Ultra,
I use AMSOIL 20W-50 V-Twin oil after the initial 1000 mile service...most of my friends with Harley's and Buells do the same. We have all had good luck.

Something to note--I paid extra to have all synthetic oil added to my '06 Street Glide at the 1K service only to have my dealer tell me that all '06 bikes are suppose to get something called Formula + in their trannies...this is a mineral based product. Being that this oil is a Harley product, I am not sure what the other lube makers would have that would be similar, especially of the synthetic type.

 

There are not many bad oils out there just make sure you get the right grade of oil, and follow the motorcycle manufacturers service intervals. I know some change their oil more often, and are happy with that. I suspect its a waste of good oil, but thats just my parsimonious nature.

I like many prefer synthetic oil and I like the idea of a gear lube for gears and engine oil for the engine, I just figure the area specific oils will be less of a compromise. That said many run the same oil in all three holes, and have covered many carefree miles.

If its an opinion you're after, for what its worth I use only fully synthetic oils, and strangely enough not all synthetic oils are true synthetics. I believe Amsoil, and Mobil are and I know Redline is, which is what I use.

I change engine oil and filter at 5000 miles and gear / tranny at 10000 miles. I am thinking about shortening the oil filter change to 2500 miles but as yet I am undecided. I dont know if the filter goes into bypass more often before the 5000 miles is up, dont even know how to find out. I would expect that as the filter does its job and traps the unwanted particles, it will become slightly less efficient at flowing oil with the risk of going into bypass more often. When I take the current filter off I may just take a saw to it and have a look.


WB

 

I was buying the expensive synthetic but switched to WalMart 20/50 for the following reasons.

#1. Who knows if you are really getting synthetic oil? It all looks the same to me. If I know my corporate America, there is a scam going on here.

#2. I talked to the people at the local Hog shop. They told me that HD recommended NOT putting syn oil in their motors, UNTIL they came out with their own brand of syn oil. Sounds like a scam to me.

#3. It's more important to change your oil more often and with non-syn oil that costs about $3.00 vs around $20.00 for synthetic. I now change my oil about every 1,700 miles. Some jokers go 8K between changes because they use syn oil. What they don't know is that the oil is still good but it's full of abrasive particles. So it doesn't matter if the oil lasts longer?

#4. I hate being ripped off....

 

Really shouldn't have bought a harley then We get it without a kiss each time we go to the dealers.

 

Actually the WalMart brand 20w-50 is a pretty good oil. And their store brand synthetic oil is good stuff, too. Worst thing about the WalMart stuff is the oil in one batch may not be tha same as the next batch, depending on when the contract runs.

Your other stuff:

1) I wouldn't worry about whether you're getting synthetic or if they are subbing dino. Every sample I've seen tested was synthetic. I'd be more worried that WalMart was subbing recycled oil in place of new oil in their store brand.

2) The HD thing wasn't because corporate said synthetic oil was bad. The MoCo simply said they couldn't recommend synthetic oil because they had never tested it in the bikes. The wonderful dealers we all know and love twisted the MoCo's words to imply that synthetic oil in an HD was a warranty killer and made you the 7th Son of Satan for even thinking about using a non-HD oil.

3) Yer right; change it often.

But if you use a good filter, and stick to even the extended OCIs recommended by the syn manufacturers, your oil ain't gonna be full of abrasive particles. Having seen many Used Oil Analyses (UOA) that include particle counts, as well as breakdowns on the impurities in the oil, the filter is what determines whether you get too many scratchers in the oil.

If you wanna go 5k on a synthetic oil, change the filter at 2.5k. I'd hesitate to do this with a carb bike because of fuel dilution, but a fuelie bike seldom suffers from that problem.

4) Stay away from the stealers. Or call TC and he'll e-mail you a kiss!

 

I just bought a 883 sportster and changed the oil with the wall-mart 20-50 and figure I'll change it every 2500 miles to be safe. What oil do you use in your primary? It seems that the arguments about inexpensive oil is that it loses its lubricating factors at the higher temp. ; I have seen tests on oil (as well as additives) and the final results were that higher priced oils didn't help the motors at all, could this be the case here also?
I come to the conclusion on any motorized vehicle that it's more important to change the oil often. Thanks for your advice.
John

 

Actually, the Wally-World oil is pretty good stuff. There are 2 major issues with oil, whether it's high-buck, or low-rent: One, how well will it maintain its viscosity; two, what happens to it when it gets hot. Obviously there are other issues, too. And price ain't no guarantee you're getting the best oil.

 

Change oil at 2500 miles. The enemy is oxidation. This occurs from heat. If youre using a fossil oil, the number to be concerned with is 250 degrees, synthetic is 300 degrees. If your oil temp goes above these numbers, oxidation will begin to occur. Syn oil will run cooler. If youre in a hot climate, get an oil cooler, especially if you use a fossil oil.