| Author | Message | ||
     Buellbum |
it's back together . the trans needed changing badly. some thin 3/16" metal shards on the magnet.... i put in a quart of "Super Tech 85w140 GL5. it shifts fine and neutral is easy. it says on the bottle that it protects copper and brass. the previous owner had his work done at a shop. clearly whatever they were using didn't protect the trans so i'm not worried. .... | ||
| Williamscottrobertson |
Yeah seems like I remember having to tap the back wheel toward thr ground while it was a couple inches in the air to move the top of the bracket rearward. | ||
| Williamscottrobertson |
Oh and I was reading the Instruction for the relocation kit, going “why do I have to jack under the transmission. I’m not doing all that.” Mistake lol. Too many years of normal metric bikes lol | ||
| Hootowl |
Be advised that neither HD nor Buell recommend gear oil in the transmissions of Sportsters. Sportrans (TM) is hydraulic fluid, and up until a few years ago, that's all they recommended. Now they recommend 20W50 motor oil. But, lots of people use gear oil. I don't know now long their stators last. | ||
| Buellbum |
Hootowl: you mean the red hydraulic fluid they put in auto transmissions? they probably recommended it so it would break just after the warranty was up so they can fix it, just like the crappy spring-loaded cam-chain adjusters. the 85w140 i bought at walmart says on the label that it protects copper and brass. it sure can't be any worse than what was in it because there were metal fragments in the magnet and when i get it on, it skips in 2nd. i tell ya, i feel better about than the "recommended" oils... which btw changes. years ago harley said DON'T USE SYNTHETIC OIL. i'm not sure that they know what they're talking about. (Message edited by buellbum on January 09, 2018) | ||
| Hootowl |
"you mean the red hydraulic fluid they put in auto transmissions?" No. That's auto trans fluid, ATF. Not the same as Sportrans, or gear oil, which is what you've used, which is not what the manufacturer recommends in their gear cases. Sportrans (TM) is what HD has been putting in their sportsters for years. I know many people who have 10s of thousands of miles (at least one over 100 thousand) using nothing but Sportrans. I put 50K on mine that way. Nothing wrong with it. But like I said...lots of people use gear oil. And...it's your motorcycle. | ||
| Hootowl |
I just wanted you to be aware that gear oil is not what the manufacture recommends, because it is, after all, a transmission, and it would make sense to put gear oil in it. If you're consciously using gear oil instead of the factory fill, that's fine, and entirely up to you. | ||
| S1owner |
I use screaming eagle synthetic in all fluids in my buell and Harley. Thats what it likes. My kaw, yami, and suzuki all run a gear type oil in the trans. Good to hear you got it figured out. I hope you hang around hear after that abuse. Just realize there is alot and I mean an enormous amount of info from all of us and it will save you time, money. And head aches. But almost everytime you ask please do the homework in the seatch function (google works better) and the fsm first because it will be pointed out! Lol I never worked on a bike in any way other then tightening a bolt etc till I came here and bought my Buell. I using the fsm and all the knowledge from people like rat and hoot have completed two ground up builds and countless mods. Just trust in us most want you up riding not working on the bike | ||
| Buellbum |
thanks to all for the help. S1owner: yeah, i was angry but i'm over it and love my cyclone again. i get pretty angry all the time over little crap. my steel front door has a bunch of knuckle dents in it... i took Buella out today and i'm going really easy on 2nd gear to forestall the inevitable trans rebuild. unfortunately it's my fav gear to juice it. i have 55K on my superglide and used 20/50 in all three holes but i changed it often -about every 1,100 miles- and i buy the cheap walmart brand too. i can do four oil changes for the price of one syn oil change and i believe that it's better to go cheap and change often than to spend big bucks and leave it in longer. | ||
| Williamscottrobertson |
The Walmart Quicksilver Synth Motorcycle 20W50 is awesome stuff and less than $30/gallon to boot. | ||
| Buellbum |
i don't trust that they actually put synthetic oil in those containers. see, i understand greedy corporate america pretty well and i'd bet that most of that "synthetic oil" is less than 1/4 synthetic. | ||
