Engine, tranny oil

At least he is good for a grin or two or three or five hundred

From http://www.harleyhelp.com/faq.html#stp

Where to start? Well, to begin, this flake should make a disclaimer that he is no oil expert or he has the best smoke in town.

Harley-Davidson oil is always worth the extra money. Then you believe in and have fell for for one of the largest fallacies there are!I can't stress this enough with my customers. I'm not a salesman or anything, I try to only use H-D oil in any bike I work on, even when I worked in aftermarket shops (I even recommend HD oil in the Big Dogs and other S&S motors).
H-Ds and most other V-Twins are rollerbearing engines and most others (foreign bikes, automotive, ect.) are flat "Babbit" or "Plain" style bearing engines, which require as "Slick" as possible oil (synthetic). If that type of oil is used in a Harley motor, you could be faced with what is called "Bearing Skate", So, did the the Taurus HSO with Yamaha Engine have Babbitt bearings? (hint: no) Then why did it come with Synthetic oils? What about the Corvette and the exotics??? that is when the rollerbearings start to slide instead of roll and creates flat spots, which creates heat, which winds up at engine failure. The only failure here is your basic logic and basic understanding of lubricants. Harley oil is formulated to be sort of..... tacky, to allow the bearings to roll.(HUH?) It is also formulated to withstand higher temperatures, for those days stuck in traffic. More research has gone into developing their oil than anything else they make because of how hot the motors were getting back in the '70s. H-D probably doesn't do their own testing, they farm it out. The snappy comeback is usually "Yeah, who is making the oil for Harley this week?" Well then, who is is? Sunoco? Jim Bob's Generic? and my answer is that it doesn't matter. Harley-Davidson has a specific set of specifications that the oil manufacturer must be able to produce and as long as the oil meets those specs, who cares who makes it, somebody has to. (I don't think H-D has any plans on going into the oil refinery biz.) And, rightfully so.
As for what weight to run? I use 20/50 in my '79, the multi-weight allows the old shovels to get oil pressure to the top end quicker when the motor is cold and will allow the starter to turn the motor over a little easier, but if you live in a warmer climate you might want to run something heavier or some thing lighter in colder climates. (I switch to HD 10/40 in November or the **** thing won't start)


I hope the above was written long ago and this feller is out to pasture. His statements regarding RUB's HOG etc were mid 90's thinking.

Why in world would you want to believe any of the crap this ole' boy slings? If you do, I've got some land to sell you cheap.

There are independent studies, magazine tests, testing lab results galore and yet, at least fifty times a year we rehash this whole mess.

Here's my 02¢ worth on oils. Synthetic lubricants are superior to Dino oil in every category that I have read about. They beat Dino oil in every lab test, magazine article and independent study I have heard of. H-D claimed their Dino based oil was superior to any synthetic for the last ten years or better. If that is so, why all of a sudden the three in one Syn oil?

Let's use a little bit of the same logic most of us would apply to everyday things. We all know that every electronics manufacturer hypes their own accesories, parts etc and the auto industry hypes their lubes, parts etc right? Have you stopped to wonder why it is that we fret more over a twenty thousand dollar recreational vehicle that is parked next to a thirty thousand dollar SUV with about 2,000% more things to go wrong?

There are sites out there like http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/ that have true experts and engineers that staff it and help. It doesn't sell oil and stays nuetral.

HRK, we need to write a FAQ!

90's Thinking

I looked at this website and while there surely must be some good information buried in it, I agree with you CD this guy is a DINO!!! I'm new to Harley's and hope I don't run into many riders with this kind of bad attitude. What we do to earn a living, how we get to our jobs, and how/how much we choose to spend on our bikes is no ones business but our own. I guess I'm not a EVIL TWIN MOTORCYCLE kind of guy.
My question, is it OK to switch from Petroleum to Synthetic oil on a low mileage motor (3000 miles) or should you start with SYN from the beginning. I'm also surprised that HD reccommends oil changes every 5000 miles. Do you guy's change oil more often than every 5000 miles? I'm wondering if I should be looking into the after market oil cooling kits, it's so hot here for 6 months of the year, HD dealer sez it's no problem.I really want to do everything possible to protect my investment without going overboard.
Thanks for any/all advise.

Happy and Prosperous New Year to EVERYONE

Harley Davidson is at it again.

Was at my dealer yesterday and HD has come out with new oil for use in the Transmission & Primary chain case called Formula +

He said HD came out with it but hasn't said anything to them about using it yet. The parts man figured it was only a matter of time.

Also,I picked one up & read the label, There is no mention on it about what weight oil it is.