I just got done reading the entire Primary sticky and, holy crap, there's almost too much there. I'm relitively new to doing all of my own maintainance, but I'm committed to doing all this myself. I've got the engine and tranny oils down pat...now on to the primary!

I narrowed my primary choice down to the following 3:

1) Red Line (not sure the exact name of the oil for the primary -need your help there)
2) Rotella - Need the weight of the oil most regularly used in the primary
3) Amsoil - Need the weight or exact name of what I need & where to buy

Please let me know your choice and why. Please be as specific as possible in your recommendations as this will result in a buying decision for me and I'd prefer not to put the wrong weight or type of oil onto the primary.

For those of you that prefer we newbies not ask these newbie kinds of questions: Yes, I have a manual...No, I won't be using H-D oils in any of the 3 holes.

Thanks folks!!

 

Why's that?

 

The reaserch that I've done has proven that H-D oils, while ample to do the job, do not perform as well as the 3 that I listed above. No disrespect to their oils...but I've just made the decision that I want something different for my bike.

 

I use redline in my tranny and primary,,,Why? because a long time harley rider and mechanic friend , who does ALL of his own maintenance (sometimes in his apartment
and uses his dishwasher to wash parts in) recommends it and as an aircraft mechanic myself,,I like the way my tranny shifts with the shockproof crap in it,,,

What are you going to `use for engine oil? looking for something myself,,I used to run Amsoil in my other RKC's,,, but my friend says its crap,,he uses regular Harley Dino oil

 

Where did you get your proven results from, a used oil analysis?

 

Any rotella grade will work in your primary. They all carry the JASO stamp which means wet clutch safe. I use the conventional 15w-40 in my bike and I haven't had any clutch issues in any of my bikes using it. I have a couple jap bikes from the 80s and use the rotella t conventional in all of them.
Amsoil,you need the motorcycle oil in the 10w-40 flavor. You can use the v-twin 20w-50 but I have read threads on it being a bit thick til the bike warms up. Look for JASO on the back label and you are good to go.
Harley branded stuff costs more for a less than top quality product.
Go with rotella. It's cheap so I change primary when I change the oil. It always comes out dirty and I figure clean,new fluid is better than old,dirty fluid.

 

As far as engine oil goes the conventional vr-1 offering from valvoline turns out some really good used oil analysis',so does pennzoil 20w-50.
If your going syn in the motor any major brand will work fine.

 

I'm still breaking the engine in so until I hit 2000ish miles I'll be using conventional 20/50. Once broken in...I'm going to go with M1 Vtwin full syn. I'm also using Red Line heavy shockproof in the tranny.

 

I've only ran 3 different oils in my primary so far. Syn3, Amsoil 20/50 synthetic, and HD Formula +, and of those three, the Formula + works the best as far as shifting and clutch feel goes. Have a whole case of it sitting in my garage and intend to use every drop.

 

I used to buy a quart of Formula+ for $9, but since the primary calls for 38 ounces it was always a little short. I don't measure 38 ounces exactly, but a quart doesn't quite come up to the bottom of the clutch pack. Now I spend $13 on a gallon of Rotella T from Walmart and pour in as much as I need to get to the bottom of the clutch pack. It's cheap, easy, and works perfectly.