I use sand in the engine, sawdust in the primary, and limestone in the transmission... HA! Actually 2050 ams in the crank, Belray in the tranny, and just plain ole HD in the primary. I may try switching to Ams in the eng and primary in the upcoming oil change though but I like the Belray in the tranny, that stuff is awesome.

 

I'd run Amsoil gear oil in the tranny if I were you. All Amsoil products = great stuff!

 

langlois1,

Every Harley I've ever owned clunked when it was shifted. The old 4 speeds sound like they're self-destructing. Redline heavy shockproof works better than anything I've tried so far to make them a little quieter. But apparently the clunking isn't doing any damage anyway, it's just kinda annoying.

John

 

20-50 is engine oil, 75-90 (or Redline HD Shock proof Gear Oil like I use) is gear oil & much more appropriate to that type of high stress application. The really nice thing is, using either of these gear oils (Mobil 1 makes one also)will make a tranny shift noticeably smoother & sometimes quieter.

A Harley tranny is very similar to the rear end in the car/truck you drive. You wouldn't fill that with engine oil & you really shouldn't fill a Harley tranny with it either. I have been a wrench & race car/drag bike builder/customizer for over 30 years so I have had a fair bit of experience with this stuff.

As far as using the same product in all three holes, who cares?? You don't have to carry spare tranny oil on a trip & it doesn't need to be changed all that often either.

~John

 

By the way, just because you CAN use a product doesn't necessarily mean you SHOULD use it (IE: engine oil in a tranny)

One of our local Harley dealers has a service manager that has worked there for 30 years. This guy is awesome & is a wrench/machinist/tool & die maker all rolled into one.

When Syn 3 oil first came out & people where using it in all three holes (because Harley said it was OK to do so), his shop started noticing a disturbing trend. They didn't see it a whole lot, but occasionally they would have a new style tranny go bad & show some signs that the oil was not really doing the job it is intended to do correctly(heat/burn/scorch marks etc etc on critical components).

The only common denominator was they all used syn engine oil in the tranny. As a result of this, that particular dealer will no longer fill a customers tranny with 20-50 oil & the problems seem to be gone.

~John