mobil1 vtwin 20 /50 in harley drive train.

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Opnions on running m1 vtwin 20/50 in all three drive components.Or should I use 75/90 gear lube in the tranny.My understanding is that they are the practicaly the same viscosity.
2013 road glide.
 
gear oil in the trans will go 15-20,000 miles. Motor oil will work but shears out quicker. I liked 85w140 BelRay gear-saver the best. Many Harley dealers use it. It will definitely go 20,000 so you don't have to change it much.
 
Red Line has some oils specifically for your bike. Since motorcycles use a bit less oil per change and are often not ridden as much as you drive a car spending a couple of dollars more for Red Line might be worth the trouble. From experience their oil works well in air cooled engines that sometimes see very high temperatures.
 
I use cheap 75/90 wt gear oil in my '99 E glide. And Rotella T in the primary. Any oil that says to use it in your motor and trans, is just a compromise. What's in your trans? Gears. Why not use plain old gl-5 rated gear oil? It will shear less then synthetic motor oil, because it's designed to be in a trans.Harley trans are bullet proof, so use what you want. Using expensive synthetic oil in the primary is a waste of money. Plus 20/50 wt oil can cause slight drag on the clutch plates, that causes the trans to bang when putting it in first gear. 15/40 wt oil is cheap and it will shift alot smoother.You can buy a qt of gear oil and a qt of Rotella T, for less then a qt of Mobil 1 MC oil.,,
 
All the CVO models come from the factory with Sync 3 20-50 in all three holes. I've used Mob 1 Vtwin 20-50 in all three holes with no issues and recently switched to Amzoil MC 20-50 in all three holes, because I could no longer get the Mob 1 product in my area.

If you do some research there is no reason to run gear oil in a modern HD transmission. In my Softail service manual they still recommend Formula + which is a motor oil not a gear oil. There are no hypoid gears in a modern ( 6 speed )HD transmission so therefore no need for the additive package of a GL5 gear oil.

You can run a 75-90 gear oil ( basically the same viscosity as a 20-50 motor oil ) in the tranny with no problems, many are doing it.

I've found that the Mob 1 Vtwin product worked well in all three holes and now that I'm using the Amzoil 20-50 product I've found that it works equally well. The Amzoil and the Mob 1 are a different product and you will notice a difference in clutch feel & drive train noise between the two products. Both are supposed to be a sync but I'm thinking the Mob 1 is some kind of blend because it does perform differently in my bike. Not bad just different.

Hope this helps.
 
Harley recommends 20w-50 all three holes. Amsoil also recommends the MCV 20w-50 in all three holes because that is what the MOCO recommends. With that said I run Amsoil MCV 20w-50 in engine, SVG 75-110 in the tranny (why? cause it's hotter than heck here in central texas during the summer) and any cheap 20w-50 in the Primary. I'm gonna try the Rotella 15w-40 in the primary shortly..The 2011 FLHTK currently has Redline 20w-50 in it and will be changed back to Amsoil, cause I can get the Amsoil cheaper..

I've run just about all the different 20w-50 motor oils in the engine and never really any difference, other than top end will start getting noiser sooner with the Mobil 1.

Both my Harley's get 5k OCI's all three holes...I do not do extended drains or conduct UOA's...
 
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Originally Posted By: rossn2
Harley recommends 20w-50 all three holes. Amsoil also recommends the MCV 20w-50 in all three holes because that is what the MOCO recommends. With that said I run Amsoil MCV 20w-50 in engine, SVG 75-110 in the tranny (why? cause it's hotter than heck here in central texas during the summer) and any cheap 20w-50 in the Primary. I'm gonna try the Rotella 15w-40 in the primary shortly..The 2011 FLHTK currently has Redline 20w-50 in it and will be changed back to Amsoil, cause I can get the Amsoil cheaper..

I've run just about all the different 20w-50 motor oils in the engine and never really any difference, other than top end will start getting noiser sooner with the Mobil 1.

Both my Harley's get 5k OCI's all three holes...I do not do extended drains or conduct UOA's...


Not anymore they don't.
I suggest looking into it. They now recommend their formula+ in the primary and tranny.
Not that it matters to me. I've got rotella in my primary and red line shockproof in the tranny
5000 miles on the oil in the tranny eh? When Harley says 20000. Talk about burning money. But its yours to burn so have at er.
 
Originally Posted By: Clevy
Originally Posted By: rossn2
Harley recommends 20w-50 all three holes. Amsoil also recommends the MCV 20w-50 in all three holes because that is what the MOCO recommends. With that said I run Amsoil MCV 20w-50 in engine, SVG 75-110 in the tranny (why? cause it's hotter than heck here in central texas during the summer) and any cheap 20w-50 in the Primary. I'm gonna try the Rotella 15w-40 in the primary shortly..The 2011 FLHTK currently has Redline 20w-50 in it and will be changed back to Amsoil, cause I can get the Amsoil cheaper..

I've run just about all the different 20w-50 motor oils in the engine and never really any difference, other than top end will start getting noiser sooner with the Mobil 1.

