gearbox oil? why bother...

Aw Dances, motorcycling is a manic-depressive hobby with heavenly to hellish events and mood swings for everyone, though some more than others is all. Orsonce says he's enjoying hi throttle riding - so why not let him continue a re-repulsive endurance experiment for us more timid souls? Part of my devil may care maintenance attitude on tranny comes form Wes telling me he's never been in tranny since he got his HyRyder in early 70's yet has ridden 100,000+ miles, East Coat trips, Colorado trips, Texas trips, Ohio trips, weekly outings with & w/o me on all day long rides with lots of lower gear time d/t the un paved paths. Hehe so whose advice will Ors's follow and later tell us who gets last laugh with SEE >
I Told Ya So...

While you're in the general neighborhood, you may as well service the other item that gets neglected for lubrication. The swing arm bushes rarely get topped off or someone puts a grease gun on the fitting........ :roll:

hobot said:

Hehe so whose advice will Ors's follow and later tell us who gets last laugh with SEE >I Told Ya So...

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Lot's of ego there. It is not about who is right or who is wrong, I'll leave that to silly school yard squabbles between little girls hobot, it's about doing the right thing at the right time.

Life and Norton motorcycle ownership is all about the journey; if you end up under a lorry because your gear box locked up and you could have done something about it, well, that's the end of the journey.

Only the OP can assess whether the gear box really went w/o oil for a few thousand kilometeres. If he were to attempt to take a distance run with the box as is without asking or knowing it would be bad but innocent. Where I see it falling apart is when someone on the list is giving really bad advice and encouraging someone to take an unneccessary bad risk.

Dances with Shrapnel said:

Where I see it falling apart is when someone on the list is giving really bad advice and encouraging someone to take an unneccessary bad risk.

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+1
Amen to that
CNN

Picture 20 Commandos , cruiseing along , closeing up ( in Town :x ) shooting the roundabout , said machine in leads
Theres a B A N G , and the rear wheel stops turning .While all behind are lookig halfway down mainstreet and cant see whats happening at the end of their noses .

:shock:

sorry to stir . Almost saw similar when a white van glanced right 50 ft. and shot the roundabout from a near stop .
Across the bows of 18 Harleys motoring through at 40 + of to his starboard .

Heart in mouth , Close Squeak . etc . Humourous in retrospect . :lol: amazing the differance 1/2 a second makes .

THEREFORE , inspecting drained oil , and doing the old hoof on the rear chain - finger on primary top run ,
and seeing if that at least is as it should be , before a trundle round the block .

But the black gooey crude gook is liable to stick in there & hold debris aboard .
So any schoolboy would poke a bit of wire in there , when its empty . and see what sticks to the end of it .
You could get really sophisticated with a magnetic probe .

But organised beforehand in a tidy shed , theres but a few hours to strip primary & gearcase .
Even less to remove end covers and personally inspect interior . A few gaskets and Pronto .
etc .

The hoof on / off chain & if o.k. r.h. covers would ease the doubts , or seal them . :lol: :wink:

Part of my devil may care maintenance attitude on tranny comes form Wes telling me

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wow, this Wes must be a really good source of information to you

wish I had a friend that could point me towards a "devil may care" attitude about my bike's gearbox

but tell us more about what you and Mrs Tricksie and Aunt Peel did together today, THE gravel, ATF in your gearbox, manic depressive, and on and on and on.....

Why the upset I initially advised to take it apart but was told he'd try to run it and see what happens so I agree if someone willing - lets see what happens. As to my bad advice please re-consider what this fella has already tested it too. I got no ego in this one, just laying it out plainly, some say fix it first others say run it till it mis behaves, I was just being funny on the I told ya so part to give a nod to those who wouldn't dare try this experiment on their own, me included. Drive train is Norton's weakest link lubed or not.

hobot said:

Why the upset I initially advised to take it apart but was told he'd try to run it and see what happens so I agree if someone willing - lets see what happens. As to my bad advice please re-consider what this fella has already tested it too. I got no ego in this one, just laying it out plainly, some say fix it first others say run it till it mis behaves, I was just being funny on the I told ya so part to give a nod to those who wouldn't dare try this experiment on their own, me included. Drive train is Norton's weakest link lubed or not.

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Why the upset.. (you just answered it...Bad Advice).... please re-concider....I was just being funny on the I told you so....


