Quick question....86R tranny oil?

[Nick_R_23]

Ive neglected changing the tranny oil in my 86 250R for a while now, and I figure I should probably do it now before I put it off any longer. My question is, the old owner ran ATF in the tranny, (which is what it has in there now), and its worked great, but is there a special kind of ATF to use? I did a quick search and someone mentioned it has to be Type F or something, or is it just grab a random can of ATF off the shelf..its not really gonna make a difference?

-Nick :TrikesOwn

[lndy650]

in VMR we learned that some tranny fluid has metal particals in it to help the tranny from slipping but i dont remember the kinds.
most probably works fine but i always thought it was called automatic transmission fluid for a reason....i prefer a synthetic 20w-40 oil

[Dirtcrasher]

A few different manufacturers (Honda, Bel Ray etc) make a good gear oil for the 2 stroke trannys like the 250R..........

[1BFC]

well this is interesting...

I went to the local honda dealer when I first picked up my '86R a few weeks ago and asked them for the usual maintenance stuff like plugs, oils, etc..

They handed me a bottle of "HP Trans oil" with Honda Racing and PRO honda oils and chemicals on the bottle. It states on the bottle that it's for "racing 2-stroke motorcycles and Fourtrax 250R transmissions." It's SAE 80W/85W rated.

Looked ok to me at the time and I never would have given it a thought until I read this thread :)

Since you mentioned ATF and others are running 20-50W oil I decided to look in my "official" honda shop manual to see what it's spec'd to run....

I'll be damned if it doesn't say to run 10w-40 for 20-100+ F temps.

So, anyone run this heavy weight 80W/85W oil from HR? Seems a LOT heavier than 10W-40 or ATF!!

[Nick_R_23]

Well from what Ive read, everyone uses a wide range of oils. The guy I bought my R from said they ran a bunch of different stuff and that ATF provided the best results. They used to race it, and bought it new, so I took their word for it. I havent had any problems using what was in it already, I just dont know what type they used in it.

I have *heard*, although I dont know how accurate it is, that ATF is thinner and more slippery then most oils, and is optimum for racing, but it does break down quicker then most oils, meaning that you have to change it more often.

-Nick :TrikesOwn

[ccdhowell]

well this is interesting...

Since you mentioned ATF and others are running 20-50W oil I decided to look in my "official" honda shop manual to see what it's spec'd to run....

I'll be damned if it doesn't say to run 10w-40 for 20-100+ F temps.

So, anyone run this heavy weight 80W/85W oil from HR? Seems a LOT heavier than 10W-40 or ATF!!


When Honda calls it an 80W/85W they are using numbers from the gear oil scale. Gear oils and motor oils don't use the same scale. A 80w85 oil, such as the transmission oil is roughly equivalent to 20w40 motor oil.

Take a look at the pic I'm attaching, it is a viscosity chart I downloaded from the Bel-Ray website. I've seen these many times on the web from different lubricants companies. Hope it helps straighten out the confusion with lubricant viscosity.

Chris

[TravEX]

I ran Dexron 3 ATF in one gear box and Valvoline 10w40 in the other. No differences whatsoever. I changed em regularly and ran em hard.

[Bryan Raffa]

I run Bel Ray clutch saver 85w strictly.

[1BFC]

I never knew that gear oil and motor oil were on different scales. Thanks!


When Honda calls it an 80W/85W they are using numbers from the gear oil scale. Gear oils and motor oils don't use the same scale. A 80w85 oil, such as the transmission oil is roughly equivalent to 20w40 motor oil.

Take a look at the pic I'm attaching, it is a viscosity chart I downloaded from the Bel-Ray website. I've seen these many times on the web from different lubricants companies. Hope it helps straighten out the confusion with lubricant viscosity.

Chris

[200x Basket]

i run ATF type F in all my bikes including the 500r and it comes highly reccomended on all cr500 sited. KTM race teams run rotella 20w50 in there factory race bikes.

[Billy Golightly]

ATF type FA in all of the transmissions on my pingers.