Good thing Harley engines aren't smart enough to read, as they don't care what you put in them as long as the container says "oil" on the label, and you change the oil and filter at reasonable intervals.

Some of the newer riders might not know that millions upon millions of miles were put on Harley engines using just about every type of dino oil, as Harley themselves said not to use synthetic oil in their machines.

Of course this recommendation changed a few years ago when Harley started marketing synthetic oil themselves....

I've never seen or heard of a major oil related malfunction that wasn't caused by rider error, no matter what of oil was being used.

Use whatever you want and just include oil and filter changes as part of a preventive maintenance plan... Your bike will be fine.

 

My Sportster has 30k on the clock (which aint alot) and its never seen syn...

The same with the rest of the bikes I've owned over my 45 years of riding...

Never had an oil related problem...

Go figure...

Charlie D.

 

I don't know if I'd agree to THAT one...at least for any length of time. I understand if you have to do this and you have no choice you should get your oil changed properly at the earliest convenience.

I have had it explained to me that the two don't mix and will bind up the thingamajig and cause your watchamacallit to overheat. I have even seen a video on the subject ... Not a good idea. They simply don't mix well ... much like oil and water. I wouldn't make a habit of it.

 

Regular petroleum-based motor oil and synthetic motor oil are fully compatible, and can be readily mixed.

Some manufacturers combine the two types of oil and package the mixture as a 'synthetic blend.'

Mobil, Amsoil and just about every other major company have 'synthetic blends' available, and they won't hurt your engine in the least.

 

Listen to the Man, he knows what he's taking about. I have used M1 15w50 in almost everything I've owned for the last 5-6 years, and NOT had a problem. I switched to Rottella T 15w40 in my KLR650 for the trip to Alaska and it worked like a charm. rode from Michigan to Fairbanks, 4100 miles 10 days, changed it in the Wally World lot, was down a Qt. Made the trip back to Michigan 5000 miles 18 days, down a Qt. changed it again.

JMHO

 

+1 on this.....He11, sometimes I just grab my Quaker State 10W30, if that's all I have on hand, to top off my oil before a ride if it's a tad low. I know....Blasphemy.

 

+100 .

 

+101

When you changed to (100%) syn in the first place, you had almost a quart of dino in the sump (about 25% dino) even after the 2nd change you still had over 10% dino.

 

The only time you'll run into any issue with switching between synthetic and regular is that regular oil will leave deposits on engine internals. If you run regular oil for a long period of time, then switch to synthetic, the synthetic has additives to prevent the deposits and theoretically can break down existing deposits and possibly open up a leak ...Not really a big problem but something to consider.

 

I looked on line for some explanations and found there is support for both the "Yay" and the "Nay".

Check these out: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Is_it_harm...with_synthetic

http://www.mobiloil.com/USA-English/...entionals.aspx