Varg - Gear Oil Change

[Foss]

Has anyone changed their gear oil yet? I just added SAE 75W90 MOTUL approved from Stark (asked prior) and noticed the old fluid had a very silver metallic color and burnt smell to it. Has anyone experienced this? No issues with the bike, this is more informational and curious if anyone has changed the gearbox oil. Typically with any break in period fluids should be swapped sooner.

FYI….The excess amount in the photo is me just flushing out as much as I could until it was clear.

 

[jokerio]

I changed mine at 6 hrs and it was clear and looked like new oil !

 

[Foss]

Uploading these as I was curious to see what type of panties she had on. Oh yea… and inspecting the teeth I did not want to pull the and get to the taint…yet. I am just documenting in case I need a warranty replacement. And if Stark does send a fresh replacement, I am going to ask to hold onto the old gearbox to dissemble it and maybe post a workflow on how to tear down and rebuild.






As you can see there is no pan, and oil drained will all purge from the drain hole mostly. The residual oil is just retained from the teeth. I did not see a pump to circulate, and the port is a breather/run off for pressure on the back which has a hose that wraps around to the left peg for egress. But correct me if I am wrong, since I did not do a deep dive, and judging from the amount of fluid that was discharged I do not suspect an oil pump.

 

[happyinmotion]

I guess the straight-cut gears explain the whining noise.

My ears kind of wish they've gone for helical although my wallet would probably disagree.

 

[Foss]

I guess the straight-cut gears explain the whining noise.

My ears kind of wish they've gone for helical although my wallet would probably disagree.

I am sure it could be an aftermarket upgrade…

 

[happyinmotion]

You'd have to handle the axial load on the gears, so it's not a straight-forward swap.

 

[Philip]

Has anyone changed their gear oil yet? I just added SAE 75W90 MOTUL approved from Stark (asked prior) and noticed the old fluid had a very silver metallic color and burnt smell to it. Has anyone experienced this? No issues with the bike, this is more informational and curious if anyone has changed the gearbox oil. Typically with any break in period fluids should be swapped sooner.

FYI….The excess amount in the photo is me just flushing out as much as I could until it was clear.

View attachment 10759

View attachment 10760

I bet this is aluminum, judging by the color. Throw a magnet in there to confirm. Looks like some part of the casting chipped, or rubbed, or some aluminum shavings got stuck somewhere, and then got ground to pulp.

 

[Jocke_D]

Uploading these as I was curious to see what type of panties she had on. Oh yea… and inspecting the teeth I did not want to pull the and get to the taint…yet. I am just documenting in case I need a warranty replacement. And if Stark does send a fresh replacement, I am going to ask to hold onto the old gearbox to dissemble it and maybe post a workflow on how to tear down and rebuild.

[pics]

As you can see there is no pan, and oil drained will all purge from the drain hole mostly. The residual oil is just retained from the teeth. I did not see a pump to circulate, and the port is a breather/run off for pressure on the back which has a hose that wraps around to the left peg for egress. But correct me if I am wrong, since I did not do a deep dive, and judging from the amount of fluid that was discharged I do not suspect an oil pump.

Is something missing here???

 

[rayivers]

A long time ago I had some fork oil with a moly additive, looked like a diluted version of your silver stuff. If it's actually aluminum it should drop to the bottom eventually.

 

[Philip]

I guess the straight-cut gears explain the whining noise.

My ears kind of wish they've gone for helical although my wallet would probably disagree.

They appear to be helical from the pictures.

 

[Foss]

They appear to be helical from the pictures.

@Philip Naw it’s just the camera angle, I took it apart again and there is a slight pitch in the teeth. And yes it all does sink to the bottom, and is aluminum. I am starting to lean towards the chain might have been a bit too tight, I provided some slack and going to flush the oil in the next 5 hours or so.

@Jocke_D Nothing is missing, again the camera angle is picking up residual oil in the torx low profile screw head. I should have used a flash when taking these.

To add, no fragments on the magnet plug. I was debating on swapping the oil plug to a standard bolt head. Having the plug run torx potentially poses a risk of stripping the head if one is not careful. Especially if aggressive riding and swapping fluids is more frequent I’d probably switch to a normal head.

 

[dpwracing]

I saw some youtube oil change videos of the Varg showing the same color. On mine, the oil change at 5 hours looked normal, almost new.

 

[mbw479]

I changed mine at 6 hrs and it was clear and looked like new oil !

Thanks for the pics, I get mine very soon, I am thinking I will change the oil as soon as it is warm.

Have you pulled the swingarm pivot by any chance? Just wondering if this should be done too. I had found KTMs swingarm pivots are not well lubed from new, and heard of a few that seized in place.

 

[Foss]

Thanks for the pics, I get mine very soon, I am thinking I will change the oil as soon as it is warm.

Have you pulled the swingarm pivot by any chance? Just wondering if this should be done too. I had found KTMs swingarm pivots are not well lubed from new, and heard of a few that seized in place.

Yea I just lubed everything as best practice. I’d do the same too with this bike.

 

[Foss]

I am still tracking this, second oil change and still abnormal coloring…

Also I am going to switch the OEM plug with a normal hex head M10x1.5x12mm magnetic plug. The torx head aluminum drain plug is garbage, it strips too easily.

@Philip is there a database of all specs people have been compiling together? Would be nice to have a sticky with all torque specs, thread pitch, mods, wheels, tires…etc with maybe links to these parts. We should have a centralized source sticky at some point.

 

[massive505]

Great post Foss, nice to see a bit inside.

 

[blbills]

You'd have to handle the axial load on the gears, so it's not a straight-forward swap.

You could always use a herringbone gear to avoid that. Really not cheap!

 

[mbw479]

I am still tracking this, second oil change and still abnormal coloring…

Also I am going to switch the OEM plug with a normal hex head M10x1.5x12mm magnetic plug. The torx head aluminum drain plug is garbage, it strips too easily.

@Philip is there a database of all specs people have been compiling together? Would be nice to have a sticky with all torque specs, thread pitch, mods, wheels, tires…etc with maybe links to these parts. We should have a centralized source sticky at some point.

View attachment 10871

I just attempted my first oil change, the torx head stripped straight out.

Any suggestions how to get it out?

 

[massive505]

I just attempted my first oil change, the torx head stripped straight out.

Any suggestions how to get it out?

That bolt is garbage, mine almost stripped.

 

[Foss]

I just attempted my first oil change, the torx head stripped straight out.

Any suggestions how to get it out?

You will have to use some sort of thread tapper to get it out.

I found an alternative which is a hex head and stainless steel. This works and have had zero issues. But be cautious, this bolt is stronger than the motor aluminum threads. If you blow the threads out on the motor you are SOL. Stark will void the warranty. The bolt heads bottom out on the motor cover and this oil plug has to be low profile; hex head is the only option.

It should be snug, there is no PSI forcing the oil out.

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