Another oil question oh no???? Tranny oil....

Ok suggestions on tranny oil for the two strokes? What do you guys like to use in the left kickers? What's the better oil to cushion the gears. And lube the clutch plates since motor oil has the lubrication specs changed its no longer for motorcycle clutch plates. I feel that using ATF is too thin for gears in dirtbike tranny. The Ford type F actually has a fine grit to eliminate clutch plate slippage. We used this in B&M automatic tranny it has a higher flash point. So what's a good 2t gear oil?

we have talked about this already many times, why not use the search function? the answers are all already there.

http://www.cafehusky.com/threads/what-transmission-oil.70118/

did you forget you already asked this question even?


again, here is the answer...manual calls for 20 weight straight.
use any oil with a jaso ma rating close to that weight. a multi viscosity like 5w30 or 10w30 would be close in cSt thickness to what the engineers wanted. many motorcycle engine oils fit this. ford type f is close to 20w, but is lacking ep additives in my opinion.

remember gear oil that is sae 80 weight is the same viscosity as sae 20 weight motor oil. some gear oils will work as well if they play nice with the clutches.

I use the same stuff that I put in a tractor transmission, which also is the hydraulic reservoir. John Deere hy vis or something of that nature. I did get a quart or maybe a liter of Lucas synthetic gear oil about a year ago as it was the only thing that had the spec I was looking for in an auto parts place. It is clear. If I wanted to do the ultimate that is what I would do at this time. bel ray at the bike shop is what most guys used at the time. How about elevator hydraulic fluid I suspect there is some suitable product.

must be careful with hydraulic fluid..some will slip like crazy. ask me how i know...

personally, i am not a fan of lucas products. they seem to like investing in advertising and marketing hype, as opposed to selling products high in quality ingredients. their product range is all over the place quality-wise. their muscle car oil is excellent with a great additive package, while most of their other motor oils are lacking in ingredients and are rather plain. other things like their "oil stabilizer" is maybe the worst thing you can add to oil..it is completely lacking in any kind of antiwear additives and adding it to motor or gear oil thickens it to an obscene viscosity..i tend to not trust or want to support a company like that.

The stuff I use is tractor transmission and hydraulic fluid. Numerous tractors have clutch packs in the areas lubricated by the fluid.

I also use tractor hydraulic fluid now, but I used to use ATF. ATF type F does not have "grit" in it, it just does not have friction modifiers like all other ATFs, which is exactly the reason you want to use it in a motorcycle because it wont cause the clutch to slip.The tractor fluid is a better option because of cost, I can get a 2 gallon jug for $18 at Tractor Supply and as Fran points out, tractors with transmissions and clutches much like our motorcycles use it.

I've been using Maxima Gear oil (80w) in all my 2-T gearboxes for a very long time. Decades actually.
See no reason to change now!

dont use this stuff...made my 84 250 unrideable. massive clutch slip on previously great clutch


something im concerned with in bottom end lube is wear protection..i want high levels of calcium, phosphorous, and zinc which are common antiwear agents. atf generally contains none of these, which explains i guess why i see more shavings running type f than other lubes. atf does work well with a clutch. im not sure what extreme pressure additives or antiwear agents are in hydraulic fluid.
those gears arent getting any more plentiful, especially the kick drive/idlers.
most motorcycle engine oils have good add packs and have jaso certification to play with clutches, although many times they are not cheap. the problem with our dirt bikes is we contaminate the oil before the oil is really wore out. moisture, shavings, dirt and hard use cause drains at low hours compared to streetbike or a automotive manual transmission/differential.

i have been running rotella t6 5w40 diesel oil. full synthetic, jaso compliant, stout wear additives, and fairly low cost compared to specific mc oil. it is a bit thick at 14.5 cst @100c, but i still have great shifting and clutch action. very little shavings on the drain plug at 6 hours of run time, compared to the porcupine that was always there with atf. not a scientific reading, but it is what it is.
something with a lower viscosity would be ideal i guess, closer to what husky calls for. i ran amsoil 10w30 mc oil for about 4 changes but it had more shavings and not as good shifting as the rotella. not to mention its double the cost..
if money were no object, i would for sure be running a redline product in the swede, as their products are second to none.

Been using Silkolene (now Fusch) medium weight gear oil in all my Swedes since the 80's. Never an issue. Not the cheapest one out there, but it has always worked for me. Good clutch and no shavings.

Bill, how about supporting a local Connecticut company and use SPECTRO golden gear 80w. every one of my 2 stroke dirt cyckles has it in the gear box.

And if you call them they will help you decide on what to use . When I called looking for info , the person I needed to speak to was out at a show . He did return the call when he was able to .

I really now like Golden Spectro. 80w ( which is a 20w for gearbox ) Owner was at Barber Vintage race. He uses base stocks of oil with some new products
giving a true vintage bike product. He makes his own oil.

Another seminar talked much about what are old bike need are or were missing from standard oils for a while. All were trying for mileage, environment stuff etc.

what did they talk about are missing from oils for motorcycles? for gas mileage, its a push for thinner weights. as for additives missing, that usually deals with engines having cats. to meet api specs oil must have a cap on zinc and phosphorus. other than being higher in cat-unfriendly ingredients, what would be vintage spec oil?

Automotive motor oils had the additive removed that lubes the clutch plates in motorcycles. I think your right because it clogs cats. But ruins clutches in motorcycles. I want an oil that's keeps the clutches lubed with no slipping yet cushions the gear teeth.

nope, theres nothing in oil that clogs cats. zinc and phosphorous...they are excellent anti wear agents but if your engine burns oil at all it will simply poison the cat. to meet the newer api grades there are lower and lower caps on these.

theres not an ingredient that lubes clutch plates that is taken out of auto oil...theres anti friction agents in auto oil that makes plates slip.

Ok the oil lubes to good causing the clutch plates to slip.

I don't know how true it is but I read on breaking in a new rebuilt two stroke engine not to use synthetic two stroke because it won't let the rings seat. They suggest to use castor on your first tank of gas. I would think in using synthetic two stroke the rings may take longer to break in. I plan on using castor for the first tank of gas, then switch to a mix of castor and synthetic oil 927 maxima.

I had new older husky chainsaws that didn't need break in. My new 575/485 husky saws took cutting twenty cords of firewood to break in. They really started cutting once they were broken in I was running long bars. Big trees. They felt like a after burner turned on.

I know for a fact that Justintendo is right about anti friction compounds in synthetic oil, I use 20/50 Synthetic in my Road Star because it is one of 2 grades of synthetic that does not say Energy Conserving on the API label. However it has been blamed for allowing to slip after 14k miles on the Road Star forum

yeah, whether or not "energy conserving" is present used to be a good way to tell i guess but sometimes it can still slip. thats why its important for it to have the "jaso ma" rating on the back, which means its good to go for a wet clutch if you are using a motor oil..

in my street machine where oil will last i use this stuff..this 20w50 would work excellent in your road star. i like how they put a good amount of the oils specs right on the page, and they are truly impressive. thats a ton of moly, phos and zinc..
https://www.redlineoil.com/product.aspx?pid=110&pcid=21

Since we're talking tranny oil what about the clutch plates. Do you change over to the steel plates? On my huskys in the past I could see the oil had flakes in it from the aluminum plates. I'd like to avoid that now.

Yes Bill. Steel plates every time.