Primary/Transmission/Clutch Lube

a_myrv

2009 Sportster Iron 883 3500+ miles


I wanted to ask the forum about the use of ATF as a lube for the pri/trans/clutch? I know some cars use it as a lube in manual trans and it would seem OK with the Sportster.

Has anyone tried this instead of the Harley lube or other 20W-50 oil? It seems that ATF would be better than oil since it wouldn't breakdown from the gears like the oil tends to do.

I appreciate y'alls input on this.

Thanks.

Alan

CatWoman

Well, Alan,
There are many reasons why you wouldn't want to put Automatic Transmission Fluid into your Primary/Transmission/Clutch. However, instead of repeating several discussion, I thought I would direct to you another place where the same points are made:

If you go under General Tech Harley Davidson, you will see Oil ('find an answer to your oil questions here') -- open it up and then you will see a thread: "Question concerning ATF in the Primary Gllider and some of the more knowledgeable please respond (by Haywire) -- this is the discussion I was referring to.

Hopefully it will be helpful!!

Question concerning ATF in the Primary Gllider and some of the more knowledgeable please respond - Harley Davidson Community

CatWoman :

smitty901

Some get away with it in primary on other HD engines but your sporty is a different engine you do not have 3 holes you would be asking for trouable on a sporty. Your bike is not an automatic tranmission

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Hoople

I wouldn't do it. Like Smitty said, your just asking for trouble.

glider

ATF = Automatic trans fluid....Is your Harley an automatic? Why not use fork oil in there? Simply because it wasn't made for it. Use the proper lube in the bike if you expect long life out of it in return.

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Jack Klarich

A T F is an acronym for automatic transmission fluid , enough said

a_myrv

OK, OK I get the picture. It's just that I have owned a couple of manual transmission cars that used ATF in their trans and I just thought that since it would would with the clutch OK it might work with gears better than a motor oil type lube.

Thanks for the advise everyone.

Alan

glider

Alan

I once made the mistake of buying a Dodge van and it had a manual transmission in it. I noticed from having manual gearboxes in the past that this was very difficult to shift all the time like the gears were dragging and not moving smoothly when shifting. When I brought it back to complain about this, they opened up the the cover on the trans and it had ATF in it. I feel that's why the problem with shifting occurred. Well, to make a long story short, one rebuild later and one new trans later, it was the same thing and I traded it in on a better car at 11,000 miles.
Use products as they were intended to be used and not because somebody else told you to try it. Gears need gear lube, not ATF.

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Please stop by the "self help section" for maintenance tips, diagnostic codes and much more.
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67hat34c

Automatic transmissions need this thin fluid to opperate the high pressure hydraulic systems. They do have gears and some like the Honda transmissions closely resemble a manual. However the oil is under pressure and coating the gears under pressure and high flow. In your sportster transmission the gears sit in a little oil and it climbs and splashes. ATF will not cling and climb as needed etc. Would also not use it in a Big Twin primary for the same reasons.

I have had very good results with Amsoil 20/50. I tried the Spectro primary lube designed for the sportster and found it difficult to find and did not see any improvement over the 20/50. I also noted more metal on the plug with the spectro.

Hoople

You make a Great point with the "cling and climb" concept. I never really though about that until now. I now can see where that is so important when fluids are not "pumped" such as in a gearbox. Tks!