| Author | Message | ||
     Oconnor |
what do you guys use? thinking maybe mobil 1 next time, but what grade for out here in california? | ||
| Slowby |
amsoil 20w50 motorcycle for the engine amsoil 10w40 motorcycle for the primary and trany for $10 you can get it at cost if you enter my ZO# 1213847 at amsoil.com i ran it for three race days and still clean plus i put the plate on and street tires inbetween races. | ||
| Reepicheep |
If money is no object, get Mobil 1 V Twin, or the harley full synthetic. If you want a balance of performance and economy, get any other full synthetic 20w50. Mobil 1 15w50 also works well for a lot of people. | ||
| Slowby |
harley syn goes dark in one race day | ||
| Ilikehotchicks |
i just bought some mobile 1 for the eng. And i couldnt find any mobil 1 gear box oil so i went with the harley sport - trans fluid. ben | ||
| M1combat |
"amsoil 10w40 motorcycle for the primary and trany" As I recall 20W50 motor oil is comparable to 75W90 gear oil. The 10W40 may be too light for the tranny?? Just a thought, I don't know for sure. Most people report better transmission performance on Mobil 1 WRT the feel of the transmission. | ||
| Pilk |
Any full synthetic will out perform any dino oil. that said I am a believer in Mobil 1 I use the v-twin 20/50, AutoZone has it on the shelf. Trans-- Mobil 1 gear oil... nothing else. pilk YMMV  | ||
| Austinrider |
Ditto Plik.  | ||
| Xb9er |
Same here, Mobil V-Twin 20W-50 in Primary and Trans, from AutoZone. Mobil 1 75W-90 Gear Oil is equally as good for the Primary/Trans. Never use dino oil except for emergencies. Don't use any Harley fluids until you can get them to tell you the physical properties of their oils so you can make comparisons. Those bastards guard the data like it was the super secret formula for transparent aluminum. Someone earlier said that Harley oils, including the new synthetics, are now made by Citgo. Mike. | ||
| Xb9er |
Slowby, are you an Amsoil peddler? Mike. | ||
| Reepicheep |
I just get whatever full synthetic 20w50 I can find cheapest. If I cant find that, I just get Mobil 1 15-50. Mobil 1 full synthetic gear oil all the way. Fantastic stuff. | ||
| Chainsaw |
Mobil 1 75W-90 Gear Oil in the primary, Valvoline Synthetic 20W50 in the engine in both my bikes | ||
| Opto |
"amsoil 20w50 motorcycle for the engine...i ran it for three race days and still clean...harley syn goes dark in one race day" Why does this happen and is it a good or bad thing? More detergent or whatever in the harley oil, or is it breaking down or what? Just curious...anyone got any answers? | ||
| Buelluk |
I have just had the first service done on the 9S and I went to full HD synthetic all round, the shifting has drastically improved , it hardly needs to be touched going thru the box...and it also seems quieter ..?? | ||
| Captainplanet |
I changed to the harley syn in both my XB and my wifes blast. It does really lower the shifting effort and make the shifting less clunky. | ||
| Fullpower |
nothing wrong with mobil one. harley says 20w-50 synthetic is ok for trans and engine. nice to only stock a single lubricant for both. mobil one is good stuff, and the price is right. | ||
| Aesquire |
I have heard the argument that running different smelling fluids in engine & primary/trans makes sense from a diagnose the problem point of view. I'll go Mobil 1 gear lube in the primary when I change it. (running HD SYN3 in both now, works fine) Don't go "Volvo Amsoil Freak" on a Buell, they like to change filters & reuse the oil for 10,000 miles. The IMPORTANT part is frequent oil/filter changes, to get out metal bits & burnt oil. (Synthetic burns less, as well as shifts better, so run Synthetic, duh.) | ||
| Prof_stack |
I have some Mobil-1 75W/90 gear oil in my XB9S and the shifting is definitely better, especially when the motor is hot. I used to get some serious CLUNKS when I tried to shift to first at a stop if I (dumbly) forgot to downshift beforehand. Now there is NONE of that. Nice. Oh yeah, I've used Syn3, Mobil-1 15w/50 (auto), and now Amsoil 20w/50 (v-twin) in the motor. All have been great and I recommend any of them. Prof | ||
| Xb9er |
I have heard the argument that running different smelling fluids in engine & primary/trans makes sense from a diagnose the problem point of view. Yeah, but with the XB's there aren't many of us having to diagnose those kinds of problems.  Mike. | ||
| Minitrucker |
Here's a REALLY dumb question guys/gals...but when you talk about 20W-50 Mobile1...is that the same oil that i use in my car  ??? Or is it specifically designed for a motorcycle...and what about the Mobile1 V-Twin motor oil...I plan on using that gear oil next in the tranny Rodi | ||
| Opto |
