| Author | Message | ||
     Brucelee |
Just wanted to say the following: My bike is an XB9S with 1900 miles on it. I have been running Mobil One 75-90 in the tranny since 225 miles. The bike shifts like butter and seems to be getting better with more miles on it. It totally counters all the shit about the bad tranny that I see all the time. Last two bikes were a Suzuki Bandit 1200 and a Kawi Ninja 6r. Both were very nice shifting bikes. The XB is now smoother than those two were. Maybe the miles, maybe the Mobil One. Either way, I love the shifting. For what it is worth. Thanks | ||
| Fullpower |
i have some amsoil 75w-90. i will try it out and report back. | ||
| Kaese |
My dealer put syn in the tranny at the 2500 mile maintenance. Regular Harley stuff in the engine. Could they know what they are doing? | ||
| Brucelee |
Dont know why they would stay with HD dino oil past breakin. From my experience, the Syn is superior in every way. | ||
| Fullpower |
i drained xb12's trans , replaced with amsoil 75w-90. took away about half of the first to second "clunk" and all the other gears are smooth and silent shifts. much less shifter effort is required. big improvement. dean | ||
| Bykergeek |
Yep. Mobil1 75w90 made a big improvement in my XB too. | ||
| Leeaw |
I used Mobil1 in my M2 and put syn3 in the tranny on my XB. It is very smooth and much smoother than my M2, but you think the Mobil1 would be of any greater benefit? | ||
| Steelshoe |
I sat on a new 04 883 custom, it was running and I tried putting it in gear, WOW, nothing like my XB, sporty was smoothest harley ever, wonder why the xb isn't like the sporty when it has an xb base design? My xb is tuff getting in to neutral about 50% of the time, loosened primary with some improvement. Put in M1 at 900 mi, is now nearing 3000 mi oil change and will try syn3 this time. Thought M1 gear oil would work better in AZ heat? | ||
| Austinrider |
Leeaw - I dont know what the Amsoil is like in the tranny, but the Mobil 1 Gear Oil is really smooth. Still get the clunk going into first gear, after that is a hot knife and butter when I shift. | ||
| Prof_stack |
Which oil does Amsoil recommend in the XB primary/tranny? The local Amsoil guy said that Amsoil now recommends their v-twin 20w/50 oil, same as goes in the motor. | ||
| Misato |
the dealer told me to use H-D syn in the tranny and the motor. I picked up some ams vtwin and a nallin oil filter and some M1 for the tranny. I will put that in when I get my bike back.. | ||
| Dcmortalcoil |
H-D Syn is 20W-50. My understanding is that H-D Sport-trans fluid (Part No. 99896-88) recommended in the manual is also 20W-50. Amsoil and Mobil also recommend using 20w-50 in the tranny. See where I'm going. Wouldn't 75W-90 be too viscous (thick)? | ||
| Prof_stack |
As I recall an earlier posting this year, gear oil has a different viscosity unit than motor oil. Perhaps someone can find the posting here on Badweb and re-post it. The upshot is that 75W/90 gear oil is in thickness similar to 20W/50 motor oil. Amsoil's recommendation might be due to additives in the gear oil that the tranny/primary shouldn't have. But there is more to know here... | ||
| Glitch |
Dcmortalcoil: I've tried the HD Syth3,the Sports Trans, and Mobil1 75w/90. As none of these will hurt the transmission. I would recommend doing as I have and try each one, giving each at least 1000 miles. I honestly did not think I would feel a difference. I do. And that is why I have chosen the Mobil1. There is nothing like trying it for yourself, because if you don't feel any difference, then you can just buy the least expensive one. | ||
| Prof_stack |
Found it! From June 19, 2003 in the Lubrication section. Here it is:  | ||
| Ilikehotchicks |
hey bruce lee how does the buell compare to your bandit. my friend has a bandit 1200 and its very fast and modded. thing is he is always downing on me for getting a buell "for the price its not worth it" "its slow" i didnt care what he thought and still bought the xb. funny thing is he was the first to admire it when he saw it in person. he loved the bottom exhaust and the steel brake lines. i know the bandit is faster but by how much? and of course the buell handles better =) | ||
| Brucelee |
I had a Bandit 1200S. Nice bike lots of power (tons of torque but I think the Buell has a bit more down low). But the bike is tall, heavy and top heavy (esp with 5.5 gallons in tank). Not a lot of fun around town but I very very nice highway bike. And cant touch XB9S handling of course. If I had the room, I would get one for long trips, touring etc. Can bitch though, I BOUGHT THE BIKE, no one made me!! | ||
| Dcmortalcoil |
Prof Stack, I am now confused. SAE crank 10W-50 has the about the same viscosity as SAE gear 75W-90? I am sure how to read the chart. Anyone know what this chart means. | ||
