i'm doing some maintenance on my bike, i changed the oil, plugs and cables good to go so far. now i'm gearing up to change the tranny oil, seems simple enough but i'm pretty sure the guys at HD sold me the wrong oil. i just bought this 98 sporster so first time i'm doing this on a harley sporster.

on the bottle it states "Multi-Viscosity Semi-Synthetic Transmission Lubcricant". On the back it says "All 4 and 5 speed FL, FLT, FX and FXR Transmissions"

Is this the correct oil? or is there a different type for the sportster. everywhere i look it just says "put in a quart of transmission oil" but i can't find what type of oil my year sportster takes. i know the oil is for both the tranny and primary. i'm pretty sure they sold me the wrong stuff. if someone can give me the yea or nea and maybe a link with the correct oil i would appreciate it, thanks!

 

As you probably know, one of the differences between the Sportsters and Big Twins is that the Sportsters use the same fluid for both the primary and transmission. On the Big Twins you can use a different fluid for the engine, the transmission, and the primary.

Anyway, I like to use a good API GL-5 rated fluid in manual transmissions, so when you are talking about Sportsters you also need to make sure that fluid will also work with wet clutch applications.

Below is what I normally use in my Sportster, and it is also the fluids used by most of the Sportster owners I know...

The Mobil 1 synthetic 75W90 Gear Lube is GL-5 rated for severe use in gear boxes, and it also has a low enough moly PPM count that it won't hurt your clutch pack.

Also you need to remember that the viscosity of Gear Lube is rated differently than that of Motor Oil. A 75W90 gear lube has the actual 'thickness' of a 20W50 motor oil.

Anyway the fluid you got at the dealership might work fine, but since Harley doesn't give any specifications on their various conventional and synthetics you never know for sure what you are pouring into the engine, primary, or transmission...

 

well since you brought it up... same as 20w50 weight engine oil..

My local (one of three) HD dealers tells me the same KLOTZ engine oil should be used for the transmission on my 883.

I want the best I can get, dont mind spending some cash on it... so

KLOTZ makes a for pure synthetic HD motor oil in a 20w50 which is what I put in the motor and the tranny ( one full quart, without holding it there for hours till the oil all came out, so just under a quart)...

Why I'm bring this up, I just bought the bike and not sure what was in there before... But since, and it's got all of 20 miles on it since, I have a very hard time getting it into Neutral sitting still... Litterally feel like I'm gonna break my foot to get the lever to move and then usually end up in 2nd gear...

What gives? any thoughts? Wrong oil period? The dealer swears it is used in all sporties they service (and were the ones who did any work to the bike with the previous owner), so I'm assuming it was either KLOTZ 20w50 in it or stock oil.

 

I've got 72,000 miles on my 06 XL1200. All I've ever used in the tranny is 20w50 oil.

 

forgot I posted that... I bumped the adjustment notch when I changed the fluid and had to reopen the cover and adjust the clutch. LOL

The 20w50 is working great... even double checked with the dealer and verified I used the correct oil... was told Im good to go... sportsters are pretty easy on the tranny oil as long as it's not a 10w30.. LOL

 

My bike was hard to get into neutral at first till someone told me to hold in the clutch and rock the bike back to disengage the gears. Works easy now. I have been a Harley owner all of four months now. Learned and learning alot. Did my first oil change on it today. Think I will tackle the transmission tomorrow.