Tranny oil, motor oil, primary oil... Now im confused...

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Carl0s

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So, short story long...

Were riding along whit my friend, that is "harley for life" type of guy... Later on when we were sitting on sauna, he asked if my buells tranny sounds loud. and recomended trying redline oils. Told that they made the tranny much quieter and smoother on his sportster.


So, yesterday i was shopping on local automotive shop for the usual revtech oil, when i remembered the conversation of the redline. Immediatly moved few shelfrows forward to redline section, and then it hit me.

So far, ive been in faith that the buell has only 2 oils. One for the engine, and one for the primary & tranny combined.

but, on the redline section i found out:

- 20W50HD motorcycle oil
- V-Twin primary case oil for big twin, EVO and dual cam
- V-Twin transmission oil for all trannys, including evo, big twin and the latest 6 speed cruise drives.

You see where i get confused?
 
don't get confused. there is only 2 places to add oil. the swing arm for the motor and primary. that is just another example of a manufacturer changing the name on the bottle so he can charge a different price or market to a different customer. just run a 20w50 in both spots.
 
Standby for lesley.
Click to expand...

20/50 both holes.

And please please for the love of God do not use a torque wrench on either drain plug. Tighten by hand. And do NOT oevrtighten. after oil change ride it 10 miles and check your drain plugs if you think they'll losen up.

20/50 both holes. V-twin specific is fine. But really you can use any 20/50. If you do not use synthetic change the oil without fail every three thousand miles. And prime your new oil filter (add a few ounces to the filter itself.) half full is fine.
 
Hi Lesley!!
Just curious if you have the torque spec for my drain plugs!! HA! HA! just playin'!! I sure could have had some input the other nite! I put my new clutch cable on...took it out for about a 6 mile thrash,stopped,had some ice-cream, and it looked and worked good. I was on my way back, and I thought it seemed a bit squirrely..I got back to the shop, was taking my gear off, and noticed a drip on the floor. I started looking around...here the threaded "stud" part that goes into the primary cover had snapped off and it was leaking oil pretty bad!! I sure got lucky!! The back wheel had oil all over it!! I swear when I put that cable on, that I didn't make it TOO tight! But when I put the one on last nite, I just took it up against and just a TINY bit more!
 
I put in redline 20w50 for the engine and the redline v-twin primary oil for the primary/tranny. Runs Good! At the place I bought it from, the guy told me BUELL marketed the use of one oil for both holes as a easy maintenance thing, but it's recommend to use a primary specific oil...dude coulda been blowin smoke. BUT...it sure does run pretty smooth with that stuff in it. IMO, use a quality, proper viscosity oil and you'll be fine. Especially with primary oil, some of the gear oils out there eat up and gunk up the stator and clutch plates. If it's not designed for wet clutch operation, I'd say Don't Use it! That's my 2¢ anyway.
 
I love that you brought up the wet clutch topic. I would say that is the number one problem I hear from people who use a brand of oil they hear rave reviews about, and have bad results with. For example, Royal Purple sells a 20w50 for autos and a separate 20w50 for motos. Your Buell manual will even tell you in a round about way that the motorcycle needs a diff kind of oil than what goes in a car. It suggests Diesel oil of no other replacement is available to be exact I think.
Just make sure your using wet clutch spec oils.
 
Thanks guys! Cleared alot! So i will get the 20w50 for motor, and the V-twin primary for primary.

