ATF as Gear Lube

[stu460]

i may be a jackass but i've run automotive WYNNS 75-90 syn gear oil in mine for 1 yr now w/ no problem.i'm a GM tech and have a couple cases and some told me they run gear oil and never had any trouble so i did and i like it.but after all this ATF talk i dont know what i should put in it never oil change 

How did your clutch pack work with such a heavy oil,i think half the reason the synthetics are popular is cause there of a light viscosity with not much drag,but i like the idea of a heavy oil for protection but clutch would feel unresponsive i imagine?

[Johnniespeed]

I have been using Dexron Three for four years now and it still works great, I now have a source for free BG synthetic ATF and  switched to that, I have seven gallons of free synthetic ATF.  I usually change it once a week costs me nothing, even the Dexron I got for free.  I am always carefull with the drain plug as I have heard of others stripping thiers. 
  I would like to know more about what the oil reps say about this topic.
 John

[streetsweeper]

Hi all,    I ride a 2001 k5. I quit using maxima mtl 80w,  and switched to walmart super tech atf type f . after a couple of oil changes with atf.  my k5 no longer gives me a hard time when going through the gears.  thanks everybody that recomended atf type f. A lower end split/case inspection gets pricey.


thanks for the helpfull tip

Ruben Chavez

[KRSX]

wow, time for a swap! Will run ATF F in the bike next year

[sandblaster]

This has been an interesting thread.
I have never tried ATF.
I have disassembled hundreds if not thousands of dirt bikes.
I have seen ATF to the newest synthetics and everything in between.
The bikes that come in that are clean and the air filters clean seem to be clean on the inside as well, regardless what is used as a lubricant.
The bikes that come in with caked on, baked on who knows what, with a air filter that looks like it was used as a chew toy for a pack of Rottweilers in a mud pit... typically they are very nasty on the inside.
True, the ATF bikes are very clean on the inside, usually a little cleaner than the more conventional lubed bikes.
Below is a pic of a YZ125 we were working on today that ATF was used in.
We haven't done any cleaning.
What you see is what it looks like immediately after the ATF was drained and the engine was disassembled.

The bike was true to form for a well maintained bike.
Yet, as far as gear wear.... I have seen no real difference between ATF and any other lube.
What seems to be the biggest factor to gear wear is the gear lube not being changed often enough.
The second thing we see is poor shifting habits.
So, what ever you use, change it often and pull your clutch lever all the way in, shift the bike in a positive manor, and then let your clutch out.
Your bike will live long and prosper 

[kxraptor]

We've tried ATF before,but have switched to a quality synthetic.The harder you work the clutch the more you'll need a quality lube.

[81cr450]

     I'm an atf fan all the way. As the pics above show disassemly is clean. I really can tell a difference on clutch feel. I will concede that the heavier oils are better for the gear as heavier = more load bearing ability.
     I do think that there is every bit as much metal/aluminum in a dark oil as in the atf you just cant see it as well becuase the oil is so dark.           I say get rid of the aluminum plates in any clutch as they're just a grenade with the pin pulled period.                                                                  The reason I switched to atf was 2 part, most auto manufacturers in late 80's early 90's switched to atf in their manual trans's. So you have this & the fact that the clutch is the same as an auto clutch pack.                    I'd really be curious to see the flow of comparison between the 2 as its all in motion if the lighter or heavier would reach the bearings better.     

[k5abuser]

Never use atf of any kind.  It will. Allow the gears to could them self to the shafts. Kawasaki says to use 30 at motor oil. If your motor is apart polish the channels. For the shift forks a.d the shift forks their eels and run slick 50 though.  Best to use old clutch while the slick 500 is in the bottomend.  The bike wil shift like never before.  Sometimes to easy. I've seen bikes with atf run in the bottomend and if it makes a lot of hp or is run hard all the time u will have proublem.

