Gear oil for Divvy 900

[PrincessPunk]

I was wondering if anyone had recommendations for gear oil?

I've been searching high and low to find some hypoid 80 GL-4 or 80w90 hypoid as is specifies in the Haynes manual but I can not find a single oil that specifies that its for hypoid systems.

Is it that now oils are less specific and cover multiple systems?
Does GL-4 mean its for a hypoid box?
Would GL-5 be better in that case?

I even got a hold of the wee advice guy on Halfords and asked if a specific oil will work with a hypoid final drive and he told me I'd need to ask in store, like, you mean to tell me the "help and advice" guy doesn't know about the products? what use is that? I felt like reaching through the internet and shaking him! haha

Anyway, so does anyone have any recommendations on good oil to use that is tried and tested? I love this bike and I also like having money in the bank so i don't want to end up having to get a new set of gears!

Any help is massively appreciated as always <3

Sarah

[HRHpenfold]

It specifies GL4 oil, that's all you need to look for, they are not called hypoid any more, because you can't get a non hypoid oil.

GL5 is ok in a D9,

The difference between 4 and 5 is because 5 can corrode bronze bushes, but there aren't any in a D9 bevel drive, and the 5 wasn't available when the D9 was current

[PrincessPunk]

Excellent thank you so much honestly this has been driving me up the wall trying to get a straight answer! finally i can get a move on with the fluids now

>side question - is there anything recommended to clean it out if the oil has not been changed in a long while? i saw a guy on a youtube vid use something red in colour to flush all the gunk and old thick oil off the gears and out the box but he didnt give a name. is that recommended?

I have a feeling this bike has been neglected big time so I really want to take care of it and get it in tip top condition, i want to keep it going for the long haul (for cheap too, no expensive final drive replacement would be preferable if avoidable!) and where better to get clued up than here

[HRHpenfold]

Apr 10, 2016 22:15:22 GMT PrincessPunk said:

Excellent thank you so much honestly this has been driving me up the wall trying to get a straight answer! finally i can get a move on with the fluids now

>side question - is there anything recommended to clean it out if the oil has not been changed in a long while? i saw a guy on a youtube vid use something red in colour to flush all the gunk and old thick oil off the gears and out the box but he didnt give a name. is that recommended?

I have a feeling this bike has been neglected big time so I really want to take care of it and get it in tip top condition, i want to keep it going for the long haul (for cheap too, no expensive final drive replacement would be preferable if avoidable!) and where better to get clued up than here

Should not need it, just change oil and filter, then do it again in a few hundred miles.

[PrincessPunk]

sorry i meant the final drive, is it a good idea to clean that out of any crap or is it not a big deal?

[bev]

If you're taking it off for inspection then it's well worth cleaning it out, we had a lot of crappy oil in there. Probably it had been in there for years.

GL-4 gear oil for replacement.

[HRHpenfold]

Apr 11, 2016 9:18:19 GMT PrincessPunk said:

sorry i meant the final drive, is it a good idea to clean that out of any crap or is it not a big deal?

if you run the bike until the drive is very warm, then do the oil change, it will be fine.

[PrincessPunk]

Apr 11, 2016 9:29:36 GMT bev said:

If you're taking it off for inspection then it's well worth cleaning it out, we had a lot of crappy oil in there. Probably it had been in there for years.

GL-4 gear oil for replacement.

aye thats my thinking. while i dont really know what i'd be inspecting other than the oil, i do want to at least check the oil for shavings and the bike's been sitting for a year basically and only done about 1000 miles in the past 4/5 so i think it'll maybe be fairly rank in there since i doubt anyone would have bothered to do anything with it. suppose i can always play it by ear and decide once i get a look in have you anything you'd suggest to clean it out with?

[PrincessPunk]

Apr 11, 2016 10:14:17 GMT HRHpenfold said:

Apr 11, 2016 9:18:19 GMT PrincessPunk said:

sorry i meant the final drive, is it a good idea to clean that out of any crap or is it not a big deal?

if you run the bike until the drive is very warm, then do the oil change, it will be fine.

unfortunately it doesn't have an MOT at the moment so i'll only be able to run it round the block a few times and maybe use a hairdryer on it for a bit hah

[bev]

You can always stick it on the Centre stand if it's OK, they do tend to break, and select a gear and let it run for a bit to heat up.

we were stripping the bike anyway when we did it, though it was an eye opener. When you drop the oil out after running it you should probably see any wear indicators. The problem with heating it up first is you tend to lose the milky watery oil as it heats. To be honest if I wasn't intending taking it off to have a look I'd drop the oil out and have a look at the oil first. If it looks OK no real need to strip the final drive.

Obviously you're not really in the position of taking it for a decent run to listen and feel for knocks. 

[PrincessPunk]

hehe, unfortunately the centre stand is completely gubbed, rusted through and bent beyond having anything on it :/ never mind though, i'll straighten it and weld it solid at some point with some good steel

Ah I see, I might not bother then, although the speed that the guy in the vid done it I cant really see it being too much of a pain, he just poured it in, run it through for a minute and flushed it a few times then back in with fresh oil.

I'm assuming it probably will be a bit white in there, that's actually probably another reason I should flush it methinks. I know its a touch milky in the engine oil window but I dont know how to flush that, hopefully an oil and filter change should do the trick

[bev]

Yep, it hasn't been used much so it'll have a bit of mayo in the oil. heat it up, no problem with the engine, and change the oil and filter. I normally use old oil to flush though if it's been lying a while.

If welding the stand make sure you have a bar through the mounting points to stop the heat from distorting the stand and making it impossible to re-fit. They're not cheap to replace and fairly hard to source.

[PrincessPunk]

groovy groovy I think there is a bit of 15w40 in the garage so I might do like a mini flush with a bit of that (my dad may go daft if his oil goes missing heh) it would probably be worth flushing to be on the safe side so if just draining, filter change and refilling doesnt work then I havent wasted 4 litres of oil... I think. with a flush do you just pour it in, run the engine and drain again? should I keep the old filter in for that?

I will do, I could see that being something often overlooked, tbh I'm kinda tempted to make a new one as this one is pretty fecked and if I can manufacture then to a good standard then thats a new source of them for folks in need I'm a blacksmith so it shouldn't be too tricky for me

[chris900divvy]

You can get Comma EP80 gear oil from Wilko for £3:50 litre, its all I've ever used and would recommend it.

[dubster]

Apr 11, 2016 21:11:09 GMT chris900divvy said:

You can get Comma EP80 gear oil from Wilko for £3:50 litre, its all I've ever used and would recommend it.

This.

There's enough in a litre to perform four final drive oil changes. That's less than a quid per oil change!

Change it now, then again once the bike as done a few miles

[PrincessPunk]

Ooh I think I like that price, I'm gonna check Wilko's the day and see if I can find some. I'll do that method for clearing it out if I can find it If not i might be a touch more precious about my oil but then again, £9 a litre will still be cheap in the grand scheme of things

[christhedivvy]

I've got gallons if a anyone wants some!