Got confused by the terms. I know "real" harleys run 3 different oils, but since in the product description says it fits for EVO engines, i immediatly think that it fits our buells as well. Then you find out 2 complitely different oils say that they could be used in same hole... and i get confused :)
 
The "Sporty" engine shares it's 'primary/clutch' lube with the trans, and the engine/trans is all in one case with a 'wall' separating the engige and trans internally.The T/C engines are actually JUST an engine...(the trans is an actual separate part). So for SOME reason, maybe dating WAY back, they spec'd a lube for the engine,another for the primary/clutch section,(for the reasons listed above,about the wet clutch),and yet another for the actual gearbox. If I understand from some long time Harley guys, the gearboxes 'back in the day' used almost like an 80/90 type gear lube. But now, with todays technology, they've found ways to make a lube that that works for the primary/clutch AND the trans, all in one. Not sure if this might help you understand why all the differences or not?! (With my luck, I have you MORE confused now!). It's all kind of irrelavent...Just use a GOOD 20/50 in the engine above 50 degrees temp-a 10/30 if you ride in the winter, and 20/50 Amsoil BIKE works well in the primary.
 
I'm getting ready to do my first oil change. I talked with a "friend" who suggested Mobil 1 Full Synthetic 15W-50 (or 20-50 for the heat [Palm Desert kind of heat]) and 75-90 for the primary oil because it's thicker. He likes the Mobil 1, said "everyone" on bad weather bikers said it's the best. One persons opinion, I get that. I do like what Lesley has to say on this topic. Is there a preferred brand? My resources are pretty limited as to where I can obtain supplies...Wal-turd and O'Reilly.

33-11 Bosch for the filter?

Standing by...
 
Really any brand is fine. Mobil 1 is good, I've used it. I now use Amsoil though as I get it easier/cheaper. I've also used Royal Purple. Noticed no rel differene between them all.

BUT, I'm not sure why he's recommending those viscosity's. Use 20w50 for the primary/transmission and the engine.

I use and always have used a WIX filter(same as NAPA gold).
 
Hi seajay!
Just as snrusnak and Lesley said....20-50 in both! DO NOT run 75-90 in tranny/primary side! Use a good 20-50!! (IT WILL SHIFT TERRIBLE WITH 75-90!!). Try to run a decent filter...1394 is the NAPA Gold#. 51394 is the WIX # I THINK!! (USE the 1394 NAPA to cross...I know its right!). :D
 
Filter numbers


ACDelco # PF1233 
Amsoil SDF10 
Bosch # 3311 
Champion # C138 
Fram # PH4967 
HD # 63806-00Y 
K&N # hp-1003/KN-177 
Mighty # m4477 
Napa # 1394 
Mobil 1 # M1-103 
Motorcraft # FL836 
Penzoil # pz39 
Purolator Pure One # L14476 
STP # S4967 
Valvoline # vo40 
Wal-Mart Super Tech # ST4967 
Wix # 51394
 
Okay, I misunderstood my conversation with said "friend". He insisted the 75-90 (which I could not find) was lighter and that's what he uses for the primary. At this point, I woke up this morning in a panic because I was reading through the previous owners service slips and it LOOKS like the oil hasn't been changed in 3 YEARS!!!!! And I just put 2k miles on it, so in my panic stricken stupor, I just wanted to get that old oil OUT! STAT! Wal-turd only had Mobil 1 20w-50 V-twin. I bought 4 quarts. Now I have about 3K miles to figure out some better and cheaper solutions with a more relaxed demeanor.

Thanks guys for all your input!
 
I use Mobile 1 in both primary and engine. I used 15w50 because that's what I had, but 20w50 is best.

I used a Bosch 3311 because that was in stock (and I didn't feel like driving to NAPA), but that list posted above is great.

As you've seen, personal preference plays a big role in what oil people use--but it is safe to say that staying with quality oils in the specified weights makes it difficult to go wrong.

Go change it already! [smirk]
 
(IT WILL SHIFT TERRIBLE WITH 75-90!!).
Click to expand...

YES!!!!! I rode his bike for 200 miles! HATED the way it shifted! And his sister's bike shifted the same way! I thought it was a Buell thing, until I found THIS bike, the one I fell in love with and bought! You rock, Wiggle, for pointing that out! I'm pretty excited about my not wanting to TOTALLY listen to everything he says.

I did get the Bosch, because I wasn't real happy with Fram's performance on my last bike. I'm on a super tight budget right now until work picks up.

Again... many thanks!
 

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