It is my hope that "THIS FORUM" is used to help keep +40 year old Norton Commandos on the road and for a long time in the future. We DO need to have good sound "Lessons learned" info presented. not ....let him learn the hard way....cause I did attitude. Some of the new members are sons of fathers who owned these bikes. We have a lot of support from an industry that has no bussiness to be here at this time. Most car purchases support anything up to 10 years after the date of purchase. We have been blessed. So bless those who are under our wings.
My two cents.
CNN

hehe, no one seems to have registered my real slur, which is if you are a motorcycler then by all logic you are an irrational risk taker so its useless to reason with you, so might as well have fun pressing your buttons. Give me a break > Do ya really think Ors' actually needed to ask what the best course of action would be, sheeze. Any of you fractured their spine and pelvic d/t gear box issues or save a lock up in mid heat twisties with angry Ducatii Monster after unknown 3rd gear missing teeth? Or's has been warned by all of us so his call to break it down now on his own terms or who knows when and where. Poking at me is just being silly and don't mind a bit and invite it but implying i"m going to destroy lives and bikes is giving me way more credit than deserved. Peel though did run dry sleeve bushes fine after cryo'd and dry fiction coated and thin ATF to help cool em. If ya think sleeve bushes get lube in lower gears - might want to re-examine your understanding of AMC guts close as I have.

L.A.B. said:

Are you sure the box is empty and that it hasn't been filled with a semi-liquid gease?

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Gearbox full of gease?!? So that's what all the honking was about.

We all know that riding a motorcycle is inherently dangerous. This is all the more reason to follow some basic safety measures .
Wear proper protective riding gear in case you come off, not flip flops, a Tshirt and shorts(lots of casual riders do tho). Dont ride in the middle of the oncoming lane with vehicles approaching. This is basic stuff and I only state it to say these suggestions are as obvious as the answer to the transmission question.
It is not a good idea to ride around with a gearbox that you know has been abused and may detonate &lock at the most inopportune moment.....

Glen

Stillreel said:

L.A.B. said:

Are you sure the box is empty and that it hasn't been filled with a semi-liquid gease?

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Gearbox full of gease?!? So that's what all the honking was about.

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Why yes, Foie Gras; I had some last night and I now see how it would work just fine.

hobot said:

Give me a break > Do ya really think Ors' actually needed to ask what the best course of action would be, sheeze. Any of you fractured their spine and pelvic d/t gear box issues or save a lock up in mid heat twisties with angry Ducatii Monster after unknown 3rd gear missing teeth? Or's has been warned by all of us so his call to break it down now on his own terms or who knows when and where. Poking at me is just being silly and don't mind a bit and invite it but implying i"m going to destroy lives and bikes is giving me way more credit than deserved

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folks,
I think all the audience in this forum is fully aware of how things work here: the good and the bad of the forum is diversity: is listening to 20 different points of view on each and every question one might have, and then it's down to each of us to decide which opinion to follow. Some of you are real experts in the field, even so, you still give completely different answers to even very basic questions (how about if I ask you which engine oil to use, or sparkplugs, or rim size, or carbs bellmouth? etc...). When I ask for advice I know who to trust and I apply more than a grain of salt before making any decisions. And I reckon most of the folks using the forum are skilled enough to being able to read between the lines of the provocative thoughts and the irony of Hobot and a few other folks.

By the way, my final decision is the one I explained above: will change oil again after some 100-200 km, and ride softly and carefully till I'll tear the gearbox down and fix all that I will need to fix... (just gotta find some time for that...). For those who go to the International Rally: have a great ride! I'll be home thinking of what I'm missing...

orsonoce, In answer to you original post, that 20ml provided enough lube to prevent a gear box failure, how long that would have been the case is anyones guess?
The final result was you finding out,before anything Bad happened, so thats a plus! BUT I MUST GIVE YOU A VERBAL SLAP FOR NOT CHECKING
i can see people buying cars or trucks and never checking their gear box oil levels, because modern cars simply do not loose there oil...but you are dealing with old design Norton stuff,and a new approach is thus required...lesson over, and you have been lucky...move on and enjoy.
Lab asked a question/ was there any oil/grease mixture in the box/ i now that was common in the past to do. 1/2 lb grease ,,,and the oil that dripped out is the grease broken down...could be the amswer why it "appeared" to be running on no lube,,,,stranger things have happened :wink: