Well men, I took some time this afternoon and finally got around to changing my transmission and primary fluid and BOY, am I glad I did. All that came out of my primary whole was 1/3 qt and it was black. Transmission fluid looked a lot better, but still short 100ml, no big deal. New fluids in, 2 beer job, and man does that feel better.

I'll be doing these at the start of every season from now on. If your not sure what's in your holes, this is a friendly reminder to fill all the holes with fresh fluids - don't forget the OL's!

 

Your not suppsed to burn primary oil so yous was either not filled or leaked out. For That primary oil to be black your stator must either have been cooked and changed or on it's way. Even dirty primary oil shod have what what was added at the previous change and possibly gray from pressure plate wear and tear.

My 2 cents.

 

What he said!

 

the tranny and primary should not be low, better be looking for a leak!!
or they were not properly filled to level

 

These need to be checked on a somewhat regular basis....like maybe 2500 miles intervals.

 

Change them both again a couple of times to flush out the crap. Even if you use something cheaper, just ride it enough to get hot and dump the oils and repeat

 

 

unless you have a leak why check it so often... Think about the Harley motor compared to a jap bike, jap bike uses the same oil in the gearbox / clutch /engine, hence why it needs too be changed often... The Harley runs 3 separate oil systems motor / primary/gearbox. SO clutch contamination wont go into the motor as a jap bike, And how often does your average car auto trans get its level checked not very often I guess. the primary oil job is too lube the clutch and chain and things, hence why guys run auto trans fluid in there.

 

Leak free. I suspect it was under filled by someone other than me. If my stator was cooked, how would I know without taking the primary cover off? I don't have any battery or spark problems. I'm thinking it got ugly purely because there wasn't enough of it in there. I'll ride it for a month and repeat.

 

Why check it so often? I was going to say 2500 mi isn't often enough? I mean how long does it take to check all 3 fluids? I check em every 1k approximately..it don't hurt to check things. I'd rather not be sorry later.. in a car things can go wrong, and you'll still be fine. In a bike, disasters like that will lead to you sliding on the pavement.

And as far as jap. Bikes using the same oil... It's really no comparison. The trans/clutch/motor on jap bikes are unfortunately much better technology in my opinion, and maybe even better quality. Harleys uses diff. Oils because the components wouldnt fair well using all the same oil..they need diff oils to get the same longevity a bike using the same oil would get.

To the Op, changing your fluids at the beginning of every season even if you didn't hit the reccomended intervals is a good idea. Checking them a couple times per riding season is also a good idea. My bike was very expensive for me, I don't mind spending $100 for everything to change the oils.