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Changed lube in primary/trans...

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BrettG

Member
I am at about 330 miles (its been cold and wet out) on my new 2009 1200.
Since I cant ride, I thought I would check things out, having a quart of the Harley primary/trans lube, and a quart of bell ray trans and primary lube.

First I drained the lube, almost a quart came out, quite metalic looking.
The magnet on the drain plug was covered with break in metal fuzz, and the primary chain was looser than its supposed to be.
I adjusted the primary chain, and put in the bel ray stuff, the Harley shop recomended it, but I am only going to leave it in there for another 300 miles and drain it and see how things look. I don't quite trust bel ray....

I went for a short ride after work, the bel ray stuff seems to work fine as far as the clutch goes, shifting was fine...

Brett
 
No worries Brett, Bel Ray is a good maker of oils and lubes. Changing oil so soon will not accomplish much if anything. Relax and ride...you got rid of most of the contaminants when you drained the HD Semi-Synthetic 20W-50 oil, "generally used in both holes...your way ahead of the game already. Just change at the next normal oil change about 2500-5000 miles, depending on your riding habits, should be good enough.
 
Thanks for the info, but I dont think (from looking on the web) that many people run the bel ray stuff.

More important I think is the primary chain being so loose.
I am glad I checked and adjusted it. Well over an inch of play cold.

I did not remove the clutch cover, just the inspection cover, and added the lube through that.
I have not seen the cover gasket/seal, and gather its tricky to fit/reuse, so I did not remove the cover this time.

I ordered a manual for the bike, as I have not had a Harley for 25 years....
Lots to learn...

Brett
 
I checked into the bel ray when I was searching oils and don't remember exactly what I found but it was low in a critical ingredient compared to others like Mobil 1 that made me decide against using it.

Wish I could remember better:D
 
Well, I have the stuff Harley sells, or I could get the Mobil 1 V twin oil.
The original fill is semi synthetic motor oil?

Brett
 
Glider, funny you should mention BelRay lube...I read the label (imagine that) and it said it was safe for "all wet clutches"...but then farther down it mentions it has "friction modifiers" and low wear additives...uh-oh! Nope, I chose not to use it and will stick with Spectrol...:D
 
I have no idea if its any good or not, so far so good, but it is made for sportsters, says so on the bottle....

Brett
 
NEWHD74FAN said:
Glider, funny you should mention BelRay lube...I read the label (imagine that) and it said it was safe for "all wet clutches"...but then farther down it mentions it has "friction modifiers" and low wear additives...uh-oh! Nope, I chose not to use it and will stick with Spectrol...:D
Click to expand...

Bel Ray used to be a very good choice back in the Shovel Head day, much better choices out there now , and Shovels and Pans were a lot more forgiving than Twin cams and Evos
 
Just for the record, using the Bel Ray in the short term as with most 100% Syn motor oil will not cause "catastrophic" failure...it is just that if air and oil cooled engines are to survive in the long term, the proper oil is one that is not the same as the carefully controlled temperature environment of water cooled engines, which many oils are DESIGNED for.

Trust you feelings, based on your research...sometimes the newest stuff is not the best...and if you do not know, look at what the polls and knowledgeable people here to get their thoughts, as been said before, in the final analysis, your ride, you decide!
 
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