When I bought my Ultra Classic, I thought I was going to add lots of stuff. Well, since 2005, the only things I've added are HD touring pipes, GPS and highway pegs. All of the other things I thought I wanted now seem superfluous.

 

I think it makes sense that the oil cooler mainly reduces oil temp when the bike is moving enough for air to flow through the cooler fins. Standing in traffic it would probably help a little since the oil is still being pumped through it, but probably not enough to be significant.

Synthetic oil holds up better at higher temps, which is what I want it for. It may also reduce some of the heat that is due to friction because it is a better lubricant. It could give better mileage though because of the reduced friction. But most of the heat in an engine is due to the combustion process and moving hot gasses out, so I think there would be little temp reduction from synthetic oil.

 

My dealer recommends going to synthetic at the 1K service if there has been no noticable oil consumption.

 

Good move. The oil cooler is a necessity, IMO, and the OT gauge is much more useful than the stock air-temp gauge. You may not like the operation of the gauge using the HD solution for sender location, however, unless they have fixed the problems for '09. Ask them if they would install the sender in the oil pan rather than in the cooler lines, or do it yourself and do it right.

If you have air shocks you need the pump, which should be standard on all FLH bikes. It isn't, so here it is:

Link to air pump

The 1k change point is fine, or change at 500 and 1k with fossil oil, then change to synthetic at 2k--with 5k intervals thereafter. You might want to consider something beyond Syn3, however, which is an average product at an above-average price. Some others to consider might be Mobil 1 (15w50 is fine), Royal Purple, Redline, and Amsoil.

Depends on the rider. I hear anywhere from 6-12k, and I managed 10k for the first two D402s on my SG. I changed to an E3 last spring and am doing much better now, looking like at least 15k. Performance is excellent, too.

I would wait for the PC-V to become available, then buy a Fuel Moto Power Package. You'll like it for the bang-for-the-buck effect it provides.

 

There is some cooling in traffic through convection, but efficiency obviously goes up as speed increases.


I saw a noticeable difference when I changed to synthetic after break-in, about 10° on the HD oil-temp gauge (fairing mounted).

 

Thanks everyone. That is exactly the type of advice I was looking for. Now if I could just get the Sales Manager to call me with a ship date.