1000 miles,so far so good

808Airhead · Post by **808Airhead** » Sat Feb 27, 2010 11:38 am

Hello Schraeder,it is actually 80-90 degrees year round here.I use this oil since it is the same I used in my air cooled VW's in the past,in my opinion air cooled motors seem to run better with heavy weight oil,since oil really gets hot/worked hard.This Valvoline oil also has extra ZInc added which they advertise is better for flat tappet motors,so I have been using it.The engine runs smoothly and runs quietly.

schrader7032 · Post by **schrader7032** » Sat Feb 27, 2010 1:40 pm

Zinc, or ZDDP, is definitely good. I was just thinking about the initial engine start...they say that the most damage done to an engine is at the start. The manuals, which I'm sure you've seen, suggest either a 30w or 40w depending on outside temps. Hawaii, with its constant temps, could easily stand the higher weights. 50w seems appropriate. But you're the first person that I've heard using 60w. If your experience is good, then that's what counts!

brixtonsaint · Post by **brixtonsaint** » Thu Jul 28, 2011 8:44 am

Can you explain what you mean by pre-loading the shifter?

"We have a /2 guru here,and he said to "let off the gas,count 1-2 then shift" .This technique in addition to slightly pre-loading the shifter has resulted in PERFECT shifting,even I am amazed!"

schrader7032 · Post by **schrader7032** » Thu Jul 28, 2011 2:15 pm

Pre-loading means that before you start working the clutch hand lever, put some up-pressure on the foot shifter. Then go ahead and make your gear change. I continue to hold up-pressure on the foot lever as I let the hand lever out. It's a habit I learned on my /7. I kept getting false neutrals between 4 and 5, but with the continued up-pressure, they're basically eliminated.

Zeno Lee · Post by **Zeno Lee** » Thu Jul 28, 2011 4:17 pm

What is the principle behind pre-loading? What is going on with the gears and dogs?

schrader7032 · Post by **schrader7032** » Thu Jul 28, 2011 4:55 pm

I'm not sure, but I think it takes some of the slack out of the mechanism and the benefit is a more positive engagement and also less clunk. The 5-speed trannies generally clunk a bit through 3rd gear, but going into 4th and definitely into 5th, I can get some very smooth and quiet shifts.

Bruce Frey · Post by **Bruce Frey** » Thu Jul 28, 2011 10:38 pm

By shifting slowly with a preloaded gear shift, you are almost negating the need for the clutch on upshifts. A long pause after cutting the throttle makes downshifts rougher in my experience. Try increasing your RPMs a bit as you downshift to make them smoother.

Most old school manual transmissions shift easily without a clutch. I have done it on more than one occasion out of necessity on cars and motorcycles. A bit of trial and error is sometimes needed to develop the technique for a given vehicle.

Upshifts are a bit easier to do than downshifts. To upshift, put pressure on the shifter toward the gear you want to go to and back off the throttle. At some point the gear speeds match and the shifter moves to the next higher gear. Some cars work better if you pull it into neutral (easily done with a neutral throttle) before applying pressure on the shifter.

To down shift in a car, pull the transmission into neutral and gently increase the RPMs while applying shifter pressure. If you miss it on the increasing revs, you have another chance when revs are on the way back down. If you know that there are 800 RPM difference between gears at the same speed, you can narrow your RPM range, but it is mostly a seat of the pants feeling. On a motorcycle, put pressure on the shifter, blip the throttle and it will drop down a gear without too much fuss.

If you are in a car and have to stop, the starter motor usually has enough oomph to crank you away and get the motor started. I have never tried that with my R90S, however.

Bruce

brixtonsaint · Post by **brixtonsaint** » Fri Jul 29, 2011 9:26 am

There was a lot of talk about this in the airhead site as well. I have been trying some of these techniques and they do seem to help. One thing I still can't get (good or bad) when downshifting through my cycle 5,4,3,2..) is to get to N withought going through first. On the upshift it passes through naturally and (most often) my N light aligns with it. Any suggestions? Good side... my left hand is getting very strong and I guess it is forcing me to use proper downshifting techniques.