Thank you. The voice of reason.

 

???? Other people wasting oil= Makes me believe what the dealer says??? Not sure i follow???
changing oil 3-6 times before you get to 5000 miles is a waste of good oil..

 

I ran what was in the bike new for 1000 miles, free 1st service with Dino then at 6000 i started to use Full syn...opened the bike up this year at about 58000 miles to do cams and the insides looked great...change every 5000 miles with Auto 15W50 or 20w50... I plan on getting at least 100000 before i go in the engine for anything other than cam chain tensioners...Today i had her wide open ...went up to 105 MPH and she was smooth....Ride it like i stole it sometimes to clean some of the carbon out of the combustion chambers....It's broke in by now i think...

 

As far as too frequent break-in oil changes, S & S says; 50 miles, 500, 2500 miles. I think the only reason HD does not is that they are producing motors for mass consumption and consumers would balk, whereas S & S is more of a specialty manufacturer who's customers have a different mindset.

I have no way of knowing for sure but I suspect that if you ask someone in marketing at HD they'd say first change at 1,000 but if you asked someone in engineering at HD they'd say something similar to what S & S says.

I changed out the dyno oil to Amsoil at 100, 500 and 1,000 miles - then every 3,500 or so.

 

Agreed. None of the techs recommended Synthetic either. They all use Dino. That's what I used my first service and happy I saved some $$$. However, go talk to the parts counter and they all recommend synthetic. I'll take the tech's word over parts any day.

 

http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

Viewer Questions:

Q: If break- in happens so quickly, why do you recommend using petroleum break- in oil for 1500 miles ??

A: Because while about 80% of the ring sealing takes place in the first hour of running the engine,
the last 20% of the process takes a longer time. Street riding isn't a controlled environment, so most of the mileage may
not be in "ring loading mode". Synthetic oil is so slippery that it actually "arrests" the break in process before the rings can seal completely. I've had a few customers who switched to synthetic oil too soon, and the rings never sealed properly no matter how hard they rode. Taking a new engine apart to re - ring it is the last thing anyone wants to do, so I recommend a lot
of mileage before switching to synthetic. It's really a "better safe than sorry" situation.

Q: My bike comes with synthetic oil from the factory, what should I do ??

A: I recommend changing the factory installed synthetic oil back to petroleum for the break-in period.

Q: What about the main and rod bearings, don't they break - in ??

A: Actually, the operation of plain bearings doesn't involve metal to metal contact !! The shiny spots on used
bearings are caused from their contact with the crankshaft journals during start up after the engine has been sitting a while,
and the excess oil has drained off. This is the main reason for not revving up the engine when it's first started.

The subject of plain bearings is one of the most mysterious aspects of engines, and will be covered in a future issue
of Power News. In it, I'll reveal more information that fully explains the non-contact phenomenon.

Q: Why change the oil at 20 miles ?? Doesn't the oil pick up
screen catch the aluminum bits ???

A: It's true that the screen stops the big pieces, but many areas of the engine aren't within the oil filtration system. The oil that is splashed around will circulate metal debris to the lubricated bearing surfaces. For example, transmission gears and their ball bearings are unprotected by the filtration system, and even the cam chain makes a perfect "conveyer belt" to
bring metal debris up into the cylinder head !!

A close examination of a new engine will reveal lots of aluminum deposits on steel parts. This aluminum coats and tightens
up the clearances of the parts, which creates a loss of power. Most of the time I spend "blueprinting"
an engine is actually inspecting every part and "de-aluminizing" them !!

I prefer to remove the oil pan and clean the aluminum bits out of a new engine out that way, but a $20 oil change
is an easy and inexpensive way to flush the initial particles that come loose in the first miles.

 

Lion i am not calling you a liar or saying you are wrong but I just look at all the people that have used the 1000 miles and then every 5000 miles for years and ran the bike for Hundreds of thousands of miles...So it might not be that crucial to change the oil that often before you get to 5000 miles??? May mean a minimal amount to scarring less but for most part doesn't the oil filter catch most of the crap from the oil any way? I presume that if the filter and oil is changed at 1000 miles it has done it's job pretty good and the break-in period is somewhat done and you start using fresh oil every 5000 miles so for the average rider this would be sufficient...Like i said in a previouls post the inside of my Motor when i opened it up at around 55000 miles was pretty good so i feel that the way i did it was fair enough to the engine.
I would be curious to know what the percentage of riders do the suggested by MOCO or the 5 times before 5000 miles just for ***** and giggles....????

 

well, lets look at it this way...you change the oils as the book says and sell the bike when you get 100k on it....or you change the oils twice as often and sell the bike at 100k miles...one way costs twice as much as the other, but both will get you to 100k miles without any issues...its your choice.....

 

I'm doubting that it's as serious in these engines we have, but i knew a guy that promoted NOT CHANGING OIL any more often than recommended! He claimed changing oil too soon was just as bad as not changing it enough, because the detergents didn't have time to "do their job"???

 

I could be overly **** about it, but it was the first new bike that I had ever had and I wanted to do things right, or what I thought was right anyway.

I broke it in using their method too by going up to 60 in 3rd gear, and then letting it coast or brake back down on it's own to 30 mph and then back up to 60 mph ten times in a row too. Bike hauls *** too w/just a stage 1.

I figure that this will more than likely be the last bike that I have considering I'm closer to age 60 than 50, so it's got to last.