Best oil to use in 2stroke Clutch/Gearbox??

This is a question we have been asked over and over and over, So lets kick off our new blogs section with a run down of what we suggest...

Lets start with the most popular bikes currently being used for hard enduro, the KTM TPI 250/300 also used in the Husqvarna and latest generation GasGas bikes.

For these the manual states 15w/50 JASO MA2 Spec oil, specifically the Motorex top speed 4t oil. Which does confuse many being a 4stroke specific engine oil, but after testing many alternative types of oil (light gear oil, ATF, 10w/40) we agree that the 15w/50 performs the best in hard enduro riding.

KTM changed over to a DDS diaphragm clutch back in 2012, and these use a rubber damping cush drive setup which we found noticeably noisier when using anything other than 15w/50. 

Does it need to be Motorex Top Speed..... No aslong as the oil is 15w/50 with a JASO MA2 specification your fine to use whatever brand you want or that is available to you. Our Team use Motul 5100 15w/50 which is quite a lot cheaper than the motorex brand, and has been used from new in one of our race bikes that has raced all over the world covering over 400hr on the standard clutch pack.

KTM manual also state 800ml capacity, but again after much testing we found that 750ml using the oem clutch cover gave noticably less clutch grag compared to 800ml. If your using an aftermarket billet clutch cover then 800ml is perfect.

For Betas it is recommended to use 10w/40 and even though the later bikes use a similar Diaphragm setup, they can also be run on ATF fluid, but as this grade lubricate does not suspend particles aswell as 10w/40 it requires a much more regular oil change, which counters its lower cost.