Oil change frequency

I was currious when people are changing their oils. If you go by the HD manual,i believe the schedule says 1000,5000,10k miles.
This seems too long since these bikes are running hotter than a car.
I am running the HD syn oil in all areas and now at the 2000 mile mark on my '03 road king. The oil still looks pretty fresh.
PS- i once had a toyota sale person tell me they were getting 30k miles between oil changes.....yea,ok buddy-sure.

i belive there is a 2500 mile oil change and a few other hinhs need to be looked at

Hey, PbC,

the Harley manual tells of 5K oil changes and 2.5K inspections. I talked to a Harley tech and they are told that you need to change oil at 5K intervalls only (after the 1K original change).
I do the 2.5K change my self, don't trust anybody anyway. Its also cheaper
Btw, coming from Europe, I am used to oil change intervalls on cars between 10K and 20K miles. Over there, everybody uses synthetics. You couldn't sell a car that requires oil changes every 3K miles. All on the same cars that run over here, too.

H

My dad told me long ago (After I tore up a few car engines) that oil will always be cheaper than engines.

That said, I change my oil every 2000 miles. Don't care what H-D says.

To each his own

Depending upon the amount of riding time (family comes first) I get in per year it seems that I do a oil change on the average of about 6,000 miles. I keep my eye on my oil and the oil temp gauge. If the oil starts getting too dark (I change it), if the bikes burns a bit of oil (I change it). Otherwise it is a spring or fall decision. If I was able to ride more it would be a 5,000 mile interval unless oil gets too dark or motor starts to burn oil.

I use the 10W40 which is really thick and try to ensure that the bike is warm before pushing it. (I said try) I am not too sure about the new synthetic stuff. I use it in my car since that is what they suggest but my HD owners manual says to use 10w40.

As far as services go, I do not let HD put a hand on my bike. I do not trust them. I have a buddy that can do almost anything to a bike. The two of us push it into his basement and do a nightshift or two. At least then I know what has been done. My buddy has a saying and to this day it has been true "He will not break anything that he cannot fix".

Reference cars, my car gets an oil change every 15,000km or roughly every 9,500 to 10,000 miles. Most new cars in Europe are running 10 to 20k miles on oil. But who cares huh?

Do what you think is right and what your wallet and time can handle. I cannot afford or plan in an oil change 2,000 or 2,500 miles. Now I do know some people who only put that kind of milage on their bike in a years time so I guess it is do able.

I do an oil change in the Spring using Harley 50w and then again with 50w in the middle of summer after about 3500 to 5000 miles. In the fall, I go back to 20w50, which is what Harley installs at the factory. That usually lasts until the Spring, unless I take a Winter trip. We ride year round here on the Gulf Coast.

That is what I used to do. Last service I opted to use Mobil 1 15w50 at Hotroadking's (and others) advice. I will probably use it year round.

I always read and heard that one should service a bike at least once a year, regardless of mileage. I can see some logic to that. I ride 12,000 to 20,000 a year so that is not a factor for me.

The significant part of this discussion is that everyone here seems to be aware of the importance of servicing their bike. It's surprising how many people never do. I ride with guys who never even check their tire pressure, the big dummies. Every single tire wear issue on a motorcycle can usually be associated with underinflated tires.

Enough on that, already.

Tranny oil

HRK,

I'm planning on replacing the HD Syn3 with Amsoil 20w- 50 on my next oil change. I had planned on using the Amsoil 20w-50 for the trans and primary as well as the engine. ( I currently use the Syn3 for all 3 lubricants)

However, I have been reading around, and have seen suggestions on using the gear oil for the tranny as you mentioned in your last post.

I'm sold on synthetics and like the idea of being able to use one oil for all 3 applications, but I want to be sure I am using the best lubricant for the job.

I'd appreciate it if you'd take a minute and tell me what Amsoil lubricants you use / recommend and why.

Thanks,

SISK

A liberal is someone who feels a great debt to his fellow man, which debt he proposes to pay off with your money. - G. Gordon Liddy

Which Oil for which temps??

So, I am just being curious here. I am a bit upset that this topic died so fast since this is a very interesting subject. I have heard (did not say I know) that Synthetic Oils do better on small engines with high revs and in cooler environments. I thought logically 10w40 and or 20w50 should be used in the warmer summer months and if you are doing some heavy duty winter driving switching to synthetics during the winter months would be a good idea. Now a lot of the people are talking about switching to synthetic oils like ffflhtcui who is able to ride year round in the gulf coast. So, my question is what to believe? Synthetics year round? Synthetics are better in cooler environments? Synthetics are better in warmer environments? I am curious if anyone has any experiences to share on this.

Cheap Insurance

The cheapest insurance that I know for an engine is frequent oil changes. Get all of the dirt and corrosive compounds left from the combustion process out of your bike as often as possible. Although HD changed their interval to 5000 miles for oil changes I will stick to every 2500 miles. Besides, an oil change is a good time to do a once over on the bike to find out what has vibrated loose.

USAHELLAS

Somewhere in this forum is a link to a website which discusses the research done on oil use, specifically syn oil. I read it and concluded that syn oils reduce friction, thereby causing less metallic wear and less heat. The information also said that syn oils hold up better to heat than dino oils, don't break down under heat.

If that is true, which I believe it is, then syn oil would be better in all engines and at all climates. In order to accomodate different climates, one should change the viscosity of the oil, sometimes referred to as the weight of the oil. In fact, if it is very cold, it would be a strain on your starter to turn over an engine with 50W oil in it, which is why I change to 20W50 in the winter. Oil flows better as it heats up and 50W doesn't flow well at 40 F.

In summary, IMHO I don't know why someone would recommend syn oil in the winter and not in the summer when it's most redeeming quality is the ability to stand up to heat. I will use it year round.

Synthetic vs Dino juice

US & GR
Ditto to what ffflhtcui said in his post.

I switched to synthetic at my 1000 mile oil change and have been extremely pleased . I currently run the HD 20w 50 Syn3, but next oil change, I'll be changing to a synthetic that I believe is superior to Syn3.

When I change the syn oil, it is the same nice amber color as the day I put it in, and it never smells burnt or "dirty". Each time I check the dipstick the oil looks and smells like I've just put in new oil.

I realize that this isn't a very scientific method, but after doing numerous oil changes on cars and bikes using petroleum oils, I've come to expect seeing black, burnt smelling oil come out of the drain pan. It's a nice change to see the oil still looking clean when I drain it. I'll be switching my cages over to syn at the next oil changes too.

Prior to switching to syn, I did alot of research on the net and asking friends and techs. All the "educated" replies and verifiable results pointed me to synthetics, and I'm not going back to dino oil in the engines that I care about.

Check this forum for oil info as ffflhtcui suggested. I know Hotroadking has posted some links in some of his threads. Some of these sites have some good scientific / quantifiable info on synthetics vs dino oils.

As far as changing back and forth from dino to syn based on the season, there is no need or reason to do it. The syn will give you superior performance to dino in summer or winter IMHO. You can also get various weights of syn oils if you feel that you need a heavier or lighter weight depending on the seasonal temps.

Do a search on this forum for synthetics and oils and see what other info you can find, and check the WWW too.
Good luck in you hunt for info.

SISK

If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way.