OIL
Extreme HDF Member
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 11,615
Likes: 50
From: Baton Rouge, LA
RE: OIL
ORIGINAL: TN Houndog
Castrol 75W90 Syntech gear oil, only because it was leftover from another job. Any synthetic gear oil from a MAJOR manufacturer will be ok and will work better than the HD Formula+. I don't like the MOCO's approppach of using synthetic engine oil in the tranny. I use engine oil in the engine and gear oil in the tranny. I do use formula+ in the primary.
Castrol 75W90 Syntech gear oil, only because it was leftover from another job. Any synthetic gear oil from a MAJOR manufacturer will be ok and will work better than the HD Formula+. I don't like the MOCO's approppach of using synthetic engine oil in the tranny. I use engine oil in the engine and gear oil in the tranny. I do use formula+ in the primary.
The bottom line is that gear oil is preferable in the gearbox (tranny), and the primary needs only an inexpensive fossil engine oil with few friction modifiers. IMO Formula+ is too expensive to use in the primary, since it is basically a fossil engine oil with some EP added, and is questionable for use in the tranny. At $6.50/qt., or whatever it costs, it is overkill for the primary and at that price you can find a good gear oil to use in the tranny.
For best results, use a high-quality 15w50 or 20w50 synthetic oil in the engine, a 75w90 gear oil for the tranny (preferably synthetic), and any 15w40 or 20w50 fossil engine oil in the primary. I use Castrol GTX 20w50 ($2.50/qt. at Wal-Mart) in my primary. Anything more expensive is a waste of money, IMO.
Tourer
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 250
Likes: 0
From: venice,florida
RE: OIL
i run royal purple 20w50 car oil in my o7, from what i have read here on the forum, in oil testing , there is not enough difference in the bike specific oil and the automotive oil, whether its mobile one or royal purple,or, some other quality synthetic. a friend of mine with an 07 run mobile 15w50 in his bike and has all along.
Extreme HDF Member
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 11,615
Likes: 50
From: Baton Rouge, LA
RE: OIL
ORIGINAL: wildeano
i run royal purple 20w50 car oil in my o7, from what i have read here on the forum, in oil testing , there is not enough difference in the bike specific oil and the automotive oil, whether its mobile one or royal purple,or, some other quality synthetic. a friend of mine with an 07 run mobile 15w50 in his bike and has all along.
i run royal purple 20w50 car oil in my o7, from what i have read here on the forum, in oil testing , there is not enough difference in the bike specific oil and the automotive oil, whether its mobile one or royal purple,or, some other quality synthetic. a friend of mine with an 07 run mobile 15w50 in his bike and has all along.
I ran my last bike ('96 RK Evo) on Royal Purple 20w50 "car" oil (i.e. not MaxCycle) and it is still running today with 115k miles and no change in oil consumption or static compression. It has never had the heads removed, even for base gaskets. If car oil harms MC engines, when will the damage show up in this bike?
Motorcycle Consumer News and American Iron have both done oil tests and conclude that "car oil" is fine for air-cooled MC's. If you look at their forumulas most are nearly identical to the same manufacturer's MC-specific oil, but the latter will cost much more.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 20,616
Likes: 4,440
From: anacoco, la
RE: OIL
ORIGINAL: morespeed
Formula + is not the same as syn 3.
 \\;\\\\\\;
Formula + is not the same as syn 3.
 \\;\\\\\\;
Any synthetic gear oil from a MAJOR manufacturer will be ok and will work better than the HD Formula+
and then:
I do use formula+ in the primary.
Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 2,415
Likes: 197
RE: OIL
The transmission and the primary are two separate boxes! The primary houses the clutch and a sprocket drive chain. Formula+ is a fossil oil containing almost no additives or friction modifiers. It works fine as a primary case lube. The transmission houses gears, bearings \\;and other hard parts under much higher loads . It's lube requirements are vastly different than the sprocket chain and clutch plates in the primary. That's the reason I recomend synthetic gear oil for the transmission and Formula+ for the primary. You can use regular old car oil in the primary, but most car oils contain friction modifiers that can cause wet plate clutches to slip UNDER CERTAIN CONDITIONS.
I hope that answers your questions.
I hope that answers your questions.
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hogowner69
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