About a 2 weeks ago I completed the 1000 mile service on my 2024 Road Glide. I also sent the seat to Mean City Cycles to have memory foam installed and the seat reshaped a little bit.
It took a week to get the the seat back and installed and I had not ridden the bike since the service was done. I headed out Saturday morning a week ago and in about 20 minutes I noticed the vibrations from the bike were coming up through my spine and making the ride miserable. I blamed the problem on the seat. I tried it the next day and had the same problem. I let the bike sit a week and borrowed a seat from a friend to try this weekend. I headed out Saturday morning with the stock seat and sure enough, in about 20 minutes the vibration was killing me again. I made it to the Harley shop Saturday afternoon and sent their lead tech out on a 30 minute ride. He came back and said the bike was normal. At this point I am thinking the bike is going up for sale this week.
When I got home I called my buddy Murph, who is a Master Tech at Central Texas Harley and asked him what could have happened. He quizzed me about the fluids I used and then asked a very impotent question. "Does the vibration start after about 15 or twenty minutes of riding the bike and getting hot"? I replied "hell yes it does"! His next question was" did you put the Red Line primary fluid in the primary like you always do"? I said "damn sure did". His next reply was, " I forgot to tell you I dumped that out and went with Harley Formula plus on your last build because I could see slipping and vibration on the Dyno, the Formula plus fixed it". He then told me to dump the primary and ad Formula plus. By then, It is too late to go to the Harley shop and buy fluid, so I dumped it anyway and let it drain all night. Sunday morning I filled the primary with Mobile1 20/50 V Twin that I had on the shelf. Guess what, the damn vibration was gone and a lesson learned the hard way. I put 120 miles on yesterday and all was smooth. When I got in last night I dumped the primary again, while it was hot, to make sure it was completely flushed and I will refill it tonight.
Murph said he only uses Formula Plus for his high horsepower builds because he has seen other fluids brake down and start slipping when on the Dyno.

 

Congrats on tracking down the issue. This is why I, like you, do my own service. The four dealers around me have yet to demonstrate any real confidence inspiring knowledge, skill, or practices with my last three new bikes.

 

I heard that before, but not on a 2024. I used to use Red line also. A few years ago I started running the Harley synthetic gear oil in both my trans and primaries. Always been good.

 

I ran the synthetic gear oil in trans and primary on my M-8’s but after much discussion here I just use the synthetic gear oil for the trans and Formula+ for the primary.

 

I've always used HD360 and Formula + with the really expected results .. last M8 I switched to SYN 3 in the engine and the H*140 in primary and trans, with great results up to 75,000 miles when I traded for my 24, which I'm just sticking with the factory fill 360 and F + and have ..you guessed it, great expected results..only ever used HD oil filters and spark plugs too..these proprietary things just work and have given me no reasons to experiment outside of them .. like I mentioned in another post, I get lots of discounts and HD rewards as well so it makes it inexpensive to DIY

 

Not entirely related but my compensator was noisy with SYN3 in the primary. Switched to HD Formula+ and the noise went away.

Lots of riders in this forum are very happy with HD Formula+ over other alternatives. Have to assume HD has got this figured out and we should go with it.

 

yeah when you think how it's been the factory fill for two decades for non CVOs, and think about how many millions of motorcycles have been using it for how many tens of millions of miles without issue, and Harley has seen no need to stop with it. ... pretty compelling proof and evidence it's good stuff

 

Agreed. My buddy has a 2009 CVO and when he serviced it he used SYN3 in all three holes. The compensator became noisy right after the switch to SYN3 in the primary and it failed shorty thereafter, as did one of the tranny bearings after the switch to SYN3. Coincidence? Perhaps...

This is NOT an Anti-SYN3 post! An oil test from Amsoil showed SYN3 was one of the best, though it may be made by somebody else today.

I use Mobil1 V-Twin in my engine and Formula+ in my primary and tranny.

 

I just had my dealer do the 1k service because I was too swamped to do it myself. I told them to leave changing all the oil to me. My dealer's very good and I trust their techs. I do all my own maintenance though and can always double-check critical fastener bolt torques, belt tension, etc. I can't however verify what kind of oil they put in there after the fact. I use Amsoil 15w50, transmission and primary-specific oils exclusively. That and I always take an oil sample at the first change and then at each 10k service and it has to be done a particular way which, again, I can't verify after the fact.

PS - they only charged me $210.

 

I have only had the dealer do one service, and that was a couple months ago for my 1k. I didn’t want SYN3 put in but that’s what they did. I guess I didn’t specify.

It was about 90-95*F on the way home and I thought “man my leg feels hotter than it did before”. And I just carried on. I still hadn’t known they put SYN3 in yet. Once I saw they used SYN3, that was enough for me to conclude it’s the oil making it hotter.

I also noticed more noise from the transmission/primary. They put SYN3 in there as well…

I normally use Mobil1 V-Twin 20W-50 synthetic in the engine and the HD synthetic gear oil in the primary and transmission, but I think I will run a mineral-based oil this go around. I’ll be looking for a V-Twin dino oil for the engine and maybe just F+ in the transmission and primary.