1987 FLST. 140,000+ miles.

About 25,000 miles before I bought it - unknown oils.

Over 100,000 miles on synthetic. Brands include Mobil 1 15w-50 red cap & silver cap, Mobil 1 V-Twin 20w-50 (1 change), Castrol Syntec 20w-50, Royal Purple 20w-50 (1 change).

About 10 -15,000 on Castrol GTX 20w-50 (1 change), Havoline 20w-50, Super Tech 20w-50.

Oil-related problems - none.


Here's the straight skinny - If a bearing skates and is flattened it happens because of excessive friction. Yet people still say "too slippery" synthetic causes skate and flattening. If it's too slippery there is by definition less friction, therefore there can be no bearing skate/flattening. Physics precludes any other result.

 

Has any one haerd of Lucas oil .Im in Western Canada .My local H-D shop only carries the standard harley oils ,syn3, and the other on the shelf is called Lucas syn oil.It's From USA .Just curious if any one has heard of it .Ill have to check around at some different cycle shops .

 

Similar problem here also. Switched out the HD360 dino stuff to Royal Purple Synthetic (not the max cycle, the car stuff) at 2500 miles. Seems to be dissapearing on me, exhaust and plugs are clean. Oil level never moved with the dino, now I see the level always getting a little low and I have to top it off. Could it be this stuff is just too damn thin? Not sure about noise difference, arent all Harleys noisy? I have read and heard many good things about Castrol GTX but still would opt for a full synthetic in the engine. Mobil1 v-twin is my next move...

 

20w-50 is 20w-50, within the range set by industry. Run the same oil at least twice, then try a change.

 

I am glad to hear some folks who have actually put big miles on their bikes w/syn with no problems. Auto mechanic told me (with respet to cars) engine should be fully broken in on regularoil, then one should move to synthetics at (he suggested)10,000 miles.

How many miles does it take to fully break in a Harley?

Bud.

 

I'd get another mechanic- someone who's knowledge and skills aren't stuckin 1973.
I'm sure the folks at GM, Ford, Mercedes, Porche, et.al. would love to discuss his lubrication ideas with him as they ship their cars new from the factory with Mobil 1. Maybe he can teach their engineers a thing or two...
From Mobil's website:

Mobil 1 Chosen as Factory Fill for all 2008 Cadillacs - Mobil 1 has been selected by Cadillac as the factory fill motor oil for its 2008 Cadillac Escalade and DTS models, making Mobil 1 standard equipment in every new 2008 Cadillac vehicle that rolls off of the production line. Welcome to the Family [/b]- The Acura RDX joins the roll call of performance vehicles filled with Mobil 1 at the factory. Read why Mobil 1 is perfect for the turbocharged RDX engine, and how it ranked against competitive motor oils when tested against Acura's tough new standard for motor oil. Mobil 1 is factory fill in:
[*]Acura RDX
[*]Aston Martin
[*]All Bentley Vehicles
[*]Cadillac CTS, CTS-V, Escalade, XLR, XLR-V, SRX, STS and STS-V
[*]Chevrolet Corvette C6 and Z06
[*]Chevrolet TrailBlazer SS
[*]Chrysler 300C SRT-8
[*]Cobalt SS S/C Coupe
[*]Dodge Caliber SRT-4, Charger SRT-8, and Magnum SRT-8
[*]Jeep Cherokee SRT-8
[*]Mercedes-Benz AMG Vehicles
[*]Mercedes SLR
[*]Mitsubishi Evolution
[*]Pontiac Solstice GXP
[*]All Porsche Vehicles
[*]Saturn Ion Red Line and Saturn Sky Red Line
[*]Viper SRT-10
[/ul]

I think the owner's manual has a "break-in" procedure that lasts 500 miles, but they advocate the use of synthetic at any time in the engine's life, and CVO (Screamin' Eagle) bikes come with synthetic oil as factory fill.

 

I think the link below contians a lot of good information. It compares automobile oil to motorcycle oil. The basic conclusions are:

[ol][*]The viscosity of synthetic-based oils generally drops more slowly than that of petroleum-based oils in the same application.[*]Comparing these figures to viscosity retention for the same oils when used in an automobile (see later text by Prof. Woolum) would indicate that motorcycles are indeed harder on oils than cars.[*]The fastest and most significant drop in the viscosity of petroleum-based oils used in motorcycles occurs during the first 800 miles (or less) of use.
All of these results (1-3) agree with everything the oil companies have been telling us all along. However, the same test data also indicates that:[*]The viscosities of petroleum-based oils, whether designed for auto or motorcycle application, drop at approximately the same rate when used in a motorcycle.[*]There is no evidence that motorcycle-specific oils out-perform their automotive counterparts in viscosity is that there is no evidence that motorcycle-specific oils out-perform their automotive counterparts in viscosity retention when used in a motorcycle. [/ol][/align]Picked up a 5 quart jug of Mobil 1 at Wal-Mart last night for $20 (that's $4.00 a quart for synthetic), it is already in the crankcase of my 07 FLHR.

http://www.xs11.com/stories/mcnoil94.htm

 

If you are going to spend the extra to go to synthetic do it right. Get a good oil, Mobil 1 andAMSOIL are the ones I would use.

 

I dont know why I am entertaining this beaten horse but I felt compelled to after reading all the posts. Ran dino oil on my 07 SGup to 4500 km. Switched to Syn 3 and instantly noticed top end noise. This arguement can go on forever but I'll stick with a good high grade synthetic like Amsoil. I run it in my Merch with no problems. My dog dont like Syn 3 either.

[IMG]local://upfiles/43911/485A612C774849C78B3A4E900B40FB65.jpg[/IMG]

 

This is complete nonsense. Oil is very different at 50 degrees than it is at even 100 degrees. Do a little research and tell us how a multi viscosity oil is measured. At what temp is a, 10w-30 oil a "30 weight" oil. At what temp is it a "10w" oil? Is 10w thinner than 30?

A synthetic oi formulated for internal combustion engines will be on fire at 1500 degrees.

JKH