JohnG Posted April 21, 2014 Report Share Posted April 21, 2014 Bought the 03 Buell just before Christmas and other than the test ride and warming it up prior to yesterday's fluid change I've not ridden it. Bike has 28K on it and is hard to get into neutral, but the clutch needs adjusted pretty badly so I originally dismissed that during the test ride. HOWEVER, when I drained the trans fluid there was quite a bit of debris on the magnetic drain plug. I've never seen this before. PO said that fluids were just recently changed, but you know how you should really trust the word of a PO... Is there cause for concern here? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MidgetTodd Posted April 21, 2014 Report Share Posted April 21, 2014 Supposed to be there. That's the point of the magnet 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bubba Posted April 21, 2014 Report Share Posted April 21, 2014 (edited) Mmmm, I don't know. If it was my bike, I'd be concerned. That's a metric shit-ton of shavings for a bike with 20K miles of wear-in, especially if the oil and filter was recently changed and the plug wiped clean. Some pretty big chunks of metal being shed by something in there. Problem is that you won't know what/why unless you do a tear-down, so I guess the answer is ride it until something breaks…unless yer into some serious wrenching. Edited April 21, 2014 by Bubba 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smccrory Posted April 21, 2014 Report Share Posted April 21, 2014 Change all the fluids to reset your baselines - that's the first thing I do with every used bike I buy. If that's truly the hypoid transmission gear oil drain plug and not and engine oil plug, then you may simply have discovered that the PO never changed the gear oil, which isn't uncommon, and the filings may be from the whole period after purchase, which would make me worry a whole lot less. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bubba Posted April 21, 2014 Report Share Posted April 21, 2014 ...then you may simply have discovered that the PO never changed the gear oil, which isn't uncommon, and the filings may be from the whole period after purchase, which would make me worry a whole lot less. Agree with this, if true. Hope this is the case…. Pretty sure the 'modern' H-D Sportster motors use a multi-weight 10W-40 oil in the gear case. The older motors used the 90W hypoid gear oil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smccrory Posted April 21, 2014 Report Share Posted April 21, 2014 Agree with this, if true. Hope this is the case…. Pretty sure the 'modern' H-D Sportster motors use a multi-weight 10W-40 oil in the gear case. The older motors used the 90W hypoid gear oil. Thanks, I wasn't aware of that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tpoppa Posted April 21, 2014 Report Share Posted April 21, 2014 (edited) Bought the 03 Buell just before Christmas and other than the test ride and warming it up prior to yesterday's fluid change I've not ridden it. Bike has 28K on it and is hard to get into neutral, but the clutch needs adjusted pretty badly so I originally dismissed that during the test ride. HOWEVER, when I drained the trans fluid there was quite a bit of debris on the magnetic drain plug. I've never seen this before. PO said that fluids were just recently changed, but you know how you should really trust the word of a PO... Is there cause for concern here? tranny plug.jpg Completely normal on an 03 Buell XB. Adjust the clutch per the manual. Check the adjustment 'shoe,' it's a wear part and could be ready for replacement. You can use HD trans fluid or motor oil in the trans. I always used 20w50 in both. Edited April 21, 2014 by Tpoppa 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonik Posted April 21, 2014 Report Share Posted April 21, 2014 Completely normal on an 03 Buell XB. Adjust the clutch per the manual. Check the adjustment 'shoe,' it's a wear part and could be ready for replacement. You can use HD trans fluid or motor oil in the trans. I always used 20w50 in both. YAY! Advice from someone that knows what is up and knows the bike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAC Posted April 21, 2014 Report Share Posted April 21, 2014 YAY! Advice from someone that knows what is up and knows the bike. ORDN at it's best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smccrory Posted April 21, 2014 Report Share Posted April 21, 2014 YAY! Advice from someone that knows what is up and knows the bike. Hell yea! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeavyDuty Posted April 21, 2014 Report Share Posted April 21, 2014 I agree with the above put a couple of hundred miles on the bike and pull the plugs again and clean them That way any leftover loose particles should be out You might be surprised how many are on the plug then I would not worry about it unless they look that way at the next oil change. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnG Posted April 21, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 21, 2014 Completely normal on an 03 Buell XB. Adjust the clutch per the manual. Check the adjustment 'shoe,' it's a wear part and could be ready for replacement. You can use HD trans fluid or motor oil in the trans. I always used 20w50 in both. Many thanks. And yes, since very few of my purchases are ever new, the first thing I do is change fluids and once over everything. Good to have a baseline. I swabbed the mag plug off on a fresh shotgun patch, the particles are much smaller than they appeared. A big "doh!" moment when I remembered basic ed about magnets and lines of flux. Ever remember the experiment in school with metal filings and a magnet? (long, long ago for me...) Yeah, those long metal shavings are really lots of tiny particles lined up on each other. From the Buell XB forums and from service manual research, I'm running V-twin forumulated 20w50 Mobil 1 in both holes. Makes life much easier. Always nice to bounce things off the forum here and have knowledgeable folks chime in. Plus 1's handed out accordingly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Clay Posted April 21, 2014 Report Share Posted April 21, 2014 I'm a master HD tech from factory and Buell too........That is normal to see!!! Don't use 10-40 in primary/transmission use formula plus or the old sport lube......10-40 doesn't cushion trans gear very well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tpoppa Posted April 21, 2014 Report Share Posted April 21, 2014 Many thanks. And yes, since very few of my purchases are ever new, the first thing I do is change fluids and once over everything. Good to have a baseline. I swabbed the mag plug off on a fresh shotgun patch, the particles are much smaller than they appeared. A big "doh!" moment when I remembered basic ed about magnets and lines of flux. Ever remember the experiment in school with metal filings and a magnet? (long, long ago for me...) Yeah, those long metal shavings are really lots of tiny particles lined up on each other. From the Buell XB forums and from service manual research, I'm running V-twin forumulated 20w50 Mobil 1 in both holes. Makes life much easier. Always nice to bounce things off the forum here and have knowledgeable folks chime in. Plus 1's handed out accordingly. If I were to ever get another Buell it would certainly be an XB. The maintenance is simple DIY. I think I still have a service manual and a seat that would fit yours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonik Posted April 21, 2014 Report Share Posted April 21, 2014 I'm running V-twin forumulated 20w50 Mobil 1 in both holes. I have nothing to add, just felt the need to quote that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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