Another oil question oh no???? Tranny oil....

steel..clutch drag goes away and the oil looks way better way longer

I stayed with aluminum plates and change oil more often. Steel plates beat up the basket quicker. Just my choice.

good point, i would be a lil more hesitant with the alum basket. i have steel baskets for all my swedes now.

The friction plates contact what I would call the basket. The ones that you have a choice of steel or aluminum are the ones with the splines on the inside, would not they contact something named hub?

I have some steel baskets, 87-88 ones that are kind of worn from aluminum cored friction plates, maybe they just induction harden the teeth of the gears.

thats true, not much you can do about the hub. ive not noticed a ton of wear on these?

I hate seeing the metal particals in the oil after a few rides.

thats why why we change it regular like so we can pick up any dramas

I picked up some new looking baskets one had a worn starter gear no biggie I can change it out with a bad basket. But do I go steel or leave the aluminum plates. I’m on the fence I’d hate to see the new basket wear.

steel is the go Bill, your not doing the six days ok?

Been using the Motul Transoil Synthetic for more then a season on my Beta 250rr with good results.
Have started to do the same with my 08 Husky WR250 that I recently acquired.

" I’m on the fence I’d hate to see the new basket wear. "



The friction plates have protrusions on their outer edge. These protrusions contact the basket. Generally when the question of steel or aluminum plates comes up it is for the plain metal plates with notches on the inside circumference.

Anyone capable of putting up a picture of a friction plate hanging from a magnet?

Soooooooooooo, what do you think I should use for my 84 wr 400 when I fire it up for the first time? I was thinking of using Shell Rotella 15W-40 like I use in my KLR 650 JASO-MA rating, but I like Gary's idea of Spectro 80W. It is specifically rated for 2T transmission cases. Its also 20 bucks a litre. A little too much to change out every other ride.

What do you think, guys?

I'm using Castor 2T oil at ? Book says 4% per gal. which is like 50:1. Does anyone have any input on ration I should use? I will use castor oil for top end assy too.
Thanks,
Les

Les if you want benefits of caster the way to go is Maxima castor 927. They get the best of the strange natural molecule of the caster bean - its weird its attracted the hottest spot on the metal. It bended to not deposit the worst MO of bean oil and that s ugly black carbon and other stuff. after talkin directly to the oil guys 40 to 1 and 50 to 1 has all the protection we need. Belive or not extra oil hotter. Now i was suprised to see the surface tension of old oil formula two stroke oil that has natural esters that was Golden spectro. Thick and stuck to all surfaces on last two tear downs. Now i think of it i had not many problems with bore and psiton wear in old days. Read Kleemm site on two stroke oils. Ill stick to oils form Maxima and Golden spectro. Note the modern Maxima Two Stroke oils seemed not to have this surface tension and seems dry on internal surfaces of bore and piston. I am such a Geek on this stuff. The seminars at Barber vintage fest said this that all the internals shoild be riding or surfiing on curtains of oil. Humm old cast iron bores and pistons like the older style formulas . The newer 2 strokes are plated bores , rings etc. So it seems to matche up better for old bikes

4% = 96 parts gas + 4 parts oil = 24:1 mix

hey Les, my 400 runs superbly on the maxima at 40 to 1. i also use fully synthetic Motorex cross power at 80: 1 with great results when i can get it. in the box i use the Briggs and stratton 20 wt or ATF type f auto fluid. all have been a reliable and cheap set of oils.

since you already have the rotella...it should work excellent. i have put a good many intervals of the 5w40 syn rotella through several of them. very little debris on magnet, good clutching and shifting.
40:1 is a good all around ratio

Thanks guys! Looks like I will do the tested favorite for me Shell Rotella 15w-40, and Maxima 927 castor. Thanks for all the input. Man oh man did I want to stay away from the oil topic, but I had to!

I’m going to run maxima 927 synthetic castor mix at 20-1 that’s the orginal ratio.

Ordered Maxima castor927, and Already filled up the crankcase with 1.4 litres of shell Rotella T-4 15W-40. I will report on how this goes after break-in. Hopefully will start today or tomorrow. Good news the SEM has a spark! set at 2.00mm BTDC on the 0 hash mark on the stator. Plastics are last, and look ok, with the tank being the most "yellow." looks like there is no way to get it out, so I will polish the best I can, and slap stickers on it. If all ruins good, I will work on plastic after this riding season. Stand by for pics when I get them downloaded.

take a look around here..seems like some guys have some real nice results using hair care products containing sodium peroxide.