Gear oil in a Harley Transmission ?

kballowe

kballowe

Joined
Oct 26, 2005
Messages
1,147
Location
East Central Missouri
Harley appears to be pushing their own brand of gear oil for the Harley transmissions and primary chaincases on the big twins. 80W-140, I believe.
They're still stocking the previously recommended Formula+ lube.

I know that a lot of the Harley guys use gear oil in their transmissions, but I thought it odd that Harley is now recommending gear oil because they never did, before. Does anyone know of a reason that they would switch this recommendation ?

Also, does anyone know how close their formulation is to, say, all of the rest of the 75W-140 gear oils ?
 
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I think Harley always had their own branded gear oil. I have several quarts of it from the 1990s.
 
So, they went from Screaming Eagle 20w-50 to a unknown GL rated 80w-140

And, many are saying how much better the 80w-140 is... oh the humanity

Don't worry, owners will blindly buy branded products to match their sunglasses and outfit.

marketingjunkie.jpg
 
One reason that I was asking is because the parts guy was extolling the virtues of the Harley gear oil to the point that I thought he wasn't going to sell me that Formula+. Five quarts of conventional Harley oil, two quarts of Formula+ and a chrome oil filter came to $127, tax included. Woof.

This bike belongs to a friend and he wanted a receipt with the Harley fluids on it, in the off chance that there was a warranty issue.


I went to the Harley site and found this in the FAQ section:

"Formula + is the recommended primary and trans fluid, The heavy gear oil was developed Exclusively for Harley-Davidson® Motorcycles, this Heavy Synthetic Gear Oil is intended for use in extreme temperature environments (desert heat or cold weather), frequent two-up riding and heavy load riding applications"

This wasn't the pitch that I got from the dealer.
 
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kballowe said:
One reason that I was asking is because the parts guy was extolling the virtues of the Harley gear oil to the point that I thought he wasn't going to sell me that Formula+. Five quarts of conventional Harley oil, two quarts of Formula+ and a chrome oil filter came to $127, tax included. Woof.

This bike belongs to a friend and he wanted a receipt with the Harley fluids on it, in the off chance that there was a warranty issue.


I went to the Harley site and found this in the FAQ section:

"Formula + is the recommended primary and trans fluid, The heavy gear oil was developed Exclusively for Harley-Davidson® Motorcycles, this Heavy Synthetic Gear Oil is intended for use in extreme temperature environments (desert heat or cold weather), frequent two-up riding and heavy load riding applications"

This wasn't the pitch that I got from the dealer.
Click to expand...
I used Formula+ from day one in the transmission and primary on my purchased new 2014 Road King. BTW- the bike has never needed a repair now over 30,000 miles.
Never an issue. Im not sure why anyone would have a problem with the cost of Formula+ or the new Harley Gear Oil I think the price is quite reasonable compared to all the quality aftermarket fluids its the same price or less. So why not?

I am one to consider the new gear oil, at least try it for the reason you posted. I ride in extreme heat, many times two up and loaded with luggage.
My engine oil on the interstate runs 248 to 257 depending on temperature, beach traffic can see 270 degrees so we got to assume the transmission is quite warm too. We will ride in common 90 to 100 degree days.
When buying Harley gear oil one can already assume its formulated for transmissions and will be safe with the oil seals in a transmission vs say a gear oil made for differentials on vehicles and trucks which eat away the seals.

I dont think its possible for anyone to accurately comment on what other gear lubes it might be close to, except for me to say, for me personally its not even a thought.
 
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They probably got tired of having to do warranty work on transmissions, so they are recommending the proper lube now.
 
Random thoughts:

It just seemed odd. You know - gear oil in a transmission, as recommended by Harley, when they recommended that Formula+ for so many years.
Harley transmissions are regarded as nearly bulletproof, so ya could probably get away with just about anything. I personally ran conventional Rotella in one for 70,xxx miles with no issues.

Maybe they discovered that many of the Harley owners were using gear oil, and they discovered this marketing opportunity.

We currently own two Harleys, and have owned probably 20 previous Harleys. LOL - plus other brands. It's an affliction.
 
I recall someone did a VOA on Formua + and it was essentially low additive 50 WT motor oil. You can probably find the VOA here.

You'll get an argument on the Harley sites about motor oil, formula gear oil in the trans...

While i get the avoiding problems with warranty I'd have probably gone with the gear oil, - Redline ShockProof heavy is the best thing i ever did for the shifting on mine, 10/40 Racing 4T in the primary is the second best thing.
 
If you look at what Harley has recommended thru out the years for primary and transmission use, it appears you can run anything in there and be safe. Engine oil, their primary / trans oil, and now gear oil. I've run gear oil in the trans of my Harley's for at least 20 years without an issue. The guys I ride with that used their primary oil, always developed seal leaks behind the primary cover. That required removal of the primary cover and all the guts inside. One of those hundreds of dollars labor, to replace a $5 seal deals.,,
 
Every Harley rider I know has used gear oil in the transmission for a long time. They all seemed to follow other riders that have been riding a long time and not going by why Harley states.
 
Rat407 said:
Every Harley rider I know has used gear oil in the transmission for a long time. They all seemed to follow other riders that have been riding a long time and not going by why Harley states.
Click to expand...
Most likely why they all used to leak oil, putting gasket eating gear oil in a transmission ;) and not following the manufacturers requirements.
 
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