I think i need a little oil i am new to bikes and to harley what kind of oil do i add thanks

 

just do the 1000 mile service early

for your 1000 miles service you need to use the normal non-synthetic oil

at 3000 or 5000 miles whatever you want to change it at, you can swap over to the synthetic

 

I am leaving on saturday the harley dealer in salt lake city is a week to two weeks out on service. I have an iron 883 if i wanted to top it off before i leave do i have to add the harley brand oil or can i go to the auto part store and get one

 

Be careful about "topping it off". I keep my level at the 1/2 way mark on the dip stick. Any fuller and you can get oil misting out of you breather hoses.

If you need some oil 20W50 is the correct weight. Do you have an owners manual?

 

You're about due for the 1000 mile service, but you're going to ignore it and and take off "on a long road trip"?

 

What I mean by long trip it's 400 miles round trip if I go to Harley and ask them to look at for safety sake what that be a good idea

 

Im at 1300 miles on mine and still havent had the check. Im scheduled for next Tuesday but Im no going to stop riding it. Just doesnt seem right that a brand new bike needs that kind of care.

On the oil, whats wrong with using synthetic at the 1k maintenance? When the person at the dealer asked I said synthetic, he didnt object. Is that going to cause a problem?

 

I guess you don't know very much about motors and what happens during the "Break-In" process.

Because your motor is in the break-in process, your oil and oil filter right now have more metal shavings in it than an already broken-in motor would have if it had gone 20,000 miles since the last oil change.

The MoCo's requirement for changing the break-in oil at 1000 miles is pretty lenient.
Any good mechanic that knows what he's doing, would tell you to do your first oil change at 200 - 300 miles.

 

There are many schools of thought on when to make the switch to synthetic. The reason being that many believe the dino oil helps break in, and if you switch too soon the bike will never break (wear) in with the syn because there is no wear with syn. Mobil 1 calls this a myth on their website, and many new vehicles come from the factory with synthetic.

Right or wrong I am waiting until 1500 miles to change to syn, just what I've always done with a new engine. First change with dino oil at 500, and syn at 1500. I figure by 1500 it's broken in as much as it's going to be. Many do switch at the 1000 mile service and some never do.

 

well the materials cost about $40 for synth, if your skilled in pouring fluid down a funnel.