[martinfan30]

Never use atf of any kind.  It will. Allow the gears to could them self to the shafts. Kawasaki says to use 30 at motor oil. If your motor is apart polish the channels. For the shift forks a.d the shift forks their eels and run slick 50 though.  Best to use old clutch while the slick 500 is in the bottomend.  The bike wil shift like never before.  Sometimes to easy. I've seen bikes with atf run in the bottomend and if it makes a lot of hp or is run hard all the time u will have proublem.

DO what to the shift fork eels?

[BushPig]

I've blown quite a few gearboxes on different brands of bike to smithereens over the years.  One gearbox had been treated with Slick50, two others were running Bel-Ray Gear Saver, another was using some expensive Castrol 2-stroke gearbox specific stuff, a couple were running motor oil as per the bike manufacturers specs.  NONE were running ATF......  Add to this that I've run ATF on and off for years and I'd have to say that ATF is no more likely to cause problems than any other lube. 

When you consider that ATF is inexpensive, readily available, seems to provide unrivalled clutch and gearbox action, AND it gets run in the gearboxes of machines that pump out many times more torque and hp than what we're playing with I reckon it's good enough for me.  Sorry, but I don't buy the Snake Oil salemen's hype and the marketing that goes on.

Change it often just like you should with any other gearbox oil and keep the money you saved to spend on beer and chicks... (unless the wife confiscates it first).

Bushy

[k5abuser]

Never use atf of any kind.  It will. Allow the gears to could them self to the shafts. Kawasaki says to use 30 at motor oil. If your motor is apart polish the channels. For the shift forks a.d the shift forks their eels and run slick 50 though.  Best to use old clutch while the slick 500 is in the bottomend.  The bike wil shift like never before.  Sometimes to easy. I've seen bikes with atf run in the bottomend and if it makes a lot of hp or is run hard all the time u will have proublem.

DO what to the shift fork eels?

Polish the shift forks to take the sharp edge off. Sorry 7 day in a row and 12 hour days wear me out.

[2-Stroke Tom]

Everyone is entitled to their opinion on running ATF in their gearbox. If someone is happy with the performance of ATF in their gearbox, and they have had good success with reliability, then they should keep using it.

The perspective I take on running ATF is that it has been around long before the KX500 came along, and if the engineers that designed these transmissions would've thought that there was any advantage to running ATF, I would think they would've recommended it. Additionally if running ATF in the KX500 would increase the mean time between failures, I'm sure the factory race teams would've run this in the bikes racing the Baja 1000. A professional racer racing these bikes in the heat for a 1000 miles is tough on parts, and most peoples machine will never endure these conditions. With the racing community I used to be involved with it was common practice for a lot of us to race two to three times a month, some months racking up 300 to 400 off road between practice and racing, and gearbox problems were extremely rare. I didn't know anyone running ATF. 

[martinfan30]

Never use atf of any kind.  It will. Allow the gears to could them self to the shafts. Kawasaki says to use 30 at motor oil. If your motor is apart polish the channels. For the shift forks a.d the shift forks their eels and run slick 50 though.  Best to use old clutch while the slick 500 is in the bottomend.  The bike wil shift like never before.  Sometimes to easy. I've seen bikes with atf run in the bottomend and if it makes a lot of hp or is run hard all the time u will have proublem.

DO what to the shift fork eels?

Polish the shift forks to take the sharp edge off. Sorry 7 day in a row and 12 hour days wear me out.

No prob man, I knew there was something there. Was just trying to get it. I know how the long hours wear on a guy.

[bigtwin100]

Read thru all this and I'm going to give the ATF a try. I'll post up my results

[sniper1]

        I read all 9 pages and I see a lot of focus on cost but changing the atf everytime you ride even at $1.99 compared to the recommended oil changed every 4th or 5th ride seems like a push on a $10 quart of recommended oil.

        I have to ask how many factory teams are using atf because it seems that they would want the best in their machines as often as they are on the clutch.

        I just had to ask and am only asking because I never had any problems with a clutch or how smooth my bikes shifted and I've owned 2 K5s with no issues with my 3rd being picked up tomorrow so I am getting my ducks in a row on what is new and what is best in the world of K5s

        With all these oil changes one of these might be in order just kidding.

http://www.fumotousa.com/