do try to keep it to the same brand. With the Uly, I used Formula+ because a quart came with the bike. Moved on to Mobil 1 20w50 for several uses. Had to use another brand (can't remember now) in 20w50 once because couldn't find Mobil 1 in stock. Now on Mobil 1 10w40 because that is what Mobil suggested I use. | ||
| Uly_man |
I think Buewulf has covered most of this. I am still using OEM HD tranny oil myself, have no problems and a very smooth gearbox as well. I switched to Torco 20/50w semi-synth engine oil at 7500 miles as I had some left over from my 06 bike. I see no reason to use a fully synthetic oil in these bikes myself unless your 06 bikes runs like a volcano as some seem to do. Or at least mine did. Even then a change at 2500 miles with any good oil should be fine anyway. Given that oil is cooling the bike as well as lubing it clean oil is a must. I use K&N oil filters as well. All that is just me though. Just as a side note. The last time I bought engine oil I bought enough for 3 changes. It was in 4l bottles and works out to be a lot cheaper to buy in the long run. That was mail order as well. The advantage is you get it cheaper than a shop, you have it to hand when needed and you do not have to go looking for it either. A win, win situation if you ask me. | ||
| Skinnyboy |
I used Motul 7100 10w60 in my 09 this year for two reasons, it is what my other bike uses and over the course of an oil change the Uly can see temps from 5 degrees C to 30. No issues at all. Smells nice too! Formula + in the trans. |
