what's the deal with the tranny oil?

[MARC]

o.k. more dumb questions, maybe I'm just confused here or have missed out on something so I'll go ahead and open the can of worms. On what planet do they use ATF or Motor oil in bike trannys? If you had a 68 camaro with a 4 speed manual, would you be comfortable putting ATF in the tranny? How about 10-30 in there? If you only wanted it to last for about 3 miles maybe you would! Just changed the origional tranny oil on my 01 and will tell you, that aint no 10-30 or ATF they got in there! THAT BE GEAR OIL IN THERE!!! So why is Kawi recommending 10-30 or 10-40? Are they hoping you will be coming back sooner for parts? ATF is a very light oil and a type of hydraulic fluid made for automatic transmissions (my kdx came with a manual, how about yours?) motor oil is for 4 cycle engines, it goes in the crankcase, and gear oil is for what? GEARS!! THAT'S RIGHT!! (at least that's what I've heard) If you have had no problems using ATF or 10-30 good for you but I'll stick to gear oil thanks. Throw me some rebuttals here!!

 

[dell30rb]

Alot of 4 stroke oils lube the engine and their tranny.

It dosent say to just go buy the cheapest 10-40 oil you can find @ the gas station right??

I personlly use honda 80-85 wt tranny oil developed for cr's. I've also had just as good results with 10-40 Honda GN4, their 4 stroke oil.

The 4 stroke oil is used to lube the tranny!!= They have clutches and gears too ya know!!

 

[Dr.Zaius]

Don't know about you, my dealer rec's 80 weight gear oil. Duh. :eek:

 

[gooby]

i hope spanky250 replies to this.i switched to atf type f after talkin to him. it made a great improvement in operation ,esp if a bit chilly .nice smooth shifts ,no drag or slip just pos clean shifts.i change it every 3-4 trips anyhow .75-80 wt gear oil = 40 wt motor oil i heard anyhow

 

[MARC]

didnt say was looking for a cheap oil, I dont buy jimbob's oil at cameapart, I'm looking for the RIGHT oil, I'll ask again, kawi puts gear oil in it from the factory, so why the @#%&! dont they recommend it when you change it??????

 

[MARC]

just an added quip here, we're talking 2 stroke vs. 4 stroke, I realize 4 strokes share the oil in the tranny with the engine, do they on all models? Im not sure, but on the ones that do they are designed that way, so your point is kind of mute. On a 2 stroke the tranny is seperate from the crankcase. Go put some ATF in your xr 650 and see how long it runs!!! Then you can tell me about ya, they have gears and cluthches and all that stuff too ya know when youre at the parts counter!!!! again I'll stick with gear oil unless its 40 below

 

[bhawkins]

You guys are confusing yoursleves! 4 strokes share the same oil for tranny and crnakcase. Two strokes use tranny oil! My 94 KDX uses Bel Ray tranny fluid and runs like new. I also change fluid about evey 5 rides/motos. I'm surprised Kawasaki puts heavy gear oil in stock bikes now? Tranny oil is what is needed. I donl;t know the weight of the Bell Ray stuff I use, but it's heavier than 10-40 and lighter than gear oil. Hope this helps.

 

[MassKDX]

I have been using regular SAE 10w-30 or 10w-40 (no particular brand just what is in the garage at the time) in my tranny for my gears with no problems for a few years. Both the KDX's I have maintenanced never had any premature gear failure. I power shift to boot. I do change my oil every 3-4 rides to keep it clean. I am not an oil technician but why spend the extra money on special gear oil when you can use a SAE Kawasaki recomended motor oil that delivers the same function with out any problems.

1991 KDX 200 has about 4000 miles with the original clutch and the cases have never been split (my brothers bike).

2001 KDX200 has about 1500 miles with the original clutch and cases never been split.

Just my 2 cents worth.
:)

 

[EBOD]

If I'm not mistaken, motor oil actually lubricates better than gear oil. Thus, using it should not damage your gears. It will, however, cause clutch problems. I think the extra lubrication makes it hard for the clutch to grab. Thus the clutch starts to slip and get really hot.

That said, I don't know if using ATF (which I presume is even less slippery than gear oil) damages gears or improves the way the clutch works.

Also, I thought I read somewhere that the CRF has two separate oil cases (one for piston, etc. and one for gears), but that Honda recommends using the same oil in each one.

 

[BRush]

Marc, So you are saying that ATF is bad for your bike’s gearbox, even though thousands of riders and the experience of a gazillion riding hours say otherwise? What’s next, an explanation of why bumble bees can’t possibly fly?

Go ahead and buy that expensive gear oil. Your dealer will be happy. :D

 

[gooby]

hey i never mentioned 4 strokes and i'm not selling atf .just thought i'de share my opinion on this, use what u want.fyi ATF is almost the same as 70W gear oil, and it has the advantage of better viscosity stability in extreme temperature conditions, meaning it doesn't thin out as much as a comparable gear oil at the same high temperature.that was a quote from spanky250 who knows much more about this than i,all i know is it works.if we all did what the dealer suggested they would get rich and retire at 40 yrs of age .my bike performs great w/ atf and 3 oil changes cost me 3.00 :)

 

[SmokinRZ]

I've seen it posted in several different places that ATF has a viscosity = to 7 wt oil. My 92 Ford Ranger takes ATF in the Mazada built 5 speed. My old 88 Mustang 5.0 used ATF in the T-5 5 speed. Surprisingly, hyd fluid appears to handle shearing and loads fine. I've talked with old trials riders who used to mix ATF 50/50 with 10w40. Having said that, I have used nice thick 20w50 Castrol GTX (not SJ rated like 10w30 or whatever the new rating is) for over 20 years in my dirt bikes with no clutch or tranny problems. I use Bel Ray gear saver in my trials bike since it provides smoother clutch action but since it cost more i'm more reluctant to change it as often. Use whatever works for you just be sure and change it often.

 

[linusb]

Being a newb, I'm not sure my opinion is worth much. I change the oil of my Husky after every riding day (about 2 hours ride time...is this overkill?).

But to the point, I'm not sure what was in the bike when I first got it, but it was experiencing some clutch drag. I'm pretty sure the oil wasn't very old whatever it was. Anyway, I used ATF and clutch drag is gone. I'm going to stick with it and change it often.

 

[70 marlin]

Just went to ATF. because I can do three bikes, for the price of one.