This was on another forum I belong to and thought it was worth passing on;
Tested: Amsoil best vs Redline

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I have one of the 07's w/5th gear clatter. 6th was not dead quiet, either. I now have run 4 different tranny gear lubes playing around.

The Syn3 (or whatever that light yellow stuff was) that came in it from the MoCo is loudest. Bad chatter - sounded like rocks in a tin can cold or hot. Same in 6th also.

Put Amsoil 75W-140 Severe Gear in and it removed most of the noise. Dead silent cold. After warming up 5-10 miles at road speeds, could hear a little clatter when it lugs down toward 2000 rpm in 5th, kind of like occasional clatter in the old original 5-speeds in the FXR's.

Drained that today and tried Redline Shockproof Heavy. Silent while cold, but after warming up it got almost as loud as with the syn3. Was not expecting that. Took it out, in-town, and a short interstate spurt up to 70-75. 5th very loud and 6th annoying.

Drained Redline and put in some Valvoline 20-50 VR1 Racing I had to dilute and get the traces of that red "pepto bismol" Redline out. Believe it or not, it did very well. I'd say 75% as good as the Amsoil, but I did not take it out all day and try it as long as the others, but it was definitely quieter than the syn3 when cool. I was just using it as a drain cleaner.

So, I put the Amsoil back in and put 100 miles of mixed riding. Still had the minor clatter at 2000 in 5th when at max hot operating, but 6th was dead silent and 5th was back to where it was with Amsoil before, so I would say it's official: Amsoil 75W-140 Severe Gear is a good short term band-aid for the '07 5th gear noise until the recall.

 

new oil, old oil, heavier oil, lighter oil..... i would be PISSED

 

I really don't understand why HD messed up so bad. In the fall of 04, I put the six spped gear set in my five speed box. slight mod to box was involved. The OD gear set is fantastic. Have never had a problem, no noise and so happy I have it over a new one.

 

That's it....I'm switching to SYN3.[sm=escape.gif]

 

I don't blame the bike for rattling at 2000RPM in fifth gear.

 

Ya no kidding. 2k? Now I don't have a tach, but that sounds a bit low of RPM's to be running.

 

I think folks are pissed cause with my old 5 speed you could bring that puppy down to around 1500 and not hear a thing but that lovely potato-potato gurgle....
Although I need to keep the RPMs up in 5th on my 07 I still love this bike. Just a matter of time until HD addresses the problem. Sounds like there is one ya know.... But we/I could be wrong.

lp

 

Gunrunner,
Since you have been such a great test subject with the oil testing, I wish you would have made a comparison with Royal Purple MAX-Cycle 20W50.

That's what I've had in my '03 Ultra Classic since the first oil change. Fortunately in my case I have a hearing loss that doesn't allow me to hear those kind of sounds, so I don't know if mine is noisy or not. But it would be interesting to know how the Royal Purple compares to the other brands.

 

Sorry you misread, I did not do the test, just simply reprinted this from another forum for information purposes only, as to royal purple, I have used it, and it is fine, it did not rate near as good as amsoil or mobil 1 in goverment tests, but it is way better than dyno oil. If you go to the amsoil site you can see those tests and where each oil rated.

 

Amsoil is the best! That's not my opinion, just the fact's.