Count yourself as exceptionally fortunate if your bike's clutch doesn't have plate stiction on cold starts.

You have the only motorcycle in history that has zero stiction on cold starts.

Lucky you.

 

You need to read what I wrote, not what you'd like to see. I DID have the problem, NOW I don't.

 

Again, you're a lucky man (comprehension isn't your forte though).

Even using ATF I still always experience plate stiction on my HD's, particularly on cold starts. And have been for many years.

Adios

 

I'm curious as to which ATF's you have used? I've tried a few, and none of the conventional fluids work for me... type F, Dexron, Mercron, etc. Only the synthetics seem to work, Mobil 1 & Redline being the top 2 so far.

 

I've worked around heavy equipment running atf for many years. IMHO, If atf in allison transmissions can pull 140, 000 lb. equipment down the hiway for thousands of miles it can handle harley primaries. My only exception is that it be synthetic for better heat range. Do the research and choose for yourself.

 

It does not seem to matter what I have in the primary "if" I pull in the clutch prior to starting my bike I never have a clunk when the bike is cold.

 

Same here, and if it can hold up to the stress put on the chains in a Caterpillar motor grader drive chain boxes I will say it should be fine for Harley primary chains.

 

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" However, why I stopped using ATF was the fact that I read, on line, a major maker of ATF saying not to use it. I emailed them for some enlightenment and one of their engineers said ATF was a light weight hydraulic fluid designed for high pressure lubrication. It was not suitable for the large inner primary bearing. "

BINGO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And thanks so much for posting this because IMHO coming from the oil/atf mfg is all i needed to see .

Thats exactly what my concern was with running ATF that i posted in a thread this same OP had on ATf someplace else with it being in fact thin visc wise (compaired to REC by mfg HD 80wt or 85wt or syn3 20-50 in prim ) not able to handle lube duty when it comes to larger bearings in prim case when ATF was designed mainly as a hyd lube and not to handle a lot of hi trq/pwr lubing for ex inner prim case bearing on the HD.

does this mean all hd's running atf will self destruct,no!

But does it mean running atf in prim could poss lead to premature failure of some kind in primary due to it being thinner visc wise and also not having proper additive pkg in atf for best protection vs proper rec 85w or syn3 20-50 prim lube that has the proper thicker viscosity to better handle lubing lrg bearings under load that also had proper additive pkg in the oil too,Yes running atf could lead to failure.

And more then a few guys running atf would likely not be tripping over themselves to post prim failure here either after they have posted here they were running it saying how good it is.

But after the response from the oil mfg that mfg's atf confirmed my concern that it was too light to handle long term lube duty in the prim case on a lrg HD v-twin prim case .

Yes the atf helps some bike shift better due to better clutch plate release but long term affect is questionable so i wont run it.

I run spectro's rec prim case oil /85w syn along with thier syn 6 speed trans oil too,trans clunck when shifting but clutch engagment is silky smooth , thans sfits easy /well and neutral is always easy to find too.

Also also run std dino spectro hvy dty 20-50 in the motor to keep valvetrain mostly quiet vs m1 & syn2 both 20-50 syn that made valve train noisy when motor/oil was up to normal op temp.

But i am going to give spector's hvy dty full syn 20-50 a try to see if it will keep valve train happy/quiet too,if yes will switch to that,but if not will go back to std dino spectro hvy dty 20-50.

So i thats the lube i run in my 09 flhtcu w-96" motor.

BTW,since i installed wards cooling fans along with an ultracool oil cooler with dual elec fans the motor/oil tem was reduced a lot esp on hot days in traffic or at slower road speed that running std dino isnt a concern anymore .
Oil temp with both cooling systems in 89 deg heat in stop/go/stop traffic with mult stoplights in a row now maxes out at approx 205-210 def f and @ cruise is now running 180-185 deg f but never hitting 190 deg f at cruise which isn't close to an issue temp wise for a quality std dino.

Prior to installing the 2 cooling systems oil temp in same 85-90 deg heat was running much higher hitting 240+ deg f in same type city traffic (too close for comfort with std dino) and 210-220deg f @ cruise.

Scott

 

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Chains,yes atf is ok ,lrg bearing under max load on a shaft atf isnt as good a lube as would be a proper oil oh higher visc with proper additive pkg for app too.

What i dont get is when an expert chem/oil engineer thats trainned/schooled working in the fld that mfg's oil says:

" engineers said ATF was a light weight hydraulic fluid designed for high pressure lubrication. It was not suitable for the large inner primary bearing. "
Why you guys feel you still know whats best for what app when the mfg themselves tell you ATF isnt suitable /designed to properly lube things like lrg bearing in inner primary case is beyond me.

The oil engineer wasnt saying atf would work,but he was saying its not suitable mensaing not best choicse by far for that app,period .

And that's exactly the concern i posted about running atf in the prim case and got flamed for it when it turns out my concern was not only valid but right on the money according the expert/oil engineer in the fld.

And my concern came from not only having over 4+ decades wrenching bikes and building muscle cars/motors etc its also comming from researching motor oil over the past 10yrs or so too.

Todays motor oil has been changing often due to tighter emissions & fuel mileage regs being placed on car mfgs that forces oil and or its additive pkg be changed/redesigned to help meet those new regs which doenst always equate to better performing motor oil,esp when talking 40 yr old classic cars with flat tappet cams & greatly reduced anti wear agent /zddp in many of the over the counter motor oils sold these days thats a diff subject for a diff day.

Scott

 

About 5 years ago when the SE compensator was being discovered on here for relief from the failed stock compensators, it was discovered soon after that ATF was not providing sufficient lubrication for the hub of the compensator. Several showed photos of the comp hub, galled and full of rusty powder, after only a few thousand miles. The original SE compensator did have a lube problem to the hub which is why it is no longer serviced by H-D and replaced by the 2014 model. But that problem was magnified with the ATF, apparently.

While vehicles, trucks, heavy equipment, ets, do use ATF in transmissions or other mechanisms, I believe these will be circulated by a pump. Usually a high pressure one at that as most auto transmissions do. With the ATF being pumped at pressure it can lube much better than the splash or run down method in our primaries, which is why the early SE comps were not getting proper lubrication. ATF is basically hydraulic fluid with some lubrication properties.