| Author | Message | ||
     Bryan T Nill (Loki) |
To all of us, I know th subject of oil is a long debated subject. In current issue of a v-twin magazine, can't recall the exact title right now. Seems one of the writers was expousing some oily info. This apparently caught the attention of H-D proper. More to the point they were clarifying the companies stand on nine items relating to the slippery stuff. It was a good read and actually made sense to me. If I make it to B&N again on tues I will post which mag it is in. They are also planning some more info on the subject in the next couple issues. | ||
| John Rosberg (Bomber) |
with the sometimes passionate views on oil coolers shared by Buellers, I'm surprise that there are (apparently) no oil temp guages for Buells . . . Clearly, the ones for Sportys won't work (hard to read with the seat on, uncomfortable with the seat off . . . . . any suggestions? rosberg | ||
| mantik mui (X1man) |
hey boys and girls, i have a question in reguards of the kind of oils used for the buells. my questions is, would it be okay to use synthetic oils in the bike, since there is no oil cooler on the bike. X1man | ||
| Carl M. Reichenbach (S2carl) |
oil filter test web site http://members.xoom.com/minimopar/oilfilterstudy.html HTH Carl | ||
| sean kitchen (Seanbuell) |
anyone heard that synthetic oils as in mobil 1 are to slippery for roller bearing bigends. they let the rollers slide or skid and not roll as a recent member of the bigend throwing club i have looked into this a bit and found that this is posiable , i work on pratt & whitney jet engines who also belive this to be a problem as well, because the grind there roller bearings out of round so to encourage the rollers to roll | ||
| Aaron Wilson (Aaron) |
If it was slippery enough to keep it from rolling, you think it would have enough friction to wear a flat spot in it? Chuck Goldmann, an engineer at Mobil oil and designer of M1 V-Twin, has an article in this month's American Iron. He scoffs at this notion. Not being a mechanical OR a chemical engineer, I'll withhold making any absolute statements ... but the notion sure doesn't make sense to me. Se ya, AW | ||
| Kevin Tucker (Kevi914) |
I don't know if this matters, but a few years ago I got to spend a day in the garage at an IRL indy car race. Every team, no matter who the sponser was, used Mobil 1 in the engine | ||
| Jose Quinones (José_Quiñones) |
HD Warranty and Oil American Iron Magazine Jan/01 page 30 quotes the following from a statement by HD: Using a non-Harley-Davidson oil does not affect your 12 month limited warranty, but could affect your long-term engine longevity. | ||
| Chibueller |
Copied from the Windy City Brag Chapter: RE: Rocker Box Gaskets According to Kenny (IL-HD) rocker box gasket leaks can be delayed by letting your engine warm up properly. The cylinders are made of several differing metals that heat and cool (therefore, expand and contract) at different rates. A bike that is not warmed up properly may develop leaks from the rocker box because the gaskets are being heated by one type of metal on the top and another on the bottom, effectively pulling the gasket in two directions at once. This process is sped up if a load is put on the engine. Also it's a design flaw with the physical composition of the HD motor. Force from the pushrods and rockers causes vibrations at the gasket juncture, making it weak. It doesn't help that HD uses cheap gaskets. From what I understand, this is a common problem with HD motors in general. You can install higher quality (aftermarket) gaskets but I'm not sure how that will affect your warrantee. Your best bet is to have the dealer do the work (if your bike is still under warr) as soon as you see a leak. This is not a life or death leak but if you wait too long the leak can short out spark to a cylinder and you'll be left with no power. You can also do the job yourself in about 2 hours but you have to remove the tank. If I did this that would mean my warr expired and then I'd also install the better gaskets. When you have to replace them, go with the James gaskets. A few friends of mine have them and love them, 6000 miles with no change. Anyway, I gather from user profiles that the rocker box leak usually occurs between 2000 to 4500 miles and at similar increments thereafter. Keep your eyes open for oil pooling on the engine case between the two cylinders or oil spray on the battery, frame, or your legs. Fix the problem right away because a simple spray leak can deteriorate to a gusher in less than 500 miles. Meaning, long trips could get interesting. If it hasn't happened yet, don't worry about it. Just let the bike warm up. | ||
| Henrik |
This article ought to end all the dino vs. synthetic discussions: http://www.cbr1100xx.org/fun/synth_oil_danger.htm | ||
| Travis |
I am not looking for a debate on which is better here. But if one wanted to change to Synthetic, is it as simple as draining the fossil fluid, and replace filter with new? Then dump in the required amount of Synthetic? Start 'er up and ride. Thanks Travo | ||
| Bored |
Synthetic oil this, dyno oil that... I'm looking for the debate, I guess. Maybe I haven't been hanging around long enough and I missed the answer to this, but has anyone talked about a solid reason to switch? Is HD 20-50 so bad that my bike looks upon me scornfully? Is Synthetic so good that my bike will glow and emit some heavenly-voice sound, for it hath become reborn? I've used HD 20-50 for the current 6300mile, 5 month on-the-road life of the bike, and have noticed no problems. I don't care about the supposed bearing slippage issues, the warranty b.s. or anything like that. Just wondering if switching to synthetic will make my bike last for a zillion miles, or if HD 20-50 is good enough. | ||
| Rocketman |
ViscoseBored : Any oil is good enough...................Mobil 1 synthetic will give you more than good enough, and more than anyone else can too ! That's an easy way of putting it but the most important thing you need to know is Mobil 1 gives protection like nothing else. I'd advise you to put it in your Buell now. The mileage you're at is not crucial I don't think, but I'd have preferred to run on "it" after running in. Rocket in England | ||
