Final drive gear lube

[RadicalR1150R]

R 1150 R owners.. I just read on this forum somewhere of a Red in color /final drive oil product that stays on the gears.. Was it a Red Line oil product? I cant find the article again.. Thanks for the help.

[towerworker]

Redline Shockproof is what you want:


http://www.redlineoil.com/Products.aspx?pcid=8

[TonyT47]

I know nothing about oils and nothing about gears.
So, why would an oil filled with stickum be advantageous over 80w-90?
Or is it like the design of fishing lures, the red stickum catches the purchaser, not the wear (or fish)?
Cheers,
Tony

[towerworker]

I too plead some ignorance here. I personally have run only conventional gear oil in my tranny and FD. I've only put about 80,000 mi on two R's(combined) so that's no real test of the oil or the bike. Many owners here and on other BMW forums really seem to like the Redline products so that's all I can offer. Possibly someone will more personal experience will chime in.

Wayne

[MIXR]

The reality dear friends, is that it matters little what gear oil you use. If the drive was incorrectly shimmed at the factory or by a repairer, it will 'possibly' fail. Too tight is as bad as too loose. I've just been through this with my GSA. Oil is irrelevant so long as it is a GL5 grade. Severe loads like trailers, pillions, half a ton of camping gear, sidecars etc on a 'bad' drive will shorten it's life again (obviously).

This little number is the big final drive bearing out of my GSA. Investigation revealed that the shimming (for pre-load) was too tight. 65,000 kms. My old Roadster has 158,000 kms and is still good and untouched. My 'temporary' (until it fails) drive is from a 100,000 km RT.

[Boxer]

Redline Shockproof is what the redneck NASCAR mechanics use in the cars in north Georgia. If it's good enough for them it's gotta be good enough for a set of ball bearings in a final drive. But, MIXR is indeed correct. The problem is in the hardware.

[MIXR]

Redline Shockproof is what the redneck NASCAR mechanics use in the cars in north Georgia.

Is there a 'red' theme there? Hardly justifies the use of it over any other good gear lube. But ........................ We tend to stick with what works for us as individuals, so I can live with that. I like Caltex Delo 400 in the engine. Oops ..................... Better not start another oil debate!

Having now examined my balls and races under a strong magnifier (should I rephrase that?), I can clearly see that the bearing cage had broken long before the bearing let go. It is quite clear that many of the balls were stationary in the race (not turning, just going around) for some time before failure. I think we get too hung-up on the lubrication of the drive as distinct from the mechanical attributes of the overall construction.

No lubricant, no matter how good, would have prevented my failure as far as I can tell. If you have a preferred lube in yours, and it works, then it's probably more a function of having a correctly pre-loaded shim-set than the lube itself. But if it makes you feel all warm and fuzzy, I cannot possibly argue that something else is better (or worse).

I sincerely hope this never happens to any of you. Evidence on other sites suggests it's a 1 in 7 chance. Some say more than that.

[garr2]

I'm a recent

1 in 7