Mike, Nolan,
What about synthetics like Castrol's Synthetic Blend SAE 5w-30 or others?
Gerard
At 8:21 PM -0500 2/10/01, Nolan Penney wrote:
>Many years ago, a special magazine called Motorcycle Consumer News did a
>study on this
>claim. Basically, it's a fake claim. DOT has regulations on the amounts
>of gear
>additives allowed in motor oil. The "special" motorcycle oils are no
>higher in Sulfur,
>Zinc, or the other metal used to lubricate gears then any other motor oil.
>Instead, they
>just brag about it, and charge lots more for the bragging.
>
>Don't get all caught up in GL-5 issues for a gearbox though. The hypoid
>gear oils (GL-5)
>are special. The sliding shear of the differentials ring and pinion gears
>are brutal to
>oil, and require special protections, hence the GL-5 recommendation
>normally given. A
>transmission on the other hand, doesn't have these severe shear loads, so
>they don't need
>GL-5. Many modern gearboxes are capable of running GL-5, making servicing
>easier; but it
>isn't necessary.
>
>For the most part, a manual transmission will do just fine on motor oil.
>It will need to
>be changed regularly, say at 30K miles or so. But as long as the oil
>changes are done,
>it will hold up just fine in there.
>
>Don't forget, the weights for gear oils and motor oils are on a different
>scale, so a 90
>weight gear oil is roughly equivalent to about a 50 weight engine oil.
>
>Steven Fooshee wrote:
>
>> While I'm on the subject of motorcycle fluids, has anyone given
>>consideration
>> to using 20W-50 motorcycle oil for the ribcase? One of the points that
>>the local
>> motorcycle shop explained to me that I have to pay $2.50 a quart for
>>this oil is
>> that it's specifically formulated for use in gearboxes (bikes share
>>their oil
>> Mini-style).
--
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