Oil oil oil

[Goldenboy]

Thinking back, I took a trip with Dr. Peabody in the "Way back machine", to 1977. Then, it was my save money transportation, I recall that if the oil was getting dirty, and if it was really hot outside, I noticed problems downshifting, finding neutral and neutral to 1st was really crunchy. That could be exacerbated by the old style shifting fork and shifting drum configuration. Since I installed the 81 trans and the 79 drum and forks, it has been shifting like buttah! It may also be more slippery with the ZDDP additive that I use religiously. The North Georgia weather is very mild now, and at 2K miles on the Castrol 10-60, it's still smooth as buttah!
You may recall the difference between the 256 drum and the 447's.

I'm going to tip-toe into this minefield for just a sec to say I got your text about the pix you posted and will search for them later. I gotta go out, now.

 

[TwoManyXS1Bs]

... Since I installed the 81 trans and the 79 drum and forks, it has been shifting like buttah!
You may recall the difference between the 256 drum and the 447's.

Thanx, Marlin. That's encouraging. I have a low-time '80s tranny, forks, drum, kickstart, and OD 5th awaiting in a box. Alas, the roundtuit box is empty...

 

[horsappl]

I have raced motocross for 13 years and have run nothing but 15w-40 (diesel oil - no friction modifiers) in my four strokes, YZ450F's and YZ250F's. The YZ250F revs to 13,500 RPM's. I started with Rotella after reading at Bob is the Oil Guy, and have since switched to Fleet Farm Resolute 15W40. I have never burned out a clutch, crank, or piston, and I have put well over 300 hours on each bike (that is a lot for an MX bike). I tried Rotella Synthetic 5w-40, but in cold weather it would cause the clutch plates to drag until I slipped the clutch to warm them up. I run 15W-40 in all my motorcycles now. I do change oil frequently on race bikes because dirty oil is the enemy, not cheap oil.

 

[grizld1]

Amen, hoss! My old D-model gets Rotella 15W/40 in all seasons in Southern Illinois, laced with a dose of ZDDPlus to spare the cam and rockers in the old screw tappet motor. The newer shim-and-bucket motors (Kawi Ninja 650 and Suzuki GS500E) get Spectro 10W/40.