The Hodaka Club Forum

Does anyone used synthetic oil in the transmission
i am a beleiver in synthetic oil as i use it in most every thing i have
and i was just wondering what people use if any?

As long as it is spec'd for wet clutch use any oil works. Belray is a favorite, I use Yamaha branded oil.

Danny Cook recommended Kkotz Fkex Drive 30 gear oil to me. Danny is a Hodaka engine builder. His recommendation is good enough for me! And yes, it’s a full synthetic oil.

When it comes to oil, insults get thrown back and forth. You use what? 15w40 Valvoline Diesel oil. I changed the oil out to a Kendall 5w30 Full Synthetic and I noticed that virtually no foam is created as compared to the other oils I have used. The whining of the Primary Gears are also far less in my 71 Super Rat too. The Clutch also works great. Why Kendall? The 99cent Store had a bunch for $2.99 per quart that`s why. As I posted in the past, Honda calls for a 10w40 Detergent oil for my CR500R. Is Synthetic better? For $2.99, it`s fantastic! Joe.

On a slightly variation to the thread, how often do you change your gear oil in your tranny? I’m sure it’s more likely spelled out in hours versus miles. But what’s recommended??? Thx! Victor

Whenever. Joe

Never -----Clarence ------- thousands of miles driven, check the book for the book answer.

I'm a synthetic guy and always use the best stuff clear down to my garden tiller and Briggs powered mower. Lubricants have improved and I do see gear face pitting examples on some old Hodakas. I use this stuff mostly because it is rated for 4-stroke motorcycles, my Hodakas, the farm 4- wheeler or anything with a wet clutch. Plenty to choose from.

My good friend Clarence and I are old but he still uses 50 year-old socks and Coal-oil which do work but I'll bet his gears are pitted too. Kidding Clarence. Any of that "Max" stuff left?

That said, yes, synthetics are designed for their purpose of lubrication and probably better. Just check for the wet clutch ratings. BTW "Synthetic" means nothing without ratings for different purposes.
Max

THE BOOK ANSWER using the older oils recommended 1,000 miles?? the pits on my gears are designed for oil retention. I only ride at hodaka days 1000 miles divided by 45 equals 22 years, by then I will be starting to turn grey. -----------------Clarence

Well, how many hours go into 1,000 miles? Just an estimate is fine. I haven’t seen any of my restores hit 100 miles yet! But the boys are all in school. And minor things keep going wrong or breaking. Little things like where’d the damn cable stop go? Or what happened to the spring hook on the kickstand? Or why is there fuel leaking out of the petcocks all over the garage floor ( because someone left their petcocks open again!)?

The joys of building bikes for boys who don’t do much in the way of their own maintenance! Victor

Victor easy math 1,000 miles divided by 50 miles @ hour would be 20 hours. 40 = 25 hours and divided by 30 miles per hour would be 33 hours.. The biggest factor would be riding conditions, creeks crossed ect. Storing outside in the rain and snow, verses inside a garage. Storef in a tin building, would be hard on things. some of you southerners change air in the tires each spring and that's okay. ------------------------ Clarence

Oil. Anyhow, I can tell you what the Service life of the Iron Ring was in the Model 93 Super Rats. 24 Hours Running time and that was generous! Joe.

If you're racing you would change it much more often than trail riding. Most advice I have seen says to change the oil before you store the bike for the winter. Really change it as often as you may see fit.

oil that is not synthetic will turn murke white or yellow with moisture added does synthetic? A engine run a few days or 100 miles stored in a nice garage, to me would not require a oil change if the oil is clean. Max I still am running the race gears for the 90 from the 60's, I have only been back into it a couple of times, I will check for pits if I ever open it up again. Just as throwchain said change as often as you like. Moisture in the oil would be the most concerning to me. ----------------Clarence

I live in a very dry climate. All the Hodakas are stored in my garage. We have 4 seasons here. The biggest thing is the bikes aren’t ridden much. It’s about a mile of roadway through my subdivision. With the exception of the FrankenWombat, none of the bikes have been ridden outside my subdivision yet, excep the Ace B+ had been ridden the mile & back to my daughter’s house. So, I’m guessing I will change the oil on all the bikes in my possession in the upcoming Spring. Victor

sounds like the right thing for you. In terms of use for others, except for flushing the system I do not know of any engine failure due to the synthetic oil not changed soon enough. Maintaining the correct oil level is very important. The change recommended by the manuals for the ace 100 500miles then 1000. The super rat 500 miles or every third race?? The later ace 100 --1@ 500miles then 1 @ 1500 miles ,2500 miles, then one @ 4000 a interval of 1500 miles and these numbers were based on nondetergent oils. ------------- Clarence

Clarence. I’ve found that synthetic oil has a longer shear down rate than traditional oil. As an example, with traditional oil on my VL1500, I change the oil religiously at 3,000 miles. With the full synthetic of the same brand, I can easily go 5,000 and have gone as far as 8,000 before seeing shear down of the oil. I don’t recommend anyone go 8,000 miles on a single synthetic oil change, but I was on a long trip which lasted 28 days. The oil held up well enough that I was indeed surprised when I got home with 8,000 miles on the oil.

That being said, I can see 1,000 miles or once a year in the Spring before the start of the riding season seems reasonable. Victor

Old School Castrol Hypoy C 80W90 agrees with both my Wombat and BMW Airhead.

The 250SL is another story...For decent clutch and transmission function I've found that the SL works best with Royal Purple Synchromax (synthetic)-- especially during cold weather. The downside is that synthetic oils moderately seep past the seals whereas the Castrol stays put.