Ok, so I was out riding around last week and stopped by a small cycle shop. I'd never stopped in before, but there are always a couple of hot looking choppers out front, and I had a few minutes to kill, so I strolled in. Got to talking to the owner, mentioned I was looking for oil, as I was going to perform the 1K mile service on my bike. He mentioned that he had just arranged to become an Amsoil dealer, though he would not actually have any in stock for a few weeks. He asked what I was going to use, and I said Mobil1 20W50 Vtwin synthetic in the engine and primary, and Mobil 1 75/90 in the tranny (read on this forum where many folks use that combination). He proceeded to tell me never to use synthetic oil in the primary, that it was too 'slippery', and would cause the clutch to slip. Said he had seen this problem many times. Now, I've read where many folks use synthetic oil of some sort in their primaries, and have been very pleased with the results (I'm liking the way mine is running). I've not read of anyone havingproblems with the clutch slipping. Anyoneelse heardwarnings about using synthetic oil in the primary, or anyone have clutch problems after doing it? Thanks.

 

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The problem arises from the friction modifiers they use to get the "energy star" rating. If yours has that rating, chances are it'll give a wet clutch fits.

 

i call bull, been using amsoil in all 3 holes for years....no probs....

 

He hasn't talked much with Riders and Amsoil itself.

We spent a bit of time researching the Amsoil and talking with their techies about the different oils.

I don't know if ANY issue running amsoil in all 3 holes. If there was there would be a lot of bikers with issues such as the potential issue you mentioned and as you will see ..... pretty much all running amsoil in all 3 holes are very happy.

There can be some debate in which oil to put in which hole ... some just put in 20w50 in all holes. Some use Severe Gear in the Tranny and 20w50 in the crank and primary and others will use different oil for each hole. But I certainly would run amsoil in all 3 holes and highly recommend it. Which ones in which holes ...... that you may want to look at more.

I like the Severe Gear in the Tranny. After talking with amsoil they have stated the SevereGear (overkill for the HD Tranny) should have no problem going 20k between changes. So a case of the Severe Gear can last upwards of 250,000.

 

I use Mobile 1 syn in the primary, no problems here.

 

That is really frickin' hilarious as AMSOIL IS SYNTHETIC!!!

As long as the correct oil is used, weather it be natural or synthetic, it will not harm clutch packs in any way.

 

[sm=boohoo.gif]Here we go again... that dealer should do some reading!

Go to the "Oil and Oil Discussions" Tech Discussion,...

...but in a nutshell,most synthetic auto oils contain friction modifiers, among other goodies. They're a good thing for cylinder walls, but not necessarily clutch plates. The Mobil1 bike oils--VTwin, MX4T, etc.--specifically leave these out, and have a slightly different mix of the other additives. AMSOIL, last time I checked, was the same way, being dedicated bike/sport-machine oils, and you rarely hear of AMSOIL-related issues.

There are ~plenty~ of "my oil vs. your oil" comparisons online, both in our site and MANY others... but if you stick with a *motorcycle oil* of the proper grade, synthetic in all 3 cases is just fine.

 

From the factory harley puts syn3 in all three holes on screamin eagles. I dont think they would do that if they had to fix clutches during first 2 years.

 

I just changed my fluids yesterday and talked with the mechanic at our shop, he told me not to use synthetic in the primary for the same reason. The more miles the bike has on it the more wear and tear the higher the possibility of clutch slippage due to synthetic oil. I figured I wouldn't risk it, I'm using the old harley 20/50.