| Hootowl |
Companies want to make an inferior product that disappoints their customers resulting in loss of business. That makes sense. Sarcasm off. | ||
| Court |
>>>>i don't trust that they actually put synthetic oil in those containers. My bet is that you can be 100% confident. There are simply too many dicks like me who send oil, on EVERY oil change, off to analysis. If the Amsoil Signature series I use in all the cars wasn't 100% synthetic . . . I'd know pronto. If I were a "greedy" company . . . the last thing I would do would be to commit a felony that a 5th grader with $15 could prove me guilty of. But I suppose . . in a convoluted way . . . I've proven I agree with you . . just by buying the best full synthetic made. | ||
| Buellbum |
Hootowl: how do you know that synthetic works as stated? .....the particulate matter in the oil is what causes wear. like i said: i'll change it four times and the syn guy will change once. | ||
| Ratbuell |
Actually, by mileage...you'll change it FIVE times. 5000 mile interval with Syn3. At your 4:1 price ratio, you're still spending more to do the same mileage...using up more filters...doing more work...and creating five TIMES the waste oil. I'm no tree hugger, but that just seems silly to me. Different for the sake of being different. Let's analyze your last sentence: "I'll change it four times and the syn guy will change it once". Why do all that extra work?? Why create all that extra waste oil?? For my money, I would....and I DO....do a quarter of the work, for the same money, and the same end result. Work smarter, not harder. | ||
| Buellbum |
---Why do all that extra work?? --- to make my motor last longer.  again: it's the particulate matter in the oil that causes the wear. i don't want that circulating for 5000 miles. i had a hog shop owner say it like this: "i had a customer come in bragging about synthetic oil, that he cold go 5000 miles between changes.... why would you want to?" exactly: why do you want all those friction contaminants circulating in your motor for that long? changing oil on a sportster motor is super fast too. i'd just dump out the filter and screw it back on and change it the next time. so no need to change the filter every 1000 miles. }} | ||
| Hootowl |
"how do you know that synthetic works as stated?" Because I don't believe in vast conspiracies. There are too many independent tests for it to be a lie by greedy American capitalist running dogs. | ||
| Buellbum |
---Because I don't believe in vast conspiracies. --- i do because i've been on the planet long enough to have seen the rip-offs over and over and over again. they call it "living and learning". and while we're on that topic: watch online: " The Trillion Dollar Conspiracy " and "Questioning The Holocaust Why We Believed". conspiracies are common among humans. | ||
| Hootowl |
I go 10000 miles between oil changes in my car, and it's a diesel. Lots of soot in the oil. Looks black after just a few miles. The oil is designed to handle it. Why do I go 10000 miles between changes? Because that's what the car manufacturer recommends. And I'm quite certain that the manufacturer is more concerned with their reputation for reliability in the super competitive car market than they are with tricking their customers into ruining their engines. You know...that whole vast conspiracy thing that I don't believe in. Lubricating oil technology has come a long way in the last 20-30 years. | ||
| Hootowl |
"Questioning The Holocaust Why We Believed" I'm sorry, I was proceeding under the assumption that I was interacting with a rational human being. Thank you for clarifying. Change your oil as often as you like. I'm done here. | ||
| Oldfartnbuell |
Guys, has anyone really READ his profile? Just saying. | ||
| Buellbum |
what's wrong with my profile? | ||
| Ratbuell |
I go 10000 miles between oil changes in my car, and it's a diesel. Lots of soot in the oil. Looks black after just a few miles. The oil is designed to handle it. Why do I go 10000 miles between changes? Because that's what the car manufacturer recommends. And I'm quite certain that the manufacturer is more concerned with their reputation for reliability in the super competitive car market than they are with tricking their customers into ruining their engines. You know...that whole vast conspiracy thing that I don't believe in. +1,000. My Ecodiesel Jeep has a 10k change interval. It does soot up pretty quickly, but a pinch off the dipstick rubbed between finger and thumb is still