Hitchcocks Forum

Reading Pete Snidal's Bullet manual, he says that the reason that gearboxes were lubricated with grease was so that they didn't leak everywhere when being delivered or exported. He recommends topping up the gearbox with SAE 30 oil to thin the grease and then refill completely with SAE 90, which gives an improved gear change.

Has anyone done this? Votes for and against? Mine's a 1999 500 Indian market Bullet.

Thanks, Mark.

The generally accepted reason for grease is not for transport. (I’d ask ‘Why?’ to that one. I don't see the logic there: if it’s going to leak in transport mode it’s going to leak in any case.) The usual explanation is that with bearings that aren't sealed the gearbox will leak if oil is used instead of grease. (BTW an SAE 30 engine oil is similar viscosity to a 90 gear oil – different grading systems apply to each of those oil types.)

The addition of grease to the oil was a stop-gap measure, primarily to slow the progress of oil from along the Main shaft sleeve gear and UNDER the splines of the gear box sprocket.


Modern seals and sealed bearing have rendered adding grease to the box obsolete for decades.
Not least in the post 2000 Indian gear boxes which have a revised spline on the sleeve gear and better shaft seals; they seldom leak.

Another item of interest is the dipstick cap can be closed in two positions, right down home, or one click up from home which leaves the dipstick loose relieving crankcase pressure and improving oil consumption. Some tales around the pubs was the cap was only to be screwed right down when being transported for long-distance deliveries, and to be left loose once delivered to the buyer. My own experience was the Bullet used less oil when the dipstick was left loose in the second position. Believe or not.