| Prof_stack |
The main point to the chart is that viscosity is measured differently for gear oil and motor (crankcase) oil. The Mobil-1 75W/90 oil is no thicker than Syn3 20W/50. But it does have a different set of ingredients, duh, for the tranny. | ||
| Dcmortalcoil |
Thanks Prof. Don't Mobile 1 and Amsoil 75W-90 gear lubes both contain "friction" modifiers? Friction modifiers are not recommended since they can cause slippage in the wet clutch. Trans/primary fluid, although is designed to lube the chain/gears, it's for cooling, not lubricating, the wet clutch as I understand it. To play safe, perhaps it's best to stay away from these gear lubes. My 2 cents. | ||
| Brucelee |
I have been running the mobil 1 75-90 since 225 miles. Now have 2000 miles on it and the clutch and tranny are like pure butter. I think it would have slipped by now, no? | ||
| Johnnyd |
I just got back from an automotive aftermarket show in Las Vegas. Talked to a rep from Mobil (as they had a custom chopper with S&S motor on display in their booth). Flat out - he said I can use Mobil VTwin 20w-50 in the motor and tranny on the XB9R. He said that is what the S&S motor and tranny shipped with... I wonder what the dealership boys would say... | ||
| Dcmortalcoil |
Brucelee, Slippage will not occur on a new clutch - only when it wears down you will notice slippage. That's what I read in searching through the internet. Also, there might be issues regarding warranty because it contains friction modifiers. | ||
| Baybueller |
Regarding the S&S chopper, the big twins have 3 oil points. The engine, the trans and the primary/clutch | ||
| Brucelee |
"Slippage will not occur on a new clutch - only when it wears down you will notice slippage. That's what I read in searching through the internet. Also, there might be issues regarding warranty because it contains friction modifiers." That may be but I have not read that. Moreover, not all synthetics have friction modifiers, mostly the lighter ones for cars. For example, Mobil One 5-30 does, 15-50 does not. Lastly, since HD recommends their own synthetic for the Buell from day one, I would like to see them justify a warranty claim on the Buell with Mobil One. Of course, anything is possible. | ||
| Glitch |
I would like to see them justify a warranty claim on the Buell with Mobil One. I would like to see them try to tell the difference. Unless they are there when you change the oil, or, do some sort of chemical analisys, I doubt anyone would be able to tell what brand of oil you're using... | ||
| Dcmortalcoil |
Brucelee, Glitch The warranty issue has nothing to do with using synthetics. My point is that the substituting component has to meet or exceed the requirement. In this vein, if the gear lube indeed contains friction modifiers (and I've read it from both Amsoil & Mobile 1 website that they provide limited friction slippage), then it may not meet the Buell requirement. I tried to trace back to the sites that discusses friction modifiers in gear lubes, but couldn't find them. But here's an excerpt from Amsoil web site: http://www.smartsynthetics.com/faqs/questions_about_motorcycle_applications.htm: "Question: Which AMSOIL products should I use for my Harley Davidson motorcycle? Answer: Crankcase requiring 20W50 lubricant; Harley Davidson part numbers 99903-93 and 99896-88, use the AMSOIL High Performance Synthetic 20W-50 Motorcycle Engine Oil, product code AMV. Transmission requiring 75W90 lubricant; Harley Davidson part numbers 99892-84 and 98853-96, use the AMSOIL Series 2000 Synthetic 75W90 (AGR/TGR) Gear Lube, product code TGR. Chain Case Oil (primary) lubricants requiring 10W40; Harley Davidson part number 99887-84, uses the AMSOIL High Performance Synthetic 10W40 Motorcycle Engine Oil, product code AMF. The exception is the Sportster. It has two oil reservoirs instead of three and uses the same oil in both reservoirs. Use AMSOIL 20W50 Synthetic Engine Lubricant in both reservoirs, product code AMV Note: The AMSOIL 20w50 (AMV) and 10W40 (AMF) Motorcycle Engine Oils do not contain friction modifiers and meet Harley Davidson specification for the wet clutch system." The catch is that Buell has the Sporster configuration, using only two reservoirs, one of which shares the transmission (containing wet clutch) and primary. The gear lube is only recommended for bikes with a separate transmission reservoir. I've confirmed with the Amsoil techical division (telephone (715) 392-7101) that 75W-90 gear lube is a completely wrong application for tranny/primary. They recommend 20W50 engine oil without friction modifiers. | ||
| Dcmortalcoil |
Follow up: So that we are on the same level, I'm discussing about "ENGINE" oil v. GEAR lube. They are not the same, whether synthetic or not. They have completely different applications from what I am told. |
