Is Redline Heavy Duty Shockproof oil safe to use in a BMW aircooled ( airhead) boxer transmissions? One mechanic who rebuilds the transmissions says that he thinks the shockproof oil is too thick to sling off the gears and feed a trough that supplies oil to the upper input shaft bearing.He says that transmissions using the "red goo" typically have that bearing fail with less than half the usual mileage accumulated. Also, the transmissions typically fail because the bearings wear, not because the gears wear, so he wonders why anybody should take the risk of using shockproof oil. The transmissions definitely shift better with the oil, so I would like to use it.Any thoughts about the risk of using it? Will the shockproof oil help or harm bearings?
Redline Shockproof Safe to Use?
- Thread starter carock
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MolaKule
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My prevailing view is that differential fluids are too thick for MT's and are a gross misapplication.
The required weight is straight 90. Old school. The BMW motorcycle transmission has no synchros, it is a "crash box".
MolaKule
Staff member
OK, so you let off on the power and then try and shove the gears together at the right moment!
Never on my motorcyles. Full throttle no clutch shifts were always the best tail wagging fun any biker can have.
Redline doesn't have visc numbers for their shockproof fluids.
You have 2 choices, VOA the 3 fluids and pick the one closest to a 90wt. Or, just use a gl5 gear oil!
Redline doesn't have visc numbers for their shockproof fluids.
You have 2 choices, VOA the 3 fluids and pick the one closest to a 90wt. Or, just use a gl5 gear oil!
I got my own answer from three seperate BMW mechanics. They all say to use the conventional Redline gear oil, the shockproof oil will not adequately lubricate the input shaft bearing because the oil feed trough is too small for such a high viscosity fluid. They have all seen early failures with the "red goo". This is for the Aircooled bikes only, not the later oil cooled or water cooled bikes. They use a different transmission.
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