As I began this year's winter tear down I made a startling discovery - I'd struck gold! There was gold in the gearbox! Well, it sure looks like gold, doesn't it?
What the "gold" turned out to be was actually bronze.
When I saw the bronze I immediately thought of all the dire warnings in motorcycle forums about damage to bronze by GL5-and-up gearbox oils. I'd used GL5 for the first time the past season because it was all I could get for a couple hundred miles around.
Further disassembly and subsequent inspection revealed that a bronze thrust washer inside the gearbox had worked its way off its little peg and spun around a few times before harmlessly becoming jammed. But not before the peg took a few scoops out of the washer as it passed by.
So in this case, GL5 gear oil wasn't connected with the damage. But the question of GL5 and bronze compatibility was still unanswered so I forged ahead with research.
(Click Photos to Enlarge)