super slick, no grit. Even on Monday, when I was at 10,145 miles on that fill (checked it as I dropped for service Monday morning). As an extension to the "lube tech has come a long way" statement, I asked them to check the trans fluid for me. Back in '05 I had a Hemi Magnum that had a trans dipstick tube...but no dipstick. It was a "dealer tool". Whatever. Figured the Jeep was the same way - nope! The reason I couldn't find a dipstick tube on the ZF 8HP70 8 speed in my '14 Grand Cherokee? There ISN'T one. Me: "well, how do you fill it back up after a fluid change?" Service advisor: "we don't. There is no change. It's lifetime fluid." If ZF trusts lubricants that much, on one of the most common transmissions on the PLANET right now...that's good enough for me. All this in a transmission rated to handle 700 lb-ft of torque (my Jeep is "only" 420). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZF_8HP_transmission (Message edited by ratbuell on January 11, 2018) | ||
| K12pilot |
"It's easier to fool someone than to convince them that they've been fooled" "the cheap stuff"  I use olive oil, it seems to work.. | ||
| Hootowl |
Rat: "we don't. There is no change. It's lifetime fluid." I'd be careful there. Jaguar said the same thing about the oil in my S-Type. When the tranny went, the shop said the oil looked like sludge. Trust but verify  | ||
| Ratbuell |
Oh, I verified pre-visit. It hard-shifted once when I was in FL over Christmas; first time ever. No warning lights, no codes. I looked for a dipstick tube, nada. Looked all over the place. Post-visit, I've checked the ZF pages as well as a lot of Ram/Chrysler forums - as well as the owners' manual. No mention of trans fluid changes, plenty of mention of the lifetime fluid. I have a 100k mile warranty on it, and prepaid maintenance plan, so honestly...I hadn't bothered to tax any brain cells over it. | ||
| Hootowl |
My transmission started slipping at 100K. If I could go back in time, I'd have had the oil changed at 50K and saved myself $3K. Jaguar wasn't even using synthetic fluid. | ||
| Buellbum |
"we don't. There is no change. It's lifetime fluid." there's no such thing as a "lifetime fluid" unless you don't expect your vehicles to last very long. have you ever heard of "planned obsolescence"? | ||
| Ratbuell |
I have. I'm also not a conspiracy theorist. People actually DO build quality products in the hopes they will succeed. Not everyone is out to prey on the consumer...ZF transmissions? I trust (and so do BMW, Mercedes, Porsche, GM, Rolls Royce, Aston Martin...). Crown prince of Nigeria, telling me he wants me to hold a half billion dollars for him if I send him all my personal data? Not so much... | ||
| Court |
>>>>to make my motor last longer If you believe that you're going to have to use 1950's thinking to support your case. I use the best synthetic money can buy . . .better than the stuff that Porsche uses for their recommended intervals. I am old enough to recall when you could actually buy "bad" oil. Lubricants have benefited greatly from science and Gary Valine, Buell Test Engineer, spent nearly a career study which oils provide the best performance (at the time it was Royal Purple) and which correlate to the best engine life. Here's a 2014 clip from the Porsche forum . .
I try to . . . . as much as possible . . . base met opinions and behavior . . . with regard to oil . . . on facts. All my oil, in all 5 cars and 3 bikes, goes to Blackstone for analysis at each change. It's been interesting, having bought 4 new cars in the last 12 months, to see some of the results of the first oil change. The results lead to be GUESS that materials science has advanced right along with lubricant science. You'd be hard pressed, in several cases, to find any of that legendary "iron filings and scrapings" in the initial oil change. Anyway . . . oils and opinions always seem to be an emotional issue . . . so I pretty well ignore the "tribal knowledge" . . . read up on a couple things and have a plan that seems to work as well for the new S5 as well as the vintage MG. One thing I've always subscribed to . . .with regard to manufacturers . . . is that no one has a greater interest in your motor being reliable than the folks who have staked their reputation on it and have to pick up the warranty costs for problems. Harley-Davidson has had, over their 115 (or whatever ) years their share of problems . . .but I know a lot of folks engineering there and I know their sincere intent is to build the best possible product. |
