At the risk of starting yet another OIL thread, you do realize that Rotella is a truck and tractor oil designed for high loads at low rpms and it's not designed for high revs of a motorcycle transmission.
For all we know, the replacement shaft may have been soft, or maybe that's not the problem at this time. if it starts to swing forwards regularly I'd pull thr motor and pull that shaft out for inspection and possible replacement.
It might be worth modifying the cases to catch more oil for the layshaft.
You don't need a kickstarter and could remove the whole assembly but then the shaft is likely to rotate in the two bushes and I suspect it wouldn't last long like that. OK on a race bike but not so good on a street bike that does high miles.
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Yes, I don't want to revive the whole oil debate either, but Rotella T meets JASO MA standards, does not contain friction modifiers, and I know of many motorcyclists who use Rotella with no problems (particularly those who ride high-mileage KLR's). Plus, if you check many online rider forums devoted to specific bikes (Fireblades, SV650's etc), Rotella T is a highly recommended oil. My mechanic uses it in all his bikes, and has done so for many years with no problems (and ironically, he also works on heavy equipment engines). I am, however, open to other recommendations if you think otherwise.....
I'll ride the bike and keep an eye on it, and when John has a chance he'll check that spring to see what might be going on. Just interesting that after having completed a 1000 mile ride, it does it this one time near home! To be honest, i think that most bikes could run on almost any oil and most oils have their advocates. Shell say on their website that Rotella oils are designed for construction and other heavy diesel equipment. I'm not an oil specialist so I have no idea why that oil was developed for that application. maybe it' works better with diesel fuel piston wash or something.
I'm sure that it's fine much of the time for most applications and it's quite possible that other oils may not be any better for a CB77, but given the propensity of the CB77 to eat counter shafts, I'd be tempted to use a different oil - but that's just my opinion and when it comes to oils, we all have one. More specifically though, I'd keep an eye on that kicker and if that wasn't just an isolated instance, I'd pull the side cover and if everything there is fine, drop the motor. I was looking at that shaft last night for someone else and there isn't a lot of lubrication going on there. Someone here had a case mod to try to catch more splash and direct it into the end bush. That might be worth thinking about. Vince, I use the shell rotella in my dirt bike, my dual sport bike, my street bike, and my pick-up truck. I'm using repsol in the 305s, my buddy sells it in his shop, and The 305s use so little oil, I figure why not! Someone on this site posted pics of a nice mod to get more oil to the shaft. you may want to research it, and see if your mechanic thinks it's a worthwile mod.
davomoto
64 CB77 63-7 CB77 Cafe' 67 CL77 64 CL72 66 CL77 big bore flat tracker Many others!
I'll look for that modification on the site - sounds interesting, and likely a valuable upgrade.
As far as Rotella goes, I decided to go to the proverbial horse's mouth and called the Shell techs directly (800-237-8645). I explained to them what I had, what I've heard, what I've read, and the varying opinions. The Shell tech told me that about 1/2 the people in their office ride motorcycles, and the oil they all use is.......Rotella. 15w40 in the white bottle. True, it is not advertised as a motorcycle oil, but it has all the properties that motorcyclists look for in an oil, particularly the absence of friction modifiers. It's only recently that they've added the JASO MA designation to the bottles, as the Shell people bugged 'the powers that be' to add it to the bottle. I mentioned that the owner's manual advised the use of 30w non-detergent. The Shell person recommended that if I'm switching from 30w to the Rotella, to let the Rotella sit in there for a couple of days, then drain and refill (due to the crud that it will probably attract). So, bottom line, I think I can eliminate the actual oil itself as a possible culprit. Plus, as I say, the bike just completed a 1000 mile ride with no troubles, and virtually no oil consumption. However, I will keep a close eye on things as I ride it this weekend. As an aside, I found this on the Rotella website (yes, it even has its own website!). Look at Question 1 on the 'Top 5 Requested Questions': http://www.shell.com/home/PlainPageServ ... t_faq.html
Interesting, as their site only shows the full synthetic as being rated JASO MA (blue bottle) The white bottles are shown as rated MB which is not supposed to be for wet clutch application? Not trying to start an oil thread, just wonder why the verbal recommendation is one thing, and the rating says the opposite? A lot of people swear by Rotella T, but there are several versions. 66 dream, 78 cb750k, 02fz1, 09 wing
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