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Hey all,

I've been thinking about buying Redline Heavy ShockProof Gear Oil for use in my transmission, drive shaft and final drive, but it's really expensive. That said, I usually don't cheap out on important things like oil. Any experiences in using them for airheads? I know airheads are clunky shifters (lord knows mine in anyway), but can this reduce that?

I've heard that this oil can be good on antique oil Harley gearboxes like flatheads.

Thanks.

I always used Valvoline 80-90.

The only damage I ever did to a gearbox was by forgetting to put the drain plug on tight (don't know, never found it, can't imagine driving off without refilling the gearbox. One of those eternal mysteries. Just don't do that!)

I wouldn't bother with it if it were me. As Rob said, Valvoline 80W90 seems to work just fine, and that's what I usually use in gearboxes and what I used in my airheads. I doubt the redline would make much difference in the agricultural shifting qualities either.

I've run Redline in my bikes for a few years, it's good oil but don't pay much extra for it. I got mime from a lube dealer when I was buying 80W90 oil for the plant in 55 gal drums. I got a special deal on a couple gallons of redline. Mobil and Valvoline are good products

I would suggest a good synthetic. Transmissions go much further. I have run Mobil synthetics without a problem since they were first introduced.

Haven't use Redline but I have used 75W90 synthetic gear oil for years and wouldn't go back to a basic 80W90.

► One of the advantages that you'll see prominently touted of high-priced oil is that it lasts so much longer, therefore it is worth the extra cost becasue you'll be changing your oil one-third as often. That may be true for cars and trucks in daily use, but it may not apply to motorcycles.

Motorcycles are typically ridden much less often, then stored in workshops, sheds and on patios that are much more exposed to wide swings in temperature, and therefore prone to collecting condensation. So the main reason you're going to change your g/b, drive shaft and final drive oil is not becasue it's "worn out", but simply to prevent the buildup of water. So even if the gear oil was "lifetime guaranteed", you'd still want to change it every 6 months when used in a motorcycle.

So the average motorcyclist wants to buy the best oils available at the lowest price. (A double requirement.) So instead of spending $35 on a single quart of really excellent oil, maybe you'd be far better off to spend that same amount on a 5 gallon pale of 'pretty good' oil.

► Having said all that, temperature tests prove that synthetic gear oils typically do run cooler, thus proving synthetics generally do a better overall job of reducing friction. However, some brands of synthetic gear oils will leak past older oil seals, so converting older machines to synthetic oil is not always as easy as it may appear.

Hope this helps.

Limited slip diff oil is is high test tough oil GL5/6, as these diffs put unusual stresses on the oil , and can sometime be found at a remaindered price, as LSDs are going out of fashion.
I bought a couple of cartons of BP Limslip 90 for $2- a liter when my local service station was having a cleanout and it seems to work OK, and there is a bonus in that the gear shift seems a better too.
At that price I change it at every oil change, comes out looking good, thick and golden
But if not Mobil 1 is as good as anything else around outside specific race oils, and can probably be stretched out to factory intervals.
I still have stock of M1, another bulk discount buy, and use it in my G/S, , as the G/S does the hard lifting when it comes to low gear, high temperature desert work.
And I have to drop the Staintune exhaust to access the drain plug!
Changed at 20,000 km it comes out looking pretty beat up, thin and black so I am with Wobbly on early changes.

I thought LSD oil contained friction modifiers so while it may provide good protection is it going to be the most efficient ?

This is the reason I won't use motorcycle oil in my engine. Motorcycle oil also contains friction modifiers to make wet clutches work. If you want the slickest low friction oil then motorcycle oil is not it. I would have thought LSD oil falls into the same camp.

Motorcycles are typically ridden much less often, then stored in workshops, sheds and on patios that are much more exposed to wide swings in temperature, and therefore prone to collecting condensation. So the main reason you're going to change your g/b, drive shaft and final drive oil is not becasue it's "worn out", but simply to prevent the buildup of water. So even if the gear oil was "lifetime guaranteed", you'd still want to change it every 6 months when used in a motorcycle.

Incorrect. Changing low mile use gear oil every 6 month, unless there is a moisture incursion, would be flushing money down the commode.