gear oil pe 175

[oldskool]

hi everyone just wondering what oil is best used in 84 pe 175 gearbox and how often should it be changed (bit of a dummy when it comes to this stuff) thanx gary

[DR]

Gary near any straight SAE 20/40 (15w/40) motor oil will do (by straight I mean no friction modifiers or additives to cause clutch slippage) I use Castrol VMX80 (love the name) but it is a little more expensive than the regular tranny/eng. oils. Some use ATF fluid but I believe it isn't such a good thing as the right side main bearing will suffer premature wear. So long as it's not friction modified you'll be apples. Change mine about once a year out of habit but then I only ride 3 or 4 times a year at best so it comes out looking like new

[BAHNZY]

OldSkool,
I run a fleet fo RM's & PE's (7 in total) and found that the right oil is based on the type of clutch that is fitted.
If the bike still has the original clutch (or at least a reasoanbly old one) then as Doc said a good 20/40 GL4 will be fine. If a late model clutch is fitted, the type with some of these composite compounds then stick with some thing like the Motul or Shell 2 stroke specific gear oils. I have had premature clutch failures using the non motor bike specific oils with the new technology type clutch plates. Typically I change the oil about every 10 hours, more regualry if the clutch has copped a bit of abuse.

[shortshift]

For the PE's (and most other 2T transmissions) use any good SAE 80 GL4 transmission fluid bought from a motorcycle shop. I use Bel-Ray Gear Saver SAE80 that original was recommended by the Suzuki USA Enduro team who ran PE's. It was also used by Geoff Udy (QLD PE champion). I pay about $17 a litre for it

Originally Suzuki recommended a 20W/40 Engine oil and this will work OK but it is equivalent to a SAE85 viscosity so it is heavier. You can use any good 15W/40 petrol/diesel engine oil in there as well but the best way is with SAE80 fluid.
GL4 refers to the addtive treat, GL5 has TWICE the EP addtives of GL 4 made for the extreme conditions for hypoid diffs and other offset gearboxes. Never use GL5 in your 2T tranny. It will make the clutches stick together.

To dispel some old myths, Friction Modifiers were ceased from being used around the mid 80's and new better technology came into being after that with SG ratings.

The point about ATF and the wear on the bearings by Doc is correct, this is a well known fact and Suzuki states dont use ATF as it is not viscous enough to support the load carrying capacity on this particular bearing. ATF is typically a SAE75 grade that is too light. It is for high speed road racers that hit 250KM + to reduce drag.

Also read my posts about 2T engine oils in the Tech talk section for some more enlightenment.

[lukeb1961]

Alex, what is SAE80 in english - ie what do I buy when I walk into the local Caltex?   

[shortshift]

This is about the closest thing that will really work from Caltex service stations available in small packs. They do not sell a GL4 SAE80 specific motorcycle/car product in Australia. Any 10W/30 motor oil is equivalent to the viscosity grade of SAE80 and can be used.
http://www.caltex.com.au/products_oil_detail.asp?id=285

SAE80 is the gear oil viscosity rating.(Society of Automotive engineers)

[BAHNZY]

This may help. It is what i use at the shop when people come in looking for a specific brand that we dont stock. I use it to cross reference from what they want to the lubricants that we do have in stock.
There are other suppliers, but this is what you will find in 95% of the bike shops.

Motorex
GEAR OIL - 10w30
http://www.motorexoil.com.au/html/products/otheroils/gear_oils.htm

Motul
TransOil - 10W30 & TransOil Expert - 10W40
http://www.motul.com.au/product_line_up/gear_box/gear11.html

Belray
Gearsaver - 75W, 80W, 85W
http://www.belray.com/scripts/futurearts.dll?CollectBinaryData?loc=belray&coid=799&moid=361&fauuid=8885acf6-1437-42e5-9f2c-d2674a5da641

Shell
Shell Advance Gear - 10W-40 & 15W-40
http://www.epc.shell.com/?Countryid=AU

Castrol
MTX - 75/80W
http://www.castrol.com/castrol/multipleproductsection.do?categoryId=9000197&contentId=7000521

Maxima
MTL - 75W, 80W, 85W
http://www.maximausa.com/products/gearlubes/synthgearlube.asp

[oldskool]

thankyou all very informative it gets ridden every weekend it also seems to have a self draining system around some of the seals so ill stick to top up every ride and change every 10 hours or so sorry i didnt get back sooner but just got back from ridding with my 2 oldest daughters 16 and 13 had a ball as alwaysthanx again gary

[Rossvickicampbell]

I've used Silkolene Light gear oil for ages in several bikes- seems really good I think.

cheers

[shortshift]

I have also used a Flowstick here to compare the variuos popular grades of transmission fluids used in a 2 cycle gearbox to give an idea to the rider how the viscosities compare.

On one side we have used a normal 15W/40 petrol/diesel engine oil then in the middle an SAE80 motorcycle transmission fluid (same as a 10W/30) you buy from a bike shop and on the other side flowing the quickest is your normal Automatic Transmission Fluid (ATF......same as a SAE70W/75)

I wouldnt be using anything heavier than 15W/40, as perhaps a modern 10W/40 (SAE85) would be the maximum viscosity. I know some guys are running 20W/50 and it runs OK but what you dont see is what may be worrying. I pay about $18 a litre for my Bel-Ray SAE80 Gear Saver and have used this for 30 years but there are other equivalents on the shelvesas good. A 15W/40 engine oil is around 9 bucks in comparison and for a 4 litre pack you might pay only $30 from Repco or Supercheap..

ATF (Dexron II) was recommended in KTM's I recall from the early 80's and this made it a cheap thing and you could afford to change the oil regulary. I think now in their bikes they recommend the SAE80. I think drinking these days is cheaper!

[LWC82PE]

Have you got any Mobil 2T motorcycle gear oil to test? i have a few bottles but no weight is listed. On the back it says meets GL4 specs

i cant access the gear oils section on this page

http://www.mobil.com/Australia-English/LCW/Products_Services/Automotive_Lubricants.asp

[shortshift]

http://www.mobil.com/Australia-English/LCW/Files/Product_Guide_2008_Mobil_South_Pacific.pdf

On page 21 of the Mobil Product Guide it lists it as an SAE80 grade. So it is the same flow as the BR 80 in the photo. It is the same quality of the Castrol MTX that were rebrands of one type of tractor transmission fluid. In fact one bike shop I went to today still had some dusty bottles of Mobilfluid 424 on the shelf.

It just amazes me that a leading multinational oil company does not list on its packaging the viscosity of the product  that will allow a prospective purchaser make a buying decision. Its shows why the smaller niche players sell more bike stuff than the big boys with the deep pockets.

[LWC82PE]

so its not too bad then?

[oldyzman]

When i have purchased bikes, i have drained the old oil and it sometimes is a purple colour, other times it seems like auto transmission fluid, Anyone know what going on
OLDYZMAN

[shortshift]

When i have purchased bikes, i have drained the old oil and it sometimes is a purple colour, other times it seems like auto transmission fluid, Anyone know what going on
OLDYZMAN

Could be this stuff!
http://www.royalpurple.com/prod-pdfs/synchromax-ps.pdf

But sometimes the clutch wear particles colour the oil these sorts of colours.