| Author | Message | ||
     Rdrage |
Today I had the 5k service done. I took my own Mobil 1 synthetic for V-Twins and Mobil 1 75w-90 gear lube for them to use instead of the HD stuff. The service guy told me the same old "too slippery" and "Flat spots in the roller bearings" story. I told him to go ahead and do it anyway. He then told me that using this oil would void my warranty. From what I've read, this isn't true. It still worries me though. Is he full of it? When my bike was done, he called me and told me he didn't use the gear lube because It wasn't made for a "wet clutch" so he had the HD sport-trans fluid put in. Is this all true? Has anyone used Mobil one In their tranny? BTW he didn't charge me for the HD fluid.. | ||
| Blake |
The void warranty is total BS. Federal law prohibits any manufacturer from requiring specific parts/materials unless they provide them free of charge. Don't know about the trans fluid, but I sure wouldn't put much trust in what that character says. He is either terribly misinformed, ignorant, or a liar. Let's give him the benefit of our doubt and assume he's probably just misinformed. | ||
| Chuck |
J.V. -- dude -- DON'T use 75W-90 gear lube in your chain case! Its w-a-y too heavy. The Harley brand Sport Trans Fluid is more like motor oil than gear lube. Your dealer did you a favor by refusing to use the gear lube. The Mobil 1 Synthetic is probably cool for the engine though  | ||
| Rdrage |
Thanks for the info guys. Does anyone have any suggestions for synthetic tranny fluids?? | ||
| S2no1 |
Rdrage, Most people use Redline Heavy, Buy it from Tat. Arvel | ||
| Tim |
Isn't redline heavy like 75w-250? I tried to go to their site but its either busy or down. | ||
| S2no1 |
Tim, When I contacted Redline earlier this year for a recommendation, they suggested Redline Heavy. Some people have used the light as well. I'm getting ready to switch at the next oil change. A second alternative is to ask Tat for a recommendation when you call to order the redline. Severice is suberb. He needs to teach some of the Buell dealers how to handle their customer service. Arvel | ||
| Court |
>>He needs to teach some of the Buell dealers how to handle their customer service. I get EVERYTHING I can from Tat, be it for V-Twins or the singles (TW, KLR, F650). The service is spectacular. By the way, in the interest of fairness and equity, I am inpressed with the way this SPORTTWIN site is developing. Some dealer, somewhere, is going to do something right and hit a goldmine, me thinks. Court | ||
| Blake |
The gear lube and motor oil viscosity indices do not use the same scale. Viscosity of 75W90 Gear Lube is somewhere in the area of 20W50 motor oil. The Mobil-1 is okay from a viscosity standpoint; I'm just not sure about the wet clutch part; that is a valid concern. Like I've said before, viscosity is viscosity no matter if it's conventional oil or synthetic. Where we might see trouble is if the Mobil-1 tranny lube includes special anti-wear additives that could impregnate the clutch sufaces rendering them too smooth/slippery to function properly. | ||
| Tripper |
I guess I'm gonna find out. I put Mobil 1 gear lube in a few hundred miles ago. So far OK. | ||
| Blake |
No sweat Tripper, you'd already be having serious clutch slippage if you were going to have any problems at all. Do you notice any difference compared to the Sport-Trans fluid? | ||
| Tripper |
Blake; I put the 2001 shifter on at the same time so any comparisons are nil. To further confuse things I reversed the shifter this week to make it a reverse pattern. After 0.5 miles I can say that SO FAR it seems I should not miss upshifts any longer. | ||
| Jimc |
I've had Valvoline 75W90 synthetic in for about 1000 miles with no problems. Shifting seems smoother with neutral easier to find, could be just the miles working in the trans. | ||
| Dark_Ninja |
Questions, My S3T is leaking (slow) from the bolt that runs into the head right behind the front of the airbox. This causes the oil to drip down onto the exhaust and burn off leaving oil residue and more importantly SMOKE coming off my bike when it is sitting and idling. I was told that this is fairly common and that the 'cure' is to remove the bolt, clean the hole/threads out and put the bolt back in using Loktite 'blue'. First, IS this fairly common? Second, is there a better way to 'fix' this issue? Lastly, how much oil is going to drain out at me when I pull the bolt? Thanks to any help that is offered! :D In case I ain't explaining the location of the bolt clearly enough, here is a picture!  | ||
| Dark_Ninja |
Duh! The bolt in question is in the exact center of the picture,just above the exhaust. Man, I've REALLY gotta do a better job of proofing my posts. | ||
| Aaron |
