| Author | Message | ||
     Doncasto |
After the "green goo" controversy raised its ugly head I emailed Redline and received the following response: ----------------------- "We now recommend the 75W90 in the Buell and Sportster transmissions, but in most instances the ShockProof Heavy also works well." Regards, Dave Red Line Oil ------------------------- I am now using Mobil 1 75W90 on a trial basis and my very subjective, anecdotal impression is that the shifting is less smooth. YMMV. Don | ||
| Ara |
Don, that's the first negative impression I've read on the use of Mobile 1 75W90 in the primary. Uh-oh. Russ | ||
| Redstripe |
I'll have to say I'm a bit worried now. The bike is sported alongside friends' more "modern" superbikes which boast 120-150 Hp. Obviously the bike has to perform. -it does- I'll mail my current dealer on it and inform him about the topic. He's well aware of the site and posts here, too. Wonder what He's got to say about it, to my knowledge he still "prescribes" it. Jilles. | ||
| Aaron |
Jilles ... I would've never believe it myself, being the skeptical type ... until I opened up my clutch and saw this ...  This is after about 6k miles of Heavy Shockproof. Thick muddy stuff that was very difficult to clean out. It was definitely concentrated in the clutch area, although there were trace amounts of it elsewhere in the primary. I've switched to Mobil 1 gear lube. I still use shockproof in the race bike's gearbox, but it's isolated from the primary. I use Red Line MTL in it's primary (i.e. what RL recommends for a Big Twin primary). | ||
| Doncasto |
Ara: This is a classic case of one of the most important bits of advice provided on the BWB - ALWAYS CONSIDER THE SOURCE - YMMV. Don | ||
| Henrik |
I found gunk similar to Aaron's pictures when I opened up the primary on the S2. I guestimate I'd had Redline in there for about 5k miles. I had a bottle of Royal Purple on the shelf, so that's what I'm running now. Bike shifts like *crap*; 1st to 2nd shift requires serious, constant pressure until the tranny clunks into place. I'm not blaming it on the Royal Purple, mind you. I've just installed a Baker Smooth Shift drum, Y2K 2nd gear, primary chain tensioner upgrade and Y2K shift detent plate. The suffering shifting is obviously caused by one of these many changes. Henrik | ||
| Leeaw |
I have to say I was happy with Mobil 1 75W90 for about 5,000 miles until my dealer blamed my mainshaft failure on the synthetic gear lube. I did not buy it the "too slippery" concept, but switched back to HD non the less. The 2001 shifter upgrade seemed to make more of a difference than the lube in terms of accuracy anyway. | ||
| Reepicheep |
Henrik... I did not make any of those upgrades (though mine came with the 2k shift drum), and mine shifts into second the same (lousy) way. I currently suspect one of two things... 1) Adjustment of the detent plate (I followed the manual and put the drill bit in there and it was very tight... I left it, but next time in there I will probably adjust it to have a little more room). 2) 2nd gear needs to be replaced. Interesting that you did this and still have the problem. I miss on upshifts into second at high rpms only. If I continue to apply pressure while RPM's drop back down, it eventually goes in. Never a problem for low speed upshifts, never a problem downshifting. If I manually operate the shifter while the clutch basket is off, I can see the roller come just over the peak of the detent plate but not fall all the way down when going up into second. Going up into any other gear, or down into any gear (including second) and it drops nicely into the little valley. Can't imagine what could be causing your problem... seems like you replaced every suspect part. Could be a system wide problem and second is just the weakest link in the chain. Thanks for the brake bleeding tip by the way (syringe). I tried it on the minivan and it worked like a charm... my wife (who would have otherwise been drafted to push the pedal) thanks you. Minor variation on it for cars... if you get the tube and syringe on with no air, you can just leave it back there with the bleeder valve open, walk around front and give the pedal two or three pumps, then go around back, close the valve, mostly empty the syringe, and start over. The pressure pushes the syringe out, where it stays, making flushing the system a one person job. Token on topic content: Mobil 1 gearbox made shifting far better in every regard, but did not solve my problem of going into second. Bill (way off topic) | ||
