So, I'm at my weekly bike night and see a decked out AMSOIL truck pull in. I talk to the guy who is very knowlegeable and, like all AMSOIL people, passionate about the product.

I tell him I am ready to switch and he points to the girl mixing the tunes and says she is a dealer and I can get it whenever i want right at the bar. Great!, I say.

he then says to fill out a form making me a prefered customer and pay 20 bucks for the right to be a preferred cutomer.

I then wonder why I would pay for the right to buy something and remember my Sam's Club membership. He tells me I will pay $6.50 a quart, I tell him the NAPA sells it for $8.00 and am at a loss to see any huge savings.

I also felt the product might have been a little oversold when he went on to say many industrial machines run over 100,000 miles on AMSOIL and the oil never breaks down. He said if I change it more than every 10,000 miles, I am wasting my money.

I am still prbably switching to AMSOIL but considering i will put around 15,000 miles a year max on the bike, will probably pick it up at the NAPA.

The way this guy was talking, I felt like he was waiting for the Halle Bop comet to come and take him back to the mother ship.

 

The Dealer you talked to was right in everything he said. The Preferred Customer program is for those folks that are passionate about there vehicles (2 or 4 wheel) and want to buy more than just 4 quarts of oil once a year. AMSOIL offers over 80 different Synthetic Products along with the full line of Mother's Car Care products, Trico Wiper Blades, The most advanced line of Filtration (oil and air) you can buy. If you buy in access of $100.00 bucks a year then the $20.00 fee will save you about 25% right off the top.

Some folks, such as your self, just want 4 quarts of oil. So you can be a retail customer and buy it at full price. The choice is up to you. (The girl behind the bar will sell it to you retail also.)

I have personally tried to help you with your choice of AMSOIL products and you are still wandering around stirring the pot.

I for one am delighted that the Dealer was fired up over our products. They are the finest Synthetic Lubricants in the world. That is undisputed by any of the Major Oil Companys.

I say this with no malace intended. "If you don't appreciate all the help you have been offered, just go buy your oil and leave the AMSOIL folks be."

Bear
AMSOIL Direct Jobber

 

Bear, you guys are a constant amazement. Here we go yet again, point by point.

Maybe he's trying to make a rational decision.

They are included in a list of he finest synthetic lubricants in the world.

Turn on your TV and within one hour you'll see 25 products claiming or alluding that they're the best at what they do. Competitors don't sue every time an exaggerated claim is made.

We've gone over the issues of why oil companies don't sue Amsoil for their aggressive and often exaggerated marketing statements, and I won't repeat them here. You point to the now-famous "White Paper" that was an "independent test" commissioned, designed, and paid-for by Amsoil--yet there are at least three other tests, all performed by motorcycle magazines--that show Amsoil to be an excellent product, but not the wonder oil depicted in the Amsoil tests or claimed by the Amsoil faithful. In fact, it was not #1 in any segment of these other tests. Again, it performed very well in all tests I've seen, which undeniably puts it among the better synthetic-oil alternative available. There is no objective measure I've yet seen that categorically labels Amsoil as the "best" oil for all people in all environmental conditions.

Don't you guys ever quit? Oil is not a religion, so use it and sell it if you like, but why not hold off on the hyperbole? Is that too much to ask?

So the OP doesn't bite into the Amsoil marketing scheme lock, stock, and barrel--so he's suddenly no longer a member of the loyal flock? Give him a break. He's trying to make a rational decision free of hype and impulsiveness.

 

Iclick is right, and I probably border on compulsive, but that's my problem.

Everybody I have come into contact concerning AMSOIL has been very helpful and nice, but the whole thing with the $20 preferred customer deal, my perception of the pyramid type offers for me to become a dealer before a quart has touched my hands, and other things like availability concern me.

I have a feeling this post probably will get me blackballed from AMSOIL in Orlando as far as dealers are concerned anyway, so it's Mobil1 for my bike, just like my car.

I promise to never, ever, get involved in another oil thread again.

