Good synthetics for roadliner 1900?

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The engine oil specs a 20w40, and the primary gear case calls for a hypoid GL-4 80w.
I saw mobil1 has a turbo-diesel 5w40 synthetic, and from reading the "101" on this site, it seems like that would be a good bet. Increased flow at startup but maintained thickness at operating temp.
For the gears, I was thinking redline, since I use it in my truck and am very happy with it. I don't know about the hypoid part though. Is "shockproof" somehow related to hypoid compatibility?
That just means extra high shear strength? I could really use a little advice here. The bike only has 650 miles on it, I just did the first service with regular oil, but want to change over to synthetic after the next one.
Thanks guys!!
 
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What year is your bike? I have a 09 Stratoliner, my owners manual specs 20W50. Yamaha no longer makes a 20W40 and has changed to 20W50 in all the Roadliner/Stratoliner motorcycles. I'am just going to use Yamalube 20W50 (dino) for the first change, after that I haven't decided.

Keep in mind that the engine oil in this bike does lubricate the gearbox. The only thing the gear oil lubricates is the primary chain. For that just use any Hypoid 80W90 GL5 and it's exactly what you would get if you bought the Yamalube stuff. If you want to use synthetic then it would be 75W90.


Ricky
 
Hypoid gear oil is the same thing as differential oil. Yamaha is just using the same stuff they use in their shaft drive units.


Ricky
 
Oh you got one of those with the oil sump under the seat, right? Air-cooled, pushrod motor.

Depends on the temps you ride in, and how much time you're stuck in traffic. Being air-cooled.... I lean toward the 20W-50

The Harley guys are getting excellent results with the Valvoline VR1 20W-50 Racing oil (conventional). Great used oil analysis numbers.

Someone help me out here - but I believe that the "5"w-40 oils have a tendency to shear in a shared sump application. A more shear-stable choice may be a "15"w-40 but it's not synthetic.

If you are wanting a synthetic then my recommendation would be the Mobil 1 V-Twin 20W-50 or the Amsoil MCV 20W-50.

If you are wanting a something-W-40 then I would try to find a PAO based oil like the Mobil 1 Racing 4T or the Amsoil MCF in 10W-40.

The primary gearcase is on the right side and there's two gears and a chain in there. No adjuster. Virtually any good gear oil will work in there.

What oil change intervals were you thinking about?
 
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I have a similar set up in my Roadstar Warrior. I changed over to synthetic after 2500 miles. Been using M1 V-Twin and Amsoil 20W-50. No problems.
 
Its a 2008. With my other bikes, I have been running diesel oil with no problems and OCI around 3000 miles. Stretched it to almost 4000 once on my last bike. It didn't burn oil, and I didn't notice any problems, but I try to stick to 3000 miles. So a synthetic 75-90 gear oil will work in the primary case for the gears? Does it have to say "hypoid" on it? I just bought the bike brand new and want to make it last as long as possible. It is the air cooled model with the sump under the seat. Takes 3 plugs to drain the engine oil. Primary oil has a drain plug, fill plug, and level check plug... Weird.
 
A synthetic 75W90 will be fine. It doesn't have to say hypoid, hypoid gears are what's in differetials. As long as it's OK for modern differentials, then it's a hypoid gear oil.


Ricky
 
So for the gear oil, should I worry about gl-4 vs gl-5? I know in my Nissan truck's transmission, it requires gl-4 because of the brass synchros. Will gl-5 cause any damage to the gears in my motorcycle?
 
In case it matters to anyone, I bought a qt of 80-90 "hypoid" gear oil at Napa, and it says its a Gl-5 rated oil. Most places will give you a blank stare when you ask for Hypoid oil, or say whats that?.,,
 
No, the primary case doesn't have any syncros, your gearbox is lubed with the engine oil.
 
Mobil 1 15w50 will cost you around half as much as the M1 20w50 when purchased in jugs from Wally world. I run it in both my HD's,BMW and Triumph....
 
Hate to revive a "dead" thread, but I changed my oil out to the M1 V-Twin 20/50 full synthetic. Wish I knew Autozone had it on sale before I paid $11.99/quart at Cycle Gear, but whatever. It seems to be working fine so far, but I don't know if I would call it any night and day difference. I understand the factory fill Yamalube is a syn blend, and is probably pretty good to begin with. I changed out the filter even though the manual says to do it every other oil change. I wanted to make sure as much of the old oil came out at the change. I did my previous oil change @ 600 miles with a Castrol syn blend. It was fairly dark coming out, but not too ugly.
I put some Lucas 80/90 heavy duty gear oil in the primary at 600 miles as well. I think I'll switch that out before the manual says next change is due, and go with a full synthetic like Redline. I might try Amsoil in the engine next change to see what all the fuss is about, too!
BTW: How do you go about getting a UOA performed, and how much does it cost? I live in San Diego, maybe there is a local place down in the area...?
 
Forget all the previous posts. The best thing you can do for an air cooled yamaha is rotella t-6 5w-40. I saw a uoa in this forum on a strat showing almost no wear metals at 5000 miles. That's crazy. And awesome. Yamaha's love rotella. Everyone in my yamaha forum swears by it. It makes that can of marbles valvetrain quiet. People who know
 
Yeah, someone in my area says it works great. I just wonder if it would somehow void my warranty since it isn't the specified weight. After the warranty is up, I'll be giving it a shot for sure, maybe sooner if it won't affect the warranty! No complaints so far about the M1 vtwin 20/50 but it's only been a couple hundred miles. Wish I had a non-contact thermometer to measure before and after temps, as many claim lower temps to be a benefit to these syn oils. The rotella t6 is synthetic, right?
 
Update: The bike seems to have a slight ticking noise, noticeable at idle. Maybe lifters? Others have said these motors don't like full synthetic oil, so I might have to drain the m1 20/50 and try something else. The t6 5/40 is a full synthetic, right? Nobody has experience with ticking noise using it?
 
Originally Posted By: RWA60
No, the primary case doesn't have any syncros, your gearbox is lubed with the engine oil.


And your gearbox has no syncros to boot! Almost all motorcycle gears are "constant mesh"...power is engaged to gears by a sliding 'dog' that engages the selected drive/driven gears to their respective shafts.
 
the raider/roadliner/stratoliner 1900 motor family is known for lifter issues..clacking sound at startup is a warning sign of possible lifter failure(mine were replaced under warranty at 1200 miles)ticking sounds when hot seem to be normal,it has four lifters versus two in a harley twin..also checking the oil level the correct way is critical,star/yamaha has a how to video at their website..i have a 2010 stratoliner deluxe..you will get more engine noise with a lighter oil in this monster,more psychological and less acoustic dampening than anything else..
 
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