Oil Filters

I am curious as to the use of oil filters other than Harley or Honda or whomever. I have a cross reference list of different well known auto oil filter makers. Is there any reason not to use these filters, i.e. is there something unique to Harley? Some are even a little larger, adding a 1/2qt. to the capacity.

I did a search and nothing came up on this topic, so hope this isn't old news again. Thanks

Hotroadking, no fetish here, and I'm not trying to beat up anything with this oil related subject. These bikes are brand new to me, so I'm trying to learn what I can. Whatever will make my bike live longer, play harder, while providing equal to, or greater than, protection that the dealer products offer.

I'm a firm believer in maintenance and the best products available, but I don't want to be mislead by dealer hype. If they have the best fluids, filters etc, my bike will be fed that. I just have trouble spending the $$$ for oil (or filters) that may not be as good as what I can buy aftermarket. Hence the questions.

I just removed a filter that hadn't been off the bike for a LONG time from the previous owner, so I was curious as to whether everyone is using strictly dealer filters or the aftermarkets are not as good. I don't know. Thanks for the response, I appreciate any input.

I payed $7.99 for the harley filter at my 10K service. I thought that was reasonable, but I know what you mean about dealer hype. I plan on doing alot more myself now that I have a service manual. I use the black one too and run the SYN3 oil. The oil cost $44 for 5 quarts. I took my bike to the dealer for the service because I bought it used and wanted them to do a good once over. They don't mind me standing in back and watching them work. I ask lots of questions and they are happy to answer them. But what they did was what any good wrencher does, read the manual and do the service. I can do that and will in the future.

The oil filter sounds a little pricey, but the oil is pretty comparable to the Mobil 1 V-twin ($8/qt). Example: $3.99 for a Fram; there was a STP for $2.99, etc etc. This is why I asked the question, are these other filters substandard or missing some valving etc? I don't know. I imagine the filter medium is the same, but there could be a crucial difference or nothing but dealer mark up. Thanks

Hotroadking, no offense taken here, I knew you were joking. Might be fun slithering around in oil..mmmmmm. This is a family forum, so I guess I better stick to basics.

I know for no more than we change the oil/filter, the price is minimal, so it shouldn't be a issue. I hate giving the dealer the extra $$$ if the oil and filter are just off the shelf items that have been rebadged. The list of oil filters was off of a website, and I have no idea if they meet Harley's spec's or not, I haven't a clue what those would be. I would imagine they have to hold some oil in them to prevent dry start ups but I'm guessing at that.

Thanks for the insight, and the oil fetish comment, it keeps things lively!

Hotroadking, you're right about supporting the dealer, I didn't look at it that way. They have always been really friendly and helpful. For the difference in cost, it's not a bad price to pay. They helped me find a motorcycle carrier when I had to have the bike shipped, and it came through in perfect condition. I'm sure there are other carriers I could have used, but who knows the outcome.

I was on another forum once, in which an engineer (quality control) for a Fram filters plant, was a member. He said himself, that after working for Fram, he'll never use one of their products in any vehicle he ever owns. Substandard materials throughout, like cardboard, was his primary reason. So if I were you, I wouldn't use the walmart fram units.

I too just use the HD oil filters. They are reputed to be of high quality, and now supposedly filter down to 5 microns. They discontinued the 10 micron filters HotRoadKing. The only other filter, that I'd consider right now is the K&N, but that costs more money than the HD...and I have a dealership just across town to make picking one up easy.

I use Mobil 1 15W-50 in my Harley...and have for 3 years; since HRK and others pointed out to me that it was widely used, and of high quality. I believe I provided a link in your other thread that shows the results of some side by side testing which validated the 15W-50 as well. Walmart carries 5qt container of this oil for $23.00. Thats $4.60/qt....and you won't find a better deal than that for motorcycle oil anywhere.

If the Fram's are no good, why put our bikes at risk for a few bucks? I'm not into cutting corners just for the sake of a buck, I won't do that. I just figured Harley rebadged their filters from some major or minor manufacturer so why pay an inflated price for the same filter. I've used Fram for a lot of years, but won't use them on my diesel. To much chance of the filter media coming loose and plugging the cooling nozzles in the pistons. That equates to one trashed engine.

I've used Baldwin filters in the past and they are a little more pricey, but quality. I'll stick with the Harley filters, we don't use that many anyway. I don't know how K & N is for oil filters, but tests on their air filters they fail with Cummins. They let to many particles through and don't have the dirt particle retention factor required. Just a thought.
Thanks

Harleys filter is made by fram and there plugs are made by champion. HD has used these products for years.

I sure hope not.

http://www.tobycreek.org/oil_filters/fram.shtml

This is from a guy named Greg over on the V-twin forum:

"Hey on the oil filters. The company I work for, Champion Labs makes most of the OEM filters. But They Also make MOST of the k&n oil filters. I don't know if they make them all. But I see them getting boxed up at work. So I know they make them. And by the size of the runs they do, it is a lot of them.

So which is better k&n oil filters or OEM"

SeaHag, the oil filter in the reference that was disected, was that a Harley Black filter? I know the reference was to Fram, but wanted to clarify. Thanks

NO...The creator of that site, must be more interested in import bikes. I didn't see a single HD filter there....but in the cross reference charts, there are some other manufacturers offerings, that will work in HD applications.

I'm not sure if the Fram unit dissected is HD compatible or not. I just wanted to show an example of the type of shoddy craftsmanship Fram is getting a name for.

I did some internet research on oil filters and read about some people using auto oil filters on their bikes (Geo Metro fits TC-88s). I even talked about it on this forum. The Pralater pure one is a very good filter that works down to 10 microns but the problem with using auto filters is that cars have relatively high presser oil systems and HD has a low presser system. So the spring loaded bypass built into the filter won’t open if the filter is clogged. That will cause bad, bad things to happen. I decided not to risk it, even changing the filter once between, as well as at every oil change to be sure it doesn’t clog up (which would be more expensive that using the HD filter anyway). And if HD filters are filtering down to 5 microns now, why would any one risk anything else? Prualater also make a TC-88 filter but it is contracted out to another company and it did not catch as high a % of 10 micron particles as their auto filters did in the multi pass tests that I looked at. And oh by the way, Fram sucked in the test and K&N didn’t do so hot either. Stay with the HD filter. I’ll look around and see if I can find the link and post it. Sorry to get so long winded.

Good to know about the pressure relief valve. I don't even remember what I paid for my HD filter the last time. What kind of oil pressure does a Harley run? Some cars have pretty low pressure, so the HD's must really be low

Hotroadking,
I'll bite, you probably would expect nothing less from me!
I didn't know how low the pressure runs so asked, but are oil coolers a good idea? I've seen some metric bikes with them but it's not often I've seen a Harley wearing one. Of course being brand new to this, my experience is very little.