 

Since I am over the oil issue, I was wondering by Iclick's avatar if he has a Scarlet Macaw?

I have:

An African Gray parrot, a Blue and Gold macaw, and a Cockatoo. Together they are louder than a HD.

 

It's unfortunate that people get turned off to the hype on these oil threads, but I can't blame them, as I'm turned off too. I get weary of the constant corrections, as these Amsoil guys simply don't quit. The religious fervor is just too great, I suppose. It'd be nice if people could discuss oil and other subjects without hyperbole and sales pressure.

Mobil 1 is yet another excellent oil, just like Amsoil. Royal Purple is another, and it can usually be found at Pep Boys, Napa, and O'Reilly. Redline is harder to find, usually only in specialty shops and indies. If I was using M1 I would select the 15w50 "car oil" simply because it is cheaper, just as effective, is available in more places than anything else, and contains moly. Moly is an excellent additive and is present in many modern oils. Both M1 VT 20w50 and Amsoil have no moly, possibly in part because of concerns about its effect on wet clutches. It is also expensive for the oil manufacturers to use in their formula. Don't run oils with moly in the primary and there is no such concern in a Harley, even though there is no clear evidence that it harms wet clutches. I ran an oil rich in moly in my old RK's primary and never had a problem with the clutches, so from a limited experience I doubt the claims.

 

The avatar is a portait of one of my housemates, a Greenwing Macaw. He's big, low-key, lovable, and normally quiet. My other housemate is a Blue-and-gold macaw, who is more aloof, more playful, and occasionally screams, which being near the threshold of pain is taxing to the ears. My HD isn't nearly as loud.

Scarlets are smaller than Greenwings and have red plummage that more closely resembles scarlet (warmer) than the crimson (colder) red of the Greenwings. The Scarlets also have no red facial feathers like the Greenwing, or black as in the Blue-and-Golds. Greenwings have a green section on the wings, hence the name, while Scarlets have yellow. All three have blue feathers in the mix, too.

I imagine your Gray keeps things active around the house with his talking, as they can be amazingly prolific. My two guys are limited to "Wanna nut," "Wanna banana," "hello," "bye bye," and a few other words, usually used in proper context.

 

LOL, one word.................REDLINE!

EZ(just tryin' to keep the conversation lively!)

 

Me personally....have never used synthetic in any of my vehicles yet. I have an Evo Electra Glide with 140,000 miles on it, nothing but regular Dino. It has never been into other than the cheap INA bearing was replaced by a Torrington bearing. It does not leak, nor burn any oil either. From the day I bought it new in 1997, it always used 20w50 dino in the summer and 15w40 in the winter. It was mainly Castrol GTX, but has also used store brands 20w50and Rotella 15w40.

My other Evo Electra Glide has around 55,000 miles. Unfortunately, it has been into already. It had the cylinder base gaskets replaced and the cam bearing changed to the Torrington type. It also burns about one quart of oil every 3,000 miles. I bought this bike last year, so I don't know the previous services performed on it. Currently, it has Valvoline VR1 oil in it which was rated pretty well.

I honestly don't care who makes the oil I put in my bikes. I just make sure I use 20w50 for summer and 15w40 in the winter. I've used the cheapest stuff I could find and have used it. My stuff has lasted and has never broke down due to oil. It gets changed around 5-6,000 miles and/or seasonal change.

Engines wear out just like we humans do as well. Your engine can use the most expensive oil out there....and your engine can die tomorrow. You can live a healthy life and have the most expensive health insurance available....and you can die tomorrow.

Nothing is for certain on anything no matter what you do.

Like someone said earlier....oil is not a religion.

 

EVOrider, your older bike runs much cooler than twinkies, especially late model ones with EPA starved fuel systems. I agree with what you say with the exception that syn seems to run a few degrees cooler in our hot bikes and the fact is syn has higher heat tolerance before oxidizing than dino. It makes sense in a hot running bike (230 in summer is normal for a twinkie without a cooler).

BTW isn't Rotella a syn or semi syn?

EZ