quote name='Snopczynski' post='924838' date='Jan 12 2009, 12:52 AM']The trannies in our bikes get a lot of abuse from the idiot holes and we put a lot of hours on them every weekend we go. I change it out every time, run a good clutch, and have a cda from cascade installed. So in turn, I have had zero transmission problems over the last 3 years.
I wrenched on cars for about 8.5 years. Audi had magnets in the transmisiion drain pans, so did saab. Out of every pan I pulled off, I never found anything more than shavings on the magnets while doing a routine maintenance. When we had catastrophic tranny failures I usually found pieces of stuff stuck to the magnets. My personal feeling on it is, if its big enough to worry about it when seeing it on a magnet. Its always already caused a failure, or created a symptom that warrantied the cover to come off or the cases to be split. I just dont see running a magnetic drain plug as a must on my bikes. I pay a little more attention to whats going on with maintenance on my bikes than the average joe, and what the bikes doing when I am riding it. So, I have a tendency to catch things that most people dont even notice.
For instance, my cousin rides up to me. I noticed that it looked like his chain was skipping. I look at his side case cover from about 5 feet away and see sand stuck to it around the dipstick hole. I walk over, the dipstick is gone. We tow it back, I tell him to pull the side cover because he needs to flush it out. He has it off and I lean over the seat to watch. He is ready to put the cover back on after flushing some very suspicious looking fine and small material from the center of the case. I lean over the seat to watch and see about 2" of an aluminum dipstick shaft behind the clutch basket that he never saw. He ended up parking the bike after I figured out that was his 2nd and 3rd gear skipping because the bike ate thealuminum dipstick.
Maybe I am being rash about the magnetic drainplug? However, I just don't think its a great idea because most of them have a magnet bonded into the plug bolt with some sort of adhesive. Granted if its metal, the magnet will help stick to it, but it just makes me nervous. Especially since I have seen one do more harm than good now.
So does this mean everyone should put their stock plastic dipsticks back in while they still have a chance because aluminum whizz bang ones are no good? NO, I think this is the point Rippen and others are trying to make. Not bashing you snop, just keeping it in perspective. I think i would of worded your first post different, like; I dont know about other brands but i've had trouble with ALUMINUM DRAIN PLUGS magnets coming out. Might check em close if you have them. Or something to that effect anyway. Again this is not to be mean toward you Snop, and again we have had NO trouble with ours but i do appreciate your input on the other brands!