| Redstripe |
......, Just when I thought my primary was finally sealed... Think I should open it up to clean the muck, or will a good hot draining and switching to Mobil 1 be sufficient? The Red Line's been in there for about 400-500 kilometers. Godda admit I'm not too keen on opening up the primary again! Jilles. Seems Harley ain't that stupid after all using just a mineral.  | ||
| Ara |
Don, and from the horse's mouth, too! I haven't tried the Mobil 1 gear oil yet, but I've got a bottle sitting on the shelf for the next service right next to the oil filter and the Mobil 1 motor oil. I've used SportTrans until now. I'll give it a go and see. Russ | ||
| Doncasto |
Russ: I really think the Mobil 1 is fine, and certainly an improvement over the HD setup (with the Banke and pawl upgrade included in the package) The truth of the matter is it has been so long since I have ridden a stock setup I really have lost my frame of reference. There is also a possibility that some of the green goo has broken loose and is gumming up the works on occasion. I really do need to drain the primary again in hope that some of the residue will have been rinsed off with the Mobil 1. I bought two quarts with just this procedure in mind. Of course, this is all coming from the same person that when observed closely can be seen continuously mumbling, "Lefty loosy, righty tighty . . , lefty loosy, righty tighty . . ." whenever he is working on his Buell. Don | ||
| Aaron |
Funny, even with all that mud in there, the clutch was working fine. Only reason I was in there was to change the clutch spring. Jilles, I'd just change it and not worry about it. | ||
| Peter |
Jilles, I've done about 5 oil changes each time using Shockproof. The bike ran fine with it. I just changed it to the 75W90 to try and flush out the buildup of goo. I would probably go back to the Shockproof if it cleaned out ok. I'm quite sure it won't give you a problem if you leave it in there until your next oil change. PPiA | ||
| Charley |
The "mud"you see is build up from clutch residu wich normally ends up in your bearings or where-ever now stays in your clutch. The residu you see on the altenater is iron dust wich sticks to your magnets , it's alway's there you just see it better now due to the colour. I use it for a long time and keep using it , just clean it once in a while when doing maintanance , i like the smoother shifting and extra security of the shockproof. | ||
| Henrik |
Reep: the shifting with the new set-up is a bit stiff throughout the gearbox, but 1-to-2 shift is the worst of the bunch. I suspect either the adjustment (I did follow the manual) or the Y2K shifter detent plate. I'll probably give this a few more miles and see if it gets better. If not I'll remove the Y2K plate and install the one that came with the Smooth Shift Kit (which looks remarkably like the stock plate btw.) Glad the brake bleeding worked out for you. Charley: the S2 is the only bike I've run Redline in, and I've never seen sludge like this before. Anecdotal, I know  Henrik | ||
| Aaron |
Hmm, you put a stock type detent plate onto the Baker drum? It *could* just be that the two are designed to work together. Perhaps it's the shape of the channels that allows the shallower notches on the plate, for example, which results in an overall reduction in effort. I don't really know, I'm just tossing that out there. I can tell you with great certainty that Susy's S1 shifts like butter with that kit in there. Always surprises me when I ride her bike, I go to shift it and I feel how easy it is and I think "oh yeah, I've got that kit in this bike." I assume you've got more than a half hour or so on it, and it still doesn't shift right? One thing about these gearboxes, it's damn critical to oil'em good on assembly, particularly that drum and shift fork arrangement. It takes quite awhile to work lube into there if you don't and it'll be very difficult to shift (ask me how I know). But within a half hour of use, it oughta free up. | ||
| Cidhawk |
