YZ250 gearbox oil

[Bob Brooks]

I hate to start another oil thread…but I’m curious as to what you late model YZ250 owners are using in the gearbox. I picked up a used ’02 recently and the shifting seems slightly notchy…not bad, just a little bit sometimes between 1st and 2nd. I’ve hit neutral a few times going between 1st and 2nd when I’m not overly deliberate. I’ve only ridden the bike twice, so it may be my fault so far, I’m just not used to the throw of the Yamaha gear shift lever yet. But in the past, with a lot of my two-strokes, I’ve found many of them to be quite fussy when it comes to gearbox oil. I’ve tried lots of different oils in the gearboxes over the years and never had a problem with clutch slippage or anything like that in any of the oils I’ve tried…but some of them do reveal big differences in how the bikes shift.

I used PJ1 clutch saver in the YZ gearbox so far, only because that’s what I had on my garage shelf, a leftover bottle of it, and I plan to try something else on my next ride and experiment a bit, but I’m curious to hear what some of the rest of you are running in the Yamaha gearboxes and what kind of luck you’re having?

I’ve read a lot about guys using heavy-duty diesel motor oil in gearboxes, and even for four-stroke motor oil, but have never personally tried it.

 

[MXTex]

Several of my riding friends own YZ250's ranging in year model from 1999 to 2003. One of them uses Redline gearbox oil. Another uses Motorex and yet another uses Motul. All with good results. For me in my KX, I've tried them all but always come back to ATF type F. My gearbox and clutch work better with this than anything else. And it's cheap enough to change very frequently.

 

[BadCRC]

ATF Type-F in my gearbox too. :cool:
(1998 YZ250)

 

[Reesknight]

Nothing but Bel Ray gearsaver for me. No clutch problems, no shifting problems :cool:

 

[Rcannon]

I have been using the Yamaha 10/30 weight motor oil. It works very well and is cheap enough to change a lot.

The best that I have used for overall shifting was the Mobil 1 red cap 15/50 weight. I felt like it made shifting much better. I woudl use it all the time except it is sometimes difficult to find.

 

[Studboy]

Mobil 1 15/50 is great (the best I've used), but expensive. I've been using Type F ATF and I like it a lot! Regular Mobil 10/40 works pretty good too. Just try a few and see what you like the best, and then factor in the cost. At 89c a quart for ATF, I can afford to change it often.

 

[Bob Brooks]

Thanks!

 

[dog2]

I noticed a significant improvement in shifting and clutch fade on my yz250 with Bel ray gear saver or Maxima gear lube as well.

 

[NO HAND]

Castrol GTX 20w50. My bike needs thick stuff to shift smoothly. I change it very often.

 

[Yamahauler]

The last two Yamaha's I've had ('01 YZ426 & '02 YZ250) were harder than other models about getting into first gear. I noticed both bikes like to hit neutral when downshifting from second to first unless I stab at the shifter.

 

[sjmaster]

gearbox lube

OK.....why type F ??? Does it have to be type F? What do you think about using Mobil 1 synthetic transmission lube?? :bang:

 

[whyzee]

Silkolene Pro 2 sx

 

[ScottS]

Hey Bob congrats on the new bike- looks like your patience paid off

How do you like the YZ ? I love the KTM !

 

[Bob Brooks]

So far so good on the YZ...very good to hear you like the KTM, it was always a good one for me. I still have your kickstand, I keep forgetting to ship it to you, my apologies for that! I'll try to get it out this week.