Hi Chaps, I acquired a model 199! I got it back from CA, better condition that I had thought it would be! Looked it over, oiled the cables etc. drained and refilled the oils (what there was of it, not much!) Runs really nice, clutch a bit draggy though, I put in 30 weight, as per the manual, was thinking, is there anything better, thinner perhaps TQF or would that be bad??

Any advice/ideas would be appreciated!

TIA

ATF or Elf HTX 740. ATF is cheaper works btw. much better then SAE 30 and too then SAE 140 in the gear box.

SAe 5w - 30 or SAE 10W - 30 mineral or semi synthetic. Castrolite SAE 10W - 30 used to work well. I would think ATF would also - Dexron 2 or 3. More modern grades such as the ELF HTX or dexron 6 may cause clutch slip on older bikes.

I have been using Elf htx 740 for over 10 yrs now and it is with out a doubt the best oil I have used. Started using it in my Gasgas originally as its the only oil that stops clutch drag and allows me to find neutral easily. Some where years ago someone told me it was developed for motoGP bikes as a low friction oil to increase HP, not sure if that's true but who knows. I also use it in Bullys along with fibre clutch plates and once again, neutral is easy to find, no clutch drag or slip when starting and using the bike. I dont use it in the bully gearbox because it is really thin and if you drop the bike it pours out through the vent hole whereas conventional gearbox oil doesn't. GRO also make a really light oil that is really good also.Hope this helps cheers Greg

Have a browse through the following link, a interesting discussion of which oil to use developed during it 

 

 

25 minutes ago, sherpa325 said:

I have been using Elf htx 740 for over 10 yrs now and it is with out a doubt the best oil I have used. Started using it in my Gasgas originally as its the only oil that stops clutch drag and allows me to find neutral easily. Some where years ago someone told me it was developed for motoGP bikes as a low friction oil to increase HP, not sure if that's true but who knows. I also use it in Bullys along with fibre clutch plates and once again, neutral is easy to find, no clutch drag or slip when starting and using the bike. I dont use it in the bully gearbox because it is really thin and if you drop the bike it pours out through the vent hole whereas conventional gearbox oil doesn't. GRO also make a really light oil that is really good also.Hope this helps cheers Greg

Yep I can confirm that to every drop of HTX oil. This stuff - albeit expensive - works fantastic in every twinshock bike I have used in different makes build from 1979 to 1984.

Thanks for the input guys, really informative. I'll stick some htx in and see what happens... I did read the Japanese clutch plate post which was also really good, something to think about later on I think...

I tried 5wt fork oil last ride (as per Vesty's suggestion), and will be sticking with it from now on.

 Elf htx 740 is a bit thin on the ground over here in the colonies, going to see what Dexron does...

It makes sense that the Elf HTX 740 would work well - it was specifically designed to be used with bike clutches and transmissions. I found that these types of oil worked significantly better than any of the ATFs.

Elf is used as standard in the Honda Montesa 4rt and the importer/ dealer will usually carry it or know where to get it from. It is the lightest gearbox oil I have found and I would assume this is why it works so well. The GRO extreme oil is the closest I have found to the ELF, but I still prefer the ELF.