| Peter |
Or there are also good arguments for using Redline instead of Mobil 1...... PPiA | ||
| Bigblock |
Another thought on rocker box leaks, I put cams in my boke at 2,000 mi, and at 3,500 I got a leak from rear rocker box. On disassembly I noticed the thin pushrod side of the gasket had walked over out of alignment slightly, so just a c@&^ hair was left to seal, causing the leak. I suspect I wasn't careful enough to bring the rocker lid down real even as it is under uneven torque from the pushrod side due to compressing of the valve train that must occur before the lid contacts the base. On reassembly I glued the gasket onto the base with permatex Hi-Tack, and then proceeded to CAREFULLY and EVENLY tighten the lid. It has 8,000 HARD mi on her now, and she's dry as can be(knock on wood!) I suspect the factory boys(and anyone else for that matter) might just not be careful enough on assembly, causing the gasket to deform just enough to cause premature failure, and if you use hi-tack and a little care that this problem will be elimanated. Ray | ||
| Bigblock |
Oh, and I don't usually warm my bike up more than 15 to 30 seconds unless it's heinously cold out. Ray | ||
| Robr |
Chuck, hey dude, my advice is if you have fuel injection definitely get the oil cooler, if your bike is carbeurated it might not matter as much because these bikes run cooler than the fuelies. Definetly get the thermostat if you don't want to be blowing rocker box gaskets. The jagg seems to have the best product out there. Good Luck, RobR | ||
| Richieg150 |
I have a 2000 M2,was just wondering if buying an oil cooler is advised,and if so who makes one for this bike?Also was told by a buddy of mine who has a sporster,that I should start running Mobil 1 in my bike! | ||
| Acharacter |
Just wondering, im getting ready to put a oil cooler on my 99 X1. Just trying to get some feed back on the spugin, or the jagg coolers.Installation,fit, finish,and reliability. | ||
| Drandall |
I've been warned to not use an oil-cooler, as it messes with the oil system; synthetic oil can stand the heat | ||
| Sparky |
Is Redline Light Shock Proof Trans oil compatible with Harley Sport Trans? If changing back to the Harley oil, should one flush out the primary first, knowing how "clingy" Redline is? I've seen evidence that Redline residue can solidify & become gummy. Just wondering why. | ||
| Drandall |
Why go back to Harley sporttrans? Redline Heavy shockproof worked great in my S3, and will use it in my X1 as soon as it hits 5K miles. | ||
| Sparky |
Following the 20k service using Redline Light Shock Proof the clutch gradually started to not disengage fully when coasting to stops. Then it got worse to the point where the bike would lurch when going into first gear and die. But it wasn't actually dragging like if it were out of adjustment or there were warped plates. I checked the oil level and it was right at the bottom of the clutch plates, not too high, right? So I drained the Redline and put in Harley oil and the clutch problems went away. Coincidence? maybe. A few weeks later the negative battery cable came loose and, coincidentally again?, the stator shorts out. The mechanic said the green gunk gumming the coils of the stator caused the stator to go out. Those are his words. The green gunk was most likely the Redline oil residue mixed with Harley oil and solidified due to heat from the coils. Whether the gummy goo could cause the stator to ground out is dubious. Nobody I know has heard of this happening before. I don't have a problem running Redline as it's in my Lightning and it works great in that bike. But I think I'll keep using the Harley oil in the Tbolt and not mix it with Redline again. Once bitten, twice shy. Besides, I can get Harley oil all over the country. Not so with Redline. Sparky 96S1, 98S3 | ||
| Sparropie |
I'm gona re-post Travis's querie: When changing from dino to synth, is it as simple as draining the dino out and putting the synth in? Enquiring minds want to know! GALEN '00S3+ | ||
| Ccryder |
Galen: It really is that simple but, anytime you change your oil the bike needs to really be at operating temp. Not just warmed up. Especially when you change the tranny/ primary, you should have run the bike for 30+ mins. to get everything nice and toasty. Later Neil S. | ||
| Dave |
Clutch cable lube. On a friend's recommendation. I picked up a can of "Tri-Flow" (with Teflon) from a bicycle shop. I loosened with the cable adjuster all the way and disconnected at the hand lever. Using the supplied spray tube, a few shots of the stuff and it's as smoooooth as glass now. Noticeable difference. DAve | ||
| Bomber |
I'm making a catch-can for the M2, and was wondering if there's a reason NOT to route the breathers (heads) and gearbox hoses into the same can? I know I'm getting a fair amount of condensation /oil mist out of the heads (nothing to be worried about according to a buddy who's well-versed in things Harley), and I can detect hardly anyting at all coming from the gearbox . . .. I was sketching up the can last night, and realized I had seen no cans, either store-bought or shop made, that showed all the hoses hooked up to it. Could be something to do with the pulses from the heads pressurinzing the gearbox, but I'm not sure. Thanks for the help rosberg | ||
| Road_King |
Bomber-- I've got the head breathers and the transmission breather joined with a "T" fitting and vented through a single K&N filter on my '96 S1. So far it seems to be OK, but I don't have a lot of miles on the setup. It would seem that the biggest risk would be pollution of the trans oil with spooge from the head breathers, but I haven't seen that happen yet. Does anybody have any experiences to share? | ||
| Chuck |
My puke can collects alot of water mixed with a small amount of oil. I wouldn't risk joining the engine and transmission breathers together on my bike. |