The mobil 1 V-twin oil is 20W-50, you can run this in the engine and primary/gearbox. The mobil 1 auto oil is 15W-50 and cheaper, you can only run it in the engine. Well, that's how I see it. | ||
| Reepicheep |
Minitrucker... not a dumb question at all... but you just stepped on a land mine Motorcycle forums and Oil arguments are legendary in scope and passion. The companies making motorcycle oil will go to great lengths to tell you how different motorcycle oils are then car oils. Until you actually start trying to pin them down on facts and lab results. Then they start getting REALLLY vague. Way back in the day, car oils were of pretty low quality, and motorcycle oils may indeed have been premium. Since then, car oils have gotten MUCH better. The oil makers will make a lot of noise about friction modifiers, and how they mess up the wet clutch (import bikes share engine oil with clutch oil). This may have a tiny bit of merit for some car oils (identifiable by a symbol on the can), but probably not. Regardless, it does not apply to 15w50 or 20w50 weight oils (the ones you will run in your Buell). And even more regardless, your Buell does not share oil between the clutch and the engine. So motorcycle oil is good oil, but nothing magic. Any full synthetic is much better then any semi or non synthetic. 20w50 is the recommended weight for your Buell, 20w50 is a subset of 15w50, so 15w50 is also fine. For the price, $5 per quart will get you mobil 1 15w50 full synthetic. That same $5 per quart will get you Castrol, Valvoline, or several other 20w50 full synthetics. I have used all of them and they are all great. $7 per quart will get you Mobil 1 V-Twin or Harley screaming eagle Syn3. Both fantastic 20w50 full synthetics, but that extra $2 per quart is not getting you anything that anyone can proove besides warm fuzzy feelings. That being said, $6 total per oil change for a warm fuzzy feeling is not bad these days. Warm fuzzy feelings are getting more expensive every day. The big deal between synthetic and non synthetic (in my humble opinion) is breakdown temperature. A properly running properly tuned aircooled VTwin (i.e. your Buell) on a hot day idling in traffic is within like 20 or 50 degrees of the temperature where oil rapidly looses the ability to effectively lubricate. Add in a minor intake leak, a minor jetting issue, bad gas, clogged air filter, bad karma, whatever, and you can find yourself within a temperature range where your oil is quickly being destroyed. Full synthetic moves your margin from 20 to 50 degrees, to like 100 to 250 degrees. The bike would be unridable long before the oil is destroyed. Thats why I won't run anything but full synthetic in my Cyclone, but I will run any 20w50 full synthetic I can get for a good price. Obligatory oil thread disclaimer: (IMHO. Temperature figures from memory. Factual corrections welcome. YMMV.) | ||
| Brucelee |
Castrol just developed a fully synthetic 10W-60 for BMW M cars. I am going to use that just before summer starts. Just a tad more heat protection for us SOCAL riders. But, it is like 8 bucks a qt. so not for the thin wallet crowd. | ||
| Dragonbolt |
Amsoil 20w50 Racing (RED) in both trans and engine. Never use gear oil it has friction modifiers which reduce effectiveness in the wet clutch. my .02 | ||
| Slowby |
I USE (AND SELL ONLY BECAUSE I GET IT AT COST, LIKE ANY ELSE CAN FOR A 10$ PERFERED CUSTOMER FEE, AND LOVE HOW WELL IT PREFORMS.)AMSOIL MOTORCYCLE ENGINE OIL 20W-50 IN THE ENGINE AND AMSOIL MOTORCYCLE ENGINE OIL 10W-40 IN THE TRANS PRIMARY. THE CATALOG SHOWS SCAR WEAR TESTS AND COMPARES AMSOIL TO OTHER BRANDS. THEY SHIP THE STUFF RIGHT TOO YOU OR THERE IS PROBABLY A REP THAT DISTRIBUTES THE STUFF RIGHT IN YOUR AREA. | ||
| Pangalactic |
Oy...enough with the yellin...  | ||
| Fst_tyms |
Motul synthetic! | ||
| M1combat |
If they make a 20W-50 I'll go for Shell Ultra Helix when I change (If I can find it...). | ||
| Roc |
If my memory serves – Motorcycle specific oils have additives in higher quantity than car oils, most specifically zinc. I think it is EPA related, maybe it is by choice. Anyhow this is important in “boundary lubrication” – like a heat problem, start up, etc. Motorcycle specific oil is worth the extra $1 or so. Also, I have a suspicion that my use of Redline “Heavy shockproof” gear oil may have caused my S1’s stator to short out. The entire inside of the primary drive housing was covered in a dirty/dark red. It had to be wiped out because it was so thick. Out of caution I now use HD products for the primary drive. | ||
| Curtyd |
You'all just about have me convinced to change to synthetic, I do all my oil changes now with the Buell. I just don't like that I can't go back if I don't like it for any reason, but I can't imagine what the reason could be. Thanks. |