Both my Harley's get 5k OCI's all three holes...I do not do extended drains or conduct UOA's...


Not anymore they don't.
I suggest looking into it. They now recommend their formula+ in the primary and tranny.
Not that it matters to me. I've got rotella in my primary and red line shockproof in the tranny
5000 miles on the oil in the tranny eh? When Harley says 20000. Talk about burning money. But its yours to burn so have at er.


FWIW you can run the shockproof heavy 30,000 miles in a Harley trans unless you get water in it. The HD formula + is a 50w oil. I would recommend you change the trans oil every 5 years if you are a low mileage rider and using RL or BelRay because you do get some contamination in there over the years. I have friends I have converted to 85w140 BelRay and they have changed it once and ridden for 6-7 years on one fill to get to the 20,000 mile mark.
 
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Not anymore they don't.
I suggest looking into it. They now recommend their formula+ in the primary and tranny.
 
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from owners manual 2013 Street Glide for Primary and Transmission:

Recommended Primary Chaincase Lubricant

LUBRICANT
REFILL QUANTITY

FORMULA+ TRANSMISSION AND PRIMARY CHAIN LUBRICANT

or

SCREAMIN' EAGLE SYN3 FULL SYNTHETIC MOTORCYCLE LUBRICANT 20W50
38 fl oz 1.12 L (wet)

45 fl oz 1.33 L (dry)
 
Originally Posted By: LC
Last I had heard Amsoil was buying their base stock from Mobil.


Common misconception. Amsoil buys some PAO base stocks from Exxon Mobil and PAO/esters from other companies.
 
Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
Red Line has some oils specifically for your bike. Since motorcycles use a bit less oil per change and are often not ridden as much as you drive a car spending a couple of dollars more for Red Line might be worth the trouble. From experience their oil works well in air cooled engines that sometimes see very high temperatures.


+1

I use Redline 20W-50 in the engine of my Harley 103, quieter and longer lasting than the Mobil V-Twin I had been running. Change at 5,000 miles but could easily go a lot further with the Redline.

Redline MTL in the Primary. Had been changing out at 5,000 miles. Will be going 8,000-10,000 miles as the oil is THAT good.

Redline Shockproof Heavy in the tranny. Quiets the clunk, easy shifting, easy to find neutral. Had been going 5,000 miles between changes. Oil looked like new so now I'm going to 10,000 miles on the tranny change. Could easily go a lot longer!
 
Originally Posted By: Climb14er
Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
Red Line has some oils specifically for your bike. Since motorcycles use a bit less oil per change and are often not ridden as much as you drive a car spending a couple of dollars more for Red Line might be worth the trouble. From experience their oil works well in air cooled engines that sometimes see very high temperatures.


+1

I use Redline 20W-50 in the engine of my Harley 103, quieter and longer lasting than the Mobil V-Twin I had been running. Change at 5,000 miles but could easily go a lot further with the Redline.

Redline MTL in the Primary. Had been changing out at 5,000 miles. Will be going 8,000-10,000 miles as the oil is THAT good.

Redline Shockproof Heavy in the tranny. Quiets the clunk, easy shifting, easy to find neutral. Had been going 5,000 miles between changes. Oil looked like new so now I'm going to 10,000 miles on the tranny change. Could easily go a lot longer!


YEP! Same exact recipe I use on my Twin Cam.
 
Use Mobil1 V-Twin in the engine/primary. Change the engine oil every 5k and the primary every 10k. I run synthetic 75/90 in the trans. It's a 2000 fxsts with 22500 on it. I've had it a year and put over 11k on since then. I run mobile1 in everything I own with good oil filters (Mobil1 or K&N) and when opened up, they've all looked great.
 
Originally Posted By: Propflux01
I use Valvoline racing 20W-50 in the engine, ATF +4 in teh primary, and Redline shockproof in the gearbox. Shifts like a dream.


Is your bike stock? Isn't ATF+4 loaded with friction modifiers?
A friend who rides with us has a police special with a tc 88. He swears by using tranny fluid in his primary. His bike has just under 100000 kms on it and he was telling us about the new clutch he had installed this spring. Its his 3rd clutch in that bike. Its funny because my neighbour has the same bike with 120000kms on it and he is still on the original stock clutch. My neighbour is the one who originally turned me on to rotella in the first place about 4 years ago.
 
ATF +4 isn't loaded with so much significantly more friction modifiers. It's still backwards compatible with ATF +3 and +2. It's also made with better group III base oils.

It has more friction modifiers but it shouldn't interfere with any transmission compatible with the older fluids but it'll also protect parts better with it's better base oil and anti-wear additives.

And as for clutch wear. It can depend greatly on the rider. Freeway miles don't wear your clutch, lots of stop and go city miles can wear it out fast.
 
Originally Posted By: cycleman
3 clutches. Something tells me that if he's using ATF then it isn't working for him.



Yep. It ain't. And his 88 is basically run on the highway however I know many of those miles he had his old lady on the back and the bike was loaded with gear. The extra weight may have something to do with it but I just can't see it being the whole reason
 
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