Fluid Dynamics can be confusing. I had a whole semester of it and it's still confusing. lol

 

It just comes down to this. Put in whatever brand you feel comfortable with. If you want to be sure you are not changing your oil too soon and wasting money, keep track of the mileage on the bike, and how many miles are on the oil, when you go to change it, grab a sample and send it to a lab that can give you an analysis report. The way most of them work is that you buy a kit from them which includes a bottle and a small cardboard box to send the sample back to them. When they complete their report, they will give you all kinds of information on breakdown and contaminants. Some contaminants are normal, it is what they are and how much is there, that is what is imoprtant. From the report you can determine if you are changing your oil too late or too early. I suggest waiting until after the 2nd or 3rd oil change and 5000 miles because you will have excess metal in the oil from break-in.

 

Just make sure you send them the oil sample, not the stool sample from your hemocult kit.

John

 

http://www.blackstone-labs.com/free-test-kits.php

 

Balckstone actually sends you the sample kits for free. Your only charged when you submit a sample. I do both my bikes at 2500, then at the 5000 oil change. Money well spent in my opinion.

 

I've used MoCo Syn-3 and the "black" filter every oil change so far, because it's the easiest synthetic oil to acquire.

Can't find Amsoil around here, and the parts houses don't stock any Royal Purple, Mobile 1, or any other good synthetic in motorcycle formulas.

In my pickup, car, and the riding mower i use Royal Purple.

 

A question. My mom used to work for a manufacturer of pumps. They sold to Sears, their own brand, Maytag, etc, etc. All of those were in different boxes. That said, some of the different companies didn't get the same internals. Some were plastic and others were metal. All depended on the specification of the customer, whoever or whomever it was. Some of the stuff I do is made by a company with my specs and my label.

That all said, Citgo makes HD's oil. However, what specs is it made to? Is it the same as what you buy off the shelf with the Citgo label on it or is there more to it than that? Are the additives the same or different? Just because the base stock is the same doesn't mean that they are all the same.

Just curious.

 

Not saying I know anything but I'm sure it comes from one of the formulations Citgo already makes. If it was a special formulation spec'd by HD they'd never make money on it and we know they'd never do that.

 

We have asked companies to do "Private Label" for stuff. They will do it but you have to buy a certain quantity or dollar value. So they might make it for HD and slap a HD label instead of Citgo and made to their spec but they certainly will not do it for 1 or two bottles. It will be for a certain quantity. It might not be a totally different formulation. It might be motorcycle oil as a base stock but for HD, they might add a little different additive package. In turn, that makes it not really the Citgo oil you or I can get at the gas station.

 

Might? they for sure do. And if not them then someone else that came in with a low bid. For sure inferior to Amsoil/Mobil 1. They make oil not motorcycles.