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Mobil and amsoil might recommend using the same oil in all three holes and they and their lawyers stand behind that recommendation. Why wouldn't they? If they've got thousands of customers using their product, paying to rebuild a few trannys is peanuts for them. They still making huge money selling their oil. I'd bet the profit margins are higher on their engine oils than the specialty oils. Big company recommendations are always slanted towards higher margins, that's how they got big.
There are better oils out there made specifically for each hole so why not use them? How much room do 2 more quarts of oil take on the shelf space at home?
When I put a GL-5 oil (Spectro) in my tranny, the difference in shifting and finding neutral was unbelievable. Engine oil of any kind isn't designed for the shear wear found on gears in the tranny. Both Spectro and Redline make excellent oils for the Harley trannys.
Does anybody use the same oil in all the holes of their vehicles to save money and the convenience of using only 1 oil. Would you really put engine oil in the motor, power steering, tranny, differentials and transfer case? You might be get away with it, but I'd bet not for long.
Is your Harley really not worth spending a few extra bucks on by using the best products you can find? Think of it this way, a $20 quart of tranny oil spread over 20,000 miles works out to be $.001 per mile. For some, 20,000 miles takes 2 to 3 years to rack up. I don't understand why it's worth trying to save $5 spread over 2 years.
I'm not a salesman for any oil so I don't have a vested interest but what I know is from experience and trying different products and sticking with what I've found works the best on my bike.
 
geezer said:
Mobil and amsoil might recommend using the same oil in all three holes and they and their lawyers stand behind that recommendation. Why wouldn't they? If they've got thousands of customers using their product, paying to rebuild a few trannys is peanuts for them. They still making huge money selling their oil. I'd bet the profit margins are higher on their engine oils than the specialty oils. Big company recommendations are always slanted towards higher margins, that's how they got big.
There are better oils out there made specifically for each hole so why not use them? How much room do 2 more quarts of oil take on the shelf space at home?
When I put a GL-5 oil (Spectro) in my tranny, the difference in shifting and finding neutral was unbelievable. Engine oil of any kind isn't designed for the shear wear found on gears in the tranny. Both Spectro and Redline make excellent oils for the Harley trannys.
Does anybody use the same oil in all the holes of their vehicles to save money and the convenience of using only 1 oil. Would you really put engine oil in the motor, power steering, tranny, differentials and transfer case? You might