| Author | Message | ||
     Cowboycop419 |
I know this has been beat to death in the other forums BUT... I'm not sure what the guy I bought my Uly from was using in the primary... I know he was using Castrol Syntec 20-50 in the engine and I know it was a Castrol Syntec in the primary but no idea what weight. The primary adjust bolt wasn't completely tightened down so it had a very slow leak for a couple weeks. It probably needs a little oil in the primary, but I should probably just change it out since I don't know what weight he was using... When I change the engine oil I'm going with a full sythetic 20-50 v-twin oil. Suggestions on the primary? | ||
| Froggy |
Change it, if he used a GL5 gear oil in the primary it can damage the stator. Better safe than sorry. I recommend Formula+ in the primary. | ||
| Cowboycop419 |
I literally just got back from the HD shop with a qt. Thanks. I just hate going in there... you say Buell to them and you might as well have just hopped off a moped wearing a lime green leasure suit. | ||
| Buewulf |
I always change the lubes on used bikes and cars regardless of the previous owner's claims unless I trust him/her. Just peace of mind. I use Mobil One V-Twin 20-50 in engine and primary. | ||
| Cowboycop419 |
I was looking at the chart for oil weights and it says 10-40 for lowest ambient temps lower than 40? That seems kinda light, but in winter we regularly get night time temps in the teens and 20s, warming to the 40s during the day. Any other cold weather bikers go to the 10-40? | ||
| Froggy |
10-40 is a must for the winter (I ride year round in sub freezing temps), be sure to stuff up your oil cooler with a rag and possibly remove an air scoop. This will help the engine get hot enough to burn off condensation. | ||
| Itileman |
20/50 Syn year round. My garage is not heated & keep the bike on a tender. No problems. Montana is the Miami of the north. | ||
| Nobuell |
I have experimented with a few different primary oils. I have used 20/50 Mobil 1 VT, 10/40 Mobile VT, and Amsoil 20/50 MC. My order of preference thus far is 1 Amsoil, 2 Mobil VT 20/50 and 3 Mobil 10/40. The oil makes a little difference. What really makes a difference is the primary chain adjustment. It is much harder to shift when the chain is to loose. I have run the Amsoil for the past couple of changes. This friday I did my 25K mile service and the shifting was getting a little rough. The primary chain was a bit over 1/2" (cold). Adjusted to 3/8" and the shifting was greatly improved. I believe the oil makes some difference but it will shift much better with a proper primary chain adjustment. For my next change, I plan to try the Redline Lightweight Shockproof gear oil. I have heard good things about it. | ||
| Idaho_buelly |
Absolutely Amsoil 20/50 in both!!  | ||
| Vecchio_lupo |
Amsoil is hard to get in Germany, so I use Royal Purple "Max Cycle" 20/50 in both holes on the Uly. With the S3 I slip in a little Castrol 4T Motorcycle 20/50 dead dinosaur juice to get a semi blend for the old seals and gaskets. If I am making a mistake I know you guys will point me in the right direction. | ||
| Tootal |
Nobuell, don't use the gear oil. It has been noted that gear oil affects the stators. Something in it causes them to short out. On Amsoil's site they even recommend you use their engine oil in both holes, no gear oil. Now I've been reading on here somewhere that guys are using the Amsoil 60 wt. motor oil and are getting better shifting. This sounds like the best idea. I just ordered a case of it and I'll post back after I try it. | ||
| Matchanu |
+1 on not using gear oil. I made that mistake and within 300 miles it ate up my stator. 20/50 synth in both now. | ||
| Jcbikes |
I have been using 80W-90 GL5 gear oil in my 2004 XB12S since new and now have over 30,000 miles on her with no problems and the bike shifts great! I have changed the oil at every 1,500 miles since new. (Message edited by jcbikes on October 07, 2010) | ||
| Tootal |
All I can say is that the stator in the older bikes must not have the same coatings as the 2006 and up models. I used the Amsoil severe gear for a month before I read about the problems. I changed to 20/50 but six months later I was changing my stator. | ||
| Nobuell |
Tootal It is not gear oil that my be a problem. It is the type of gear oil. Gear oils that are designed for Red Metals applications (Most GL-4 and some GL-5) should be no problem. See this Red Line article http://www.redlineoil.com/news_article.aspx?id=49 | ||
| Tootal |
Well I read the article and I'm confused. It states the sportster/buell transmission should use the lightweight shockproof yet they recommend MTL in the primary. We don't have a separate primary and using shockproof in the primary doesn't sound good for the clutch. I'm familiar with these oils through racing and Harleys. I use the shockproof V-twin in my road glide but it's transmission is separate from the primary. I'm not debating your point just confused by the article. Until I know for sure I'm personally not going to use any gear oils in the primary. Changing out the stator is no fun! A 60 wt. engine oil might be the best compromise. I really wish they had separated the two entities! | ||
| Conchop |
I'm trying the Amsoil 60 WT in the primary. Runs and shifts a little smoother to me. 20/50 Amsoil is what I have been running. Can't go wrong w/ Amsoil MC oil -period! | ||
| Mnrider |
My Uly has formula+ in it and it shifts better than any jap bike I've ever had because it never pops out of gear. Shift effort may be a little harder but I'll take that over missed shifts any day. | ||
| Jcbikes |
If I had a 2006 or newer (heli-cut gears), I would just use Formula 1. I heard 5 years ago, that those transmissions were made to use that oil. Otherwise, the older bikes use straight cut gears that I feel need a more sheer resistant gear oil because of this. Just what I have read and what I have heard over the years. | ||
| Blake |
Don't use Redline Shockproof. It contains suspended solids that will accumulate and clog clutch basket and stator. Even Redline advises against it's use in Buell & Sporsters. In my and others' experience, 3/8" is too tight for cold primary chain adjustment. When the aluminum engine cases heat up, they expand more than the steel chain causing the chain to tighten. Looser is much safer for the bearings involved. Formula+ is good for all Buell transmissions, straight cut gears or the '06 and later helical cut versions. The stresses on the oil are not that different between the two. The best shifting I've experienced was with a 10W40 full synthetic in the transmission. Running a 60W engine oil in the tranny makes no sense to me. Just a lot more lost power. Racers run 10W30 in engine and tranny. In order for the copper eating sulphur compounds in some gear oils to attack copper of the stator, said copper must be exposed. If your stator has exposed copper, it's already failed. Plenty of stators fail in OEM lubricant. That said, I now run engine oil or formula+ in my Buell trannies.  | ||
| Armymedic |
I run Rotella T Full Synthetic 5W-40 for wintertime. Works great for cold temps. | ||
| Cowboycop419 |
Thanks for all the input. Put the Formula plus in the primary and what came out was a black slug. It still ran out as I changed it hot but that crap looked pretty nasty. Shifting much cleaner now AND I was getting some brief power losses like it was missing(was going to put new plugs in) and that has even stopped. I'm going to run about 500 miles on the formula+ then change it out again so the rest of that gear oil is cleaned out. If it keeps cooling off as fast as it has been here, I will be switching to Ams 10/40 mc in the engine here pretty soon. I'm still blown away at how bad the primary oil was... thanks for all the tips | ||
| Nobuell |
I believe the end of the Redline article was intended for Primary Cases on big twins with separate transmissions. At least that is how I read it. Redline does recommend MTL in the primary for big twins. As far as using the redline lightweight shockproof in a Buell, Redline advises that heavy weight shockproof should not be used in a Sportster/Buell transmission. The article was written regarding the use of lightweight shockproof. I have read and heard good things about it. Can't say the solids are or are not an issue. I have not heard of a solids problem from other users with wet clutches. |
