Tranny Fluid Preferences
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 5,589
Likes: 4,551
From: USA
What ever is the cheapest 80-90w on the shelf. I never did fall for the snake oil, high performance, high priced bull ****. Never had a failure and I've been riding over 50 years.
Worked in the farm equipment business my whole life. Up to 300 hp tractors working a full day in the field, with 4000 psi hydraulics don't run that crap either.
Worked in the farm equipment business my whole life. Up to 300 hp tractors working a full day in the field, with 4000 psi hydraulics don't run that crap either.
Road Master
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 1,119
Likes: 7
From: USA
The reason Baker recommends Spectro over say Mobil 1 which are both GL-5 lubes.
Is that Spectro adds buffers to protect bright metals. Mobil 1 doesn't have these buffers. So if you want a GL-5 lube and your tranny has bright metal parts, then your better off using the Spectro.
Here is an interesting article written by Bert Baker about the advantages of GL-5 lube in your tranny.
Does all this matter. You be the judge.
http://bakerdrivetrain.com/wordpress...ders-Baker.pdf
Is that Spectro adds buffers to protect bright metals. Mobil 1 doesn't have these buffers. So if you want a GL-5 lube and your tranny has bright metal parts, then your better off using the Spectro.
Here is an interesting article written by Bert Baker about the advantages of GL-5 lube in your tranny.
Does all this matter. You be the judge.
http://bakerdrivetrain.com/wordpress...ders-Baker.pdf
Last edited by Falcon195; Jun 28, 2014 at 10:02 AM.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 9,243
Likes: 3,267
From: west Michigan
What do you mean by "shift better"? If your bike's transmission is not shifting correctly, you should take it to a dealer and have a mechanic check it out. If it's just kind of noisy and clunky, that's normal for a Harley. If smooth, quiet shifting is really important for you, you should go test ride some other bikes. I could make my old GSXR 1100 Suzuki sound like it had an automatic transmission, but that takes more effort with my Road King, and it still makes some noise.
Ultimate HDF Member
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 5,132
Likes: 228
From: Garland, TX
What do you mean by "shift better"? If your bike's transmission is not shifting correctly, you should take it to a dealer and have a mechanic check it out. If it's just kind of noisy and clunky, that's normal for a Harley. If smooth, quiet shifting is really important for you, you should go test ride some other bikes. I could make my old GSXR 1100 Suzuki sound like it had an automatic transmission, but that takes more effort with my Road King, and it still makes some noise.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 9,243
Likes: 3,267
From: west Michigan
The reason Baker recommends Spectro over say Mobil 1 which are both GL-5 lubes.
Is that Spectro adds buffers to protect bright metals. Mobil 1 doesn't have these buffers. So if you want a GL-5 lube and your tranny has bright metal parts, then your better off using the Spectro.
Here is an interesting article written by Bert Baker about the advantages of GL-5 lube in your tranny.
Does all this matter. You be the judge.
http://bakerdrivetrain.com/wordpress...ders-Baker.pdf
Is that Spectro adds buffers to protect bright metals. Mobil 1 doesn't have these buffers. So if you want a GL-5 lube and your tranny has bright metal parts, then your better off using the Spectro.
Here is an interesting article written by Bert Baker about the advantages of GL-5 lube in your tranny.
Does all this matter. You be the judge.
http://bakerdrivetrain.com/wordpress...ders-Baker.pdf
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 9,243
Likes: 3,267
From: west Michigan
What I mean is, other people on here have said that they put X gear oil in their transmission and it helped with the noisey harley transmission and it shifted smoother. I'm ok with the noisey trans, just wondering if there is any benefit to running the synthetic gear oils if they don't help with the typical harley noisey trans.
Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 3,066
Likes: 1
From: West by God Texas
Ultimate HDF Member
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 5,132
Likes: 228
From: Garland, TX
It probably doesn't hurt to run synthetic gear oil in a Harley transmission, although some would say you're wasting money by running the fancy stuff. I ran Valvoline non-syn 80W 90 gear lube in my Airhead BMW transmissions and final drives for many years and never had a problem, although I now run Mobil1 75W 90 gear lube in my Beemer and Harley. YMMV
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Road Warrior
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 1,979
Likes: 2
From: Northern Colorado
Nice story, but he doesn't explain the difference between motor oil and motorcycle oil, and how unit-construction motorcycle transmissions keep running forever with (dirty) motorcycle oil - not GL-5 lube. I'm not knockin' Spectro 6, but I'd feel just as safe with Mobil 1 V-Twin in my Road King's transmission, since it gets changed at least once a year.
Road Master
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 1,126
Likes: 2
From: PA
I just put Lucas 75/90 full syn in my softail yesterday before heading to a rally. I'm not sure if it was my imagination, but once I got down there and in hot and heavy 'rally' traffic, the shifting seemed actually a little harder than it had been.