primay drive oil
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Cruiser
Joined: Mar 2008
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primay drive oil
HELP! I'm planning to my first oil change on my 1200. Since I'm a new Sportster owner I read as much as I can about what I am doing then I go and screw it up any way. I have read many posts on this site about what type of lubricant to use in the Sportster primary drive and tranny. Some say to use Engine oil, others say to use 75/140 gear oil and others say to use Auto trans fluid. Which is right? Im not so much interest in brand but which of these is best for my bike.
Thanks for the help
Lou
Thanks for the help
Lou
Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 2,154
Likes: 5
From: Phoenix, AZ
RE: primay drive oil
Just use Primary oil from HD. Alot of people say to use alot of things...bottom line is that the oil in your primary needs to NOT be highly viscous...all it needs to do is lubricate and cool. If anything, use synblend of some sort, but do NOT run full syn in your primary.
Club Member
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 16,320
Likes: 306
From: Boynton Beach, FloriDuh
RE: primay drive oil
The auto trans oil and 75-140 info is for Big Twins only. A/T in the primary and 75-140 in the tranny.
For your Sporty which has a shared primary and tranny you want a 75-90 Gear Oil. Engine oil is ok to use but no longer recommend by HD.
I use Mobil-1 75w-90 Gear Oil.
For your Sporty which has a shared primary and tranny you want a 75-90 Gear Oil. Engine oil is ok to use but no longer recommend by HD.
I use Mobil-1 75w-90 Gear Oil.
Club Member
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 16,320
Likes: 306
From: Boynton Beach, FloriDuh
RE: primay drive oil
ORIGINAL: 6o66er
Just use Primary oil from HD. Alot of people say to use alot of things...bottom line is that the oil in your primary needs to NOT be highly viscous...all it needs to do is lubricate and cool. If anything, use synblend of some sort, but do NOT run full syn in your primary.
Just use Primary oil from HD. Alot of people say to use alot of things...bottom line is that the oil in your primary needs to NOT be highly viscous...all it needs to do is lubricate and cool. If anything, use synblend of some sort, but do NOT run full syn in your primary.
Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 2,154
Likes: 5
From: Phoenix, AZ
RE: primay drive oil
ORIGINAL: cHarley
Why do you say not to use full syn? Are you confusing it with the fact that what you don't want is Moly? There are a bunch of people here running Mobil-1 75w-90 Synthetic Gear Oil without any problems. It's been fine in mine for the last 25,000 miles.
ORIGINAL: 6o66er
Just use Primary oil from HD. Alot of people say to use alot of things...bottom line is that the oil in your primary needs to NOT be highly viscous...all it needs to do is lubricate and cool. If anything, use synblend of some sort, but do NOT run full syn in your primary.
Just use Primary oil from HD. Alot of people say to use alot of things...bottom line is that the oil in your primary needs to NOT be highly viscous...all it needs to do is lubricate and cool. If anything, use synblend of some sort, but do NOT run full syn in your primary.
Road Captain
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 596
Likes: 1
From: Cumming, GA
RE: primay drive oil
.you can run 20-50 engine oil in your primary if the oil has an APIGL-1 rating as a gear oil....it should state on the label in it's credentials......I have been running 20-50 for lots of years...no prob....but there are other things you can use......
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Ultimate HDF Member
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 8,641
Likes: 26
From: Ozark Country
RE: primay drive oil
Most of the guys I know with Sportsters (including myself and a couple of HD dealership mechanics that are good friends on mine) are running Mobil 1 75W-90 Gear Lube in the combination tranny/primary.
One of these bikes has been running it for over 80,000 miles, and some of the other are over the 50,000 mile mark, and no one has had any clutch pack or tranny related problems.
As far as not running 'full synthetic' in the primaries, well I guess that is up to the individual, but we have run synthetic fluids in our big twins for hundreds of thousands of miles over the years, with zero issues.
Most of the better synthetics have a JASO-MA rating, which means they contain very little (if any) additional friction modifiers which might causeclutch slippage or other issues sometime down the road. If you look atthe label onsyntheticoil such as Mobil 1 20W-50 V-Twin or Amsoil (and I'm sure many others) you will see that they have the JASO-MA rating, and are perfectly safe to use in the Sportstershared transmission/primary.
One thing you need to realize is that unlike the big twins, Sportster use the same fluid for both the primary and the tranny.Many people run regularJASO-MA rated 'dino oil' in the primaries on their big twin, and something like Mobil 1 75W-90 synthetic in their transmissions. On the Sportsters youcan't run seperate fluids.
Run whatever you want, but justremember that whatever you put in there also has to be used to lubricate the transmission gears.
Far as I'm concerned, I wouldn't run regular 10W-40 or whatever dino oil in the manual transmission or rear differential (anything gear driven) on any of my 4-wheel vehicles, and I won't use it in the gear driven transmission of any of by Harleys either, including my Sportster.
One of these bikes has been running it for over 80,000 miles, and some of the other are over the 50,000 mile mark, and no one has had any clutch pack or tranny related problems.
As far as not running 'full synthetic' in the primaries, well I guess that is up to the individual, but we have run synthetic fluids in our big twins for hundreds of thousands of miles over the years, with zero issues.
Most of the better synthetics have a JASO-MA rating, which means they contain very little (if any) additional friction modifiers which might causeclutch slippage or other issues sometime down the road. If you look atthe label onsyntheticoil such as Mobil 1 20W-50 V-Twin or Amsoil (and I'm sure many others) you will see that they have the JASO-MA rating, and are perfectly safe to use in the Sportstershared transmission/primary.
One thing you need to realize is that unlike the big twins, Sportster use the same fluid for both the primary and the tranny.Many people run regularJASO-MA rated 'dino oil' in the primaries on their big twin, and something like Mobil 1 75W-90 synthetic in their transmissions. On the Sportsters youcan't run seperate fluids.
Run whatever you want, but justremember that whatever you put in there also has to be used to lubricate the transmission gears.
Far as I'm concerned, I wouldn't run regular 10W-40 or whatever dino oil in the manual transmission or rear differential (anything gear driven) on any of my 4-wheel vehicles, and I won't use it in the gear driven transmission of any of by Harleys either, including my Sportster.
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Thread Starter
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Cruiser
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 205
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RE: primay drive oil
Hey;
I'm not sure what do now. Before I posted this messageI acted on what I had read. I put Royal Purple full synthetic 75/140 in my primary. Should I drain it out and put in the correct fluid or is it ok to run it through the summer with the heavier weight oil?
Thanks again for the help.
Lou
I'm not sure what do now. Before I posted this messageI acted on what I had read. I put Royal Purple full synthetic 75/140 in my primary. Should I drain it out and put in the correct fluid or is it ok to run it through the summer with the heavier weight oil?
Thanks again for the help.
Lou
Club Member
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 16,320
Likes: 306
From: Boynton Beach, FloriDuh
RE: primay drive oil
ORIGINAL: lou1
Hey;
I'm not sure what do now. Before I posted this messageI acted on what I had read. I put Royal Purple full synthetic 75/140 in my primary. Should I drain it out and put in the correct fluid or is it ok to run it through the summer with the heavier weight oil?
Thanks again for the help.
Lou
Hey;
I'm not sure what do now. Before I posted this messageI acted on what I had read. I put Royal Purple full synthetic 75/140 in my primary. Should I drain it out and put in the correct fluid or is it ok to run it through the summer with the heavier weight oil?
Thanks again for the help.
Lou