DN: That bolt is a critical part of what holds your engine in. There is a very specific procedure for removing and replacing it, including a specific thread locking compound. The bolt is not to be reused. Same with the washer. Are you sure the oil is coming from the bolt? Or just dripping off it? Maybe from the rocker box? AW | ||
| Bushmasta |
I just picked up my bike, LOVE IT. i noticed a bit of oil gunk at the base of the front cyclinder where it meets the gearbox, is this common with Buells? If not should i plan on taking it in and fixing the leak while still under warranty? thanks for your help in advance jhbushmasta@aol.com | ||
| Rocketman |
Thought I'd share with the Bad crew this neat idea my buddy applies to his Harley's. I've always loved the looks of stainless hoses and have made it a goal to finish off all the hoses on the S1W in stainless braid. Part of that was to finally do something with the oil bag drain hose but because the frame is nickel plated I wanted to utilise the holed bracket on the rear footrest triangle rather than have it sat there doing nothing. If you look closely you will notice a female PCL air hose attachment which , with a small amount of profiling on the grinding wheel and finishing with a small file, just squeezes in nicely. To drain the oil, get motor up to temp then connect a male PCL with hose attached and drain in to bowl. No dirty fingers and pretty fast drain time.  I like it a lot !!!! Rocket in England | ||
| Bushmasta |
after a little more scrutiny, i believe the oil is coming from front pushrod area at the base. The pushrods are the silver tube things on the side of the cylinder right? Dumb question you might think but i'm use to an inline four moto. Still learning this pushrod v-twin engine. | ||
| Bushmasta |
after a little more scrutiny, i believe the oil is coming from front pushrod area at the base. The pushrods are the silver tube things on the side of the cylinder right? Dumb question you might think but i'm use to an inline four moto. Still learning this pushrod v-twin engine. Anyone have this problem with the oil leak? The bike only has 3500 miles. Any ideas? | ||
| José_Quiñones |
Dark Ninja, Busmasta, Remove the airbox cover and take a look. My guess is that you guys just have oil coming out of the head breathers, and that oil has gotten out of the airbox and on to the motor, so it looks like you have an oil leak. The oil near the front of the motor probably left the front breather, dripped down along the cooling fins and ended up by the motor mount. Then it might have gone down the pushrod tube. Clean up the motor, including inside the airbox and ride it some, to see if you can detect where its coming from. Just my guess. | ||
| Blake |
I 2nd Jose's recommendation. | ||
| Onlyblue |
To all, here's a really interesting article which compares automobile and motorcycle oils. It also debunks a lot of the nonsense that MC dealers spew in order to get $6.00 a quart. http://www.nightrider.com/biketech/oiltest1.htm | ||
| M2cyclone |
The articles that American Iron ran in the last 6 months on fossil VS synthetic and HD VS other manufacturers oils is excellent reading. It has convinced me to run Mobil 1 V-Twin in my Buell and my HD. Does anyone know of a good ballpark figure of how many miles to put on a new engine before switching to synthetic? The articles use the newer GM performance models that are broken with Mobil 1 as examples of not worring about break-in with fossil oils. Is this a good idea or not? Thanks PS - There was also good reading on HD's new bike warranty and what myths they spread in that area. | ||
| Mikej |
Amsoil. Does anyone have an opinion or knowledge of this stuff? A neighbor is apparently some sort of distributor of it, and was handing out flyers. I haven't read the flyer yet. Just looking for input. | ||
| Pammy |
I LOVE Amsoil...I use it in everything....It is a great oil. Tippy Top of the line....They use the best of everything in production. Pammy | ||
| Rocketman |
The Jordan F1 team used it some years ago, allegedly. I don't know if they still do. Probably not, under Honda power. What did Danny Pedersen have to say about it ? Rocket in England | ||
| Blake |
M2Cyclone: Only reason to avoid synthetic during break in is the price. | ||
| Eeeeek |
You want to know the major reason why I don't run synthetic? Availability. If I'm out in the middle of nowhere, run low on oil, didn't bring any and need to get some, I don't know how easy it will be to find a place that stocks my brand of Synthetic. H-D dealers are everywhere and easy to find in a phone book. I know, not too major, but I'm used to my bike drinking the oil and I may as well just keep running the Dino stuff (it was drinking it so fast for a while that I proably didn't have to do oil changes). Vik | ||
| M2cyclone |
I buy Mobil 1 V-Twin at WalMart. They just started carrying it about two months ago. Makes it eaiser to find on the road and WalMart has better hours than the HD dealers. |