Since all of y'all replace your tranny oil on a regular basis I have a simple question. What's the easily method you use in removing the three bolts of the footpeg support? I had the darnest time removing those things. | ||
| Aaron |
You must be talking about a Blast. Those bolts are a PITA. We're talking twins. The only potential hiccup is those torx head screws holding the cover on. | ||
| Xgecko |
Cidhawk The easiest way to deal with that problem is to get rearsets. | ||
| Shotgun |
Cidhawk if you don't want to get rearsets, drill some holes in the footpeg support that will allow you to remove the clutch cover screws without removing the damn footpeg support. If you counter sink the holes, they can look pretty good. | ||
| Henrik |
Aaron: yeah, I was debating back and forth about which detent plate to use. In the end the Y2K won, because I liked what it did on the S3, and the Baker looked quite like the stock version. You're right though - if they did a good job developing the shift kit, I screwed up not using their plate. I have over 700 miles on this tranny modification, and was very careful to douse everything in transmission fluid during assembly (spurred by recommendations from Badwebbers). I guess it'll have to come apart in the fall (if I don't get tired of it before). Henrik | ||
| Madstuka |
Help! I just put my cam cover/gear cover back on after having it powdercoated, replaced the gasket, torqued it to spec. I started the bike, warmed it up, and test rode it. The bike leaked oil like a sieve out of the right side. I though that the gasket failed. I replaced the gasket, was very careful and had the same result. Can it be the oil pump? It can't be the gasket, can it? I'm very close to hara kiri. | ||
| Ara |
Whoa up, Madstuka. Don't sharpen the Ginsu knives yet. Be specific about where it is leaking from. After you had the cover powdercoated, did you lay it on a flat surface and check it for warp? They bake powdercoating, and I'm thinking that the heat might have slightly warped the cover. Also, the wizards on the BBS advise to retorque the screws after a good hot ride. Your torque wrench is reliable, I take it? Russ | ||
| Bluzm2 |
Angry German Dive Bomber.... Check to be sure they didn't get any powder coating on the gasket surface. I had to do a bit of cleanup on mine before I could put things back together. It doesn't take much irregularity to cause a leak. The heat warpage is a slight possibility. If memory serves, the oven temp is only about 450 degrees. Also make sure you have the correct gasket. There was a change somewhere along the way. Someone posted pic's a while back. Sorry, I don't remember who or how long ago. Brad | ||
| Madstuka |
Well, it was an easy fix, the oil seal was warped and would not seal properly. I changed it out and problem was solved. Funny, a tremendous amount of oil can make it through the hole for the ignition wire. Pat | ||
| Ara |
Ah, thanks Pat. I'm glad you found your leak and that it was an easy one to fix. I'll remember that. Russ | ||
| Thunderbolter97 |
Hey fellow Buellers and knowledge gurus, My 97 S-3 has recently started leaking oil at the top of the oil tank, looks like where the return line goes in, maybe through a grommet? Before I tear into it I wanted to see if this is a common problem, or if anyone had a suggestion. The closest dealer is 60 mi away and rarely has what I need. The bikes only got 13,000 miles so I don't think its blowby, besides that would come out the breather by the filter, correct? Any help apprecciated. TB | ||
| Blake |
LaFayette (Buellistic) has a fix for that. He used adhesive to repair a similar leak. Click HERE to see the spec on the adhesive he used. (Message edited by blake on August 18, 2009) | ||
| Thunderbolter97 |
Thanks for the tip Blake, I'm off to the garage to tear the rear body off to find the nasty leak. Can't have it leaking like a Harley--after all, this is a Buell we're talkin about. Keep ya posted of my findings. TB | ||
| Pwest |
OK I have a question. I just changed my oil, put 2 qrts in, then went for a ride. when I got back and checked the dip stick there was no oil, so I added some, about a forth of a new bottle and it just hit the dip stick. so the question is where on the stick should the oil be? ive herd about half way but thats about 21/2 qrts. 02 M2 by the way. PAT02M2... |
