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Just curious what do you guys run in the gear box? I was using automotive valvoline 10-30 but since I'm in the middle of replacing leaky crank seals I thought I might change it up.

As long as it does not have this on the bottle you are good to go



You want something that is NOT ENERGY CONSERVING



Other than that you could probably run crisco in it

I use ATF Type F personally.

Motul 2 stroke gear box oil

I run 10w-40 in my kdx and cr. Works great. Change it after every other ride, or one really long ride. Its cheap, and easy to do. My ridin' buddy Jim (Jeb) runs half oil, half atf. Both work great.

I'm currenly running 5w-30 Lucas

Change maybe 2 times a season

I use Rottella 10-30.

That's right, diesel oil. If a 500 horse power motor is protected by it, my 30 hp should be good.

are you guys using synthetic?

I'm using some kind of official high dollar gear lube from the bike shop.
(Recommended for 2 stroke MOTORCYCLES with WET CLUTCHES)

I change it maybe two or three times a year. No big deal.

I sure don't change it very often, but that is just me and my bike, not a recommendation.

I'll reserve comment on the use of Automatic Transmission Fluid except to say I don't have an Automatic Transmission and neither do my FORKS.

(just trying to cause trouble. You all leave it alone)

Nope, can't leave that one alone. If you just take a few minutes to think about the components which make up an automatic transmission, and the components that make up your bikes gearbox, you will find they are quite similar despite the fact that your bike does not shift for you.

Automatic transmisison - constant mesh gears and a series of wet clutches

Motorcycle gearbox - constant mesh gears and A wet clutch

Neat, huh? What's even better for me is results. Type F just plain works well. Smooth shifts, and tranny bits are always perfect when I tear down.

I've tried atf a couple times, I don't care for it, my bike shifts worse using it

Oil seems to work better for me

I can't see changing it as often as some peeps do. Hell it's only used for the tranny.

My old F11 doesn't like the ATF either, it actually seems to shift best using 90w gear oil or that honda HP stuff. My KDX though, I can really tell a difference if I put 10w40 or gear oil in there. It likes the ATF much better. Perhaps a symptom of my worn out clutch.....

I need to run something light, like 5-30 or the clutch will drag something awful when it is cold

Sorry to dredge up an old thread. I am a newbie to dirt bikes, but been riding and wrenching on all kinds of street bikes for 10+ years. Simple question: why do people seem to change the tranny oil so often on dirt bikes? On street bikes with wet clutches, including track bikes, its not common to change the tranny oil every other ride.

I realize with dirt bikes the clutch may see more use, but something so unique about dirt bike transmissions that they warrant frequent changes? I was thinking something like once every 1500 miles or so, if riding dual sport routes (what I would be doing). Am I crazy?

xxaarraa wrote:Sorry to dredge up an old thread. I am a newbie to dirt bikes, but been riding and wrenching on all kinds of street bikes for 10+ years. Simple question: why do people seem to change the tranny oil so often on dirt bikes? On street bikes with wet clutches, including track bikes, its not common to change the tranny oil every other ride.

I realize with dirt bikes the clutch may see more use, but something so unique about dirt bike transmissions that they warrant frequent changes? I was thinking something like once every 1500 miles or so, if riding dual sport routes (what I would be doing). Am I crazy?

I don't have a ton of time on a street bike, but from the riding that I have done, the clutch was pretty much used just to change gears and take off from a stop.
On my dirt bike the clutch is used much more frequently and feathered heavily when I ride in tight conditions which puts a lot of wear on the clutch.
Not to mention that since the dirt bike holds less than a quart, it costs me under $5 to refill the oil.

Saying that though, I don't change it every other ride. I do it after 4-5 rides which is about once a month or longer (unfortunately).

Thrahl wrote: I don't have a ton of time on a street bike, but from the riding that I have done, the clutch was pretty much used just to change gears and take off from a stop.
On my dirt bike the clutch is used much more frequently and feathered heavily when I ride in tight conditions which puts a lot of wear on the clutch.
Not to mention that since the dirt bike holds less than a quart, it costs me under $5 to refill the oil.

Saying that though, I don't change it every other ride. I do it after 4-5 rides which is about once a month or longer (unfortunately).

Thanks for your thoughts. That makes sense. I have this crazy idea of outfitting and regearing the little KDX to do a 1000-1200 mile trip next year. In addition to figuring out how to strap on fuel cells for all the gas needed between stops and many other challenges, I am wondering how in the world I am going to do a tranny oil change in the middle of a trip like that. Hence my question.

My street bike has a oil cooler and a easily changed filter. kdx doesn't and I try not to ride the street bike in deep water or mud.

xxaarraa, if you are street riding, you won't need to worry about it. Please be aware of hitting bumps causes the oil to get splashed up on the gears and such. Long road running won't allow this. There was a Kawasaki service bulletin about it.