Oil mix for smooth shifting: Shifters mix #8

[rickg]

Hi Gang, and thanks for all the great imput.. I do watch the boards that deal with the bike i ride. all have mentioned switching to a syn oil improves shift quality. all have mentioned to stay away from the energy conserving oils and i am thinking anything that has a moly or other friction modifer as part of its package.. This board seems to suggest that its ok to run a moly in it so i am sort of scratching my head and wondering whats the best approach. I dont ride hard. i just cruze mainly. i do alot more highway riding than i do around town. i seldom excide 75 mph and just dont feel the need anymore to ride hard and fast. most of the time i have my wife behind me so i cant be runing fast anyways. the extra wieght on the bike i am sure puts the oil in postion to break down a tad faster. i have been reading about shearing and it has me wondering again whats best to help that part out..I am a Oil rookie in many ways but the job that i have over seeing the repair and maintence of over 485 pieces of equipment ranging from simple work trucks to high end fire fighting equipment. I have about 230 police vehicles as well to keep alive. it keeps me always looking for a good line of filters and oils to protect my fleet.. this venue is probably not the correct one to be talking about my fleet problems but that are sort of related in my mind.. i find a good filter/oil combo for my fleet then i got a pretty good start at keeping my personal rides alive.. :O)

on a side not here. I just ordered a filter from gopurepower.com for my VTX..I spoke with the owner, Mr. Kelly Tidwell. some of you may know him. he made a good point on standard filters as opposed to the SS mesh filters. how the standard filters go into a bypass mode almost as soon as the start passing oil. made a comment about how oil in a standard filter passes over the media and not actualy through it. that raised me eyebrows a tad. These filter can flow 22 gals of oil through them in a minutes time and because the flow so much easer i can realise a 3-5 hp gain??? all pretty bold claims but i was willing to shell out the bones to give it a try.. OK. you guys feel free to post up the good and the bad here. I am here to learn and ask question from folks a whole lot smarter than i am in these things..

Thanks in advance..
Rick

 

[HighViscosity]

Sounds like he is a good salesman! Many filters can and do go into bypass when starting at cold ambient temps, but the bypass closes as the oil warms and thins. Any good filter that is matched for that application should have plenty of flow through the filter media. Filter design is very simple, and it is very easy to increase flow, just put in more/deeper pleats. My old Infiniti Q45 4.5L V-8 used a filter that was scary small, like a childs fist. 200k miles later no oil use and ran like new. Filter size can be deceiving.

If you want a good filter a few are:

Mann
Purolater pure one
mobil 1
K&N

In the old days people used to use toilet paper rolls to filter their oil and the engines would run for hundreds of thousands of miles (supposedly).

 

[kballowe]

It's amazing what type of "mix" works...

I wanted to short-change in a new Harley and had a bunch of half-quarts sitting around. So it got a mix of Lucas 20W-50, Rotella 15W-40 and Formula Shell SAE-30. The same mix went into the primary chaincase. For the transmission I used half a quart of SuperTech 75W-90 conventional and half a quart of Mobil 1 75W-90.

Now... I can pull the clutch in and there is no clunk when I put it into gear. Not a clunk, nor clack, nor even a "snick" changing gears. Virtually not a sound.

That mix got changed out in less than 1,000 miles. Heck, I should have "run" it and got a UOA !!!

 

[PT1]

I use redline shockproof heavy in my Harley trans and 50-50 MTL & MT90 in the primary. Shifts fine. RL 20w50 in the engine. With a shared sump try the Amsoil 20w50 MC oil.

 

[HighViscosity]

Originally Posted By: kballowe
It's amazing what type of "mix" works...


Now... I can pull the clutch in and there is no clunk when I put it into gear. Not a clunk, nor clack, nor even a "snick" changing gears. Virtually not a sound.

That mix got changed out in less than 1,000

miles. Heck, I should have "run" it and got a UOA !!!



That was an interesting mix and would have made a unique UOA. Those oils are high in phos and zinc and make decent bike oils by themselves, except the 30 wt would be to thin for your application. What did you replace it with, and how do you like it?

Happy New Year!

 

[CATERHAM]

Your mix sounds interesting.
In your quest to find the best shifting oil "on the planet" why not start with the reputed "best" and work your way down?
In that regard I can understand your interest in Red Line but a glaring omission to me is Motul 300V 4T 10W-40. It's a light 40wt with a 100C vis of 13.3 cSt and is popular up here with sport riders/racers.

 

[kballowe]

[
Originally Posted By: HighViscosity
That was an interesting mix and would have made a unique UOA. Those oils are high in phos and zinc and make decent bike oils by themselves, except the 30 wt would be to thin for your application. What did you replace it with, and how do you like it? Happy New Year!

The crankcase got M1 V-Twin 20W-50. The primary got a quart of dino Rotella 15W-40 and the transmission got SuperTech semi-synthetic 75W-90.
It's got a fuzz more clunk than the previous witch's brew, but still shifts well.