After oil change, rides better, WHY??

Anyone have a clue what the heck is going on here?

After much work, baffles were removed and then put back, lifters changed, new head, my performance suffered. I couldn't tell if it was all the work done, one head being different from the other, new baffles installed incorrectly, or what. I figure it might be clutch plates showing wear. I'm at 7,500 miles now, got my 07 Dyna Street Bob at 3,500. When I did the 5,000 mile checkup, I had the oils changed to synthetics. Then some things went wrong (not related to the oils being changed, I don't think). After 48 hours I went back to my dealer and they were hesitant to fix it under warranty with synthetic oil from another company, (Red Line), so I let them switch back to Harley dino in the engine only and they did they work under warranty (it was a manufacturing defect in a head). It never felt quite right since, slight hesitation, first gear wasn't smooth, a bit louder..

Now, after 3,500 more miles +, I had the oil changed in the engine only, same Harley dino, and voila! about 90% of my performance issues went away. First gear is much smoother, grip is better in all gears, response feels faster, not sluggish and it's a bit quieter overall. What's up with that?

More like voodoo! There must be some explanation...

They are always faster after you wash them too!

Funny, Reese!

FLHT, I guess with new lifters and a new head, some break in could be needed, but the thing is that it rode beautifully at 3,500 miles before all the work and after all the work rode decently, but not as strong and smooth. It's just beginning to feel like it used to after 4,500 more miles, but it seems the oil change made the difference, as I noticed the improvement immediately. Excellent power and grip, smooth first gear and smooth control when riding slowly in traffic and it makes a slightly deeper sound, not quite as obnoxious as it could be sometimes. Maybe Cowboy's right, and the flushing out of the old oil took some junk with it.

That's what I would think too. I wouldn't call it great, but there's a definite improvement. I had been concerned that perhaps my issue was the clutch slipping a little, but now it's 75% better as far as the slight hesitation I was getting in first gear when moving forward slowly. I'll ask the Harley dealer service manager when I see him next.

My guess would be they found something they disturbed from before, maybe a loose connection on a sensor, ect., ect., there are a large numbers of potentials to guess at but in general, changing oil should not have any affect.

I like Chucks idea!

Maybe that's it, the weather has cooled and it's around 50-65 degrees here. Would that affect the tone of the pipes though? It seems as if it sounds a bit fuller and deeper.

I'm sure the effect of cooler weather is certainly helpful. Only thing about my question is that the temperature wasn't any different after my oil change (it only took less than 1/2 hr.) and the ride was instantly improved, much more like it was before I did any work to it. Perhaps the change really did get rid of some gunk or perhaps I was just low on oil?

Maybe an oil passage was plugged and it cleaned out somehow when you changed the oil or maybe you had a bad oil filter. If the old oil filter was defective and had a hole in it this might have lowered your oil pressure or if it was plugged?? I don't know Im just thinking off the cuff.

Have you checked your lifter screen lately? Keep checking that every month or so or if the sound comes back.

Other than that - ride the crap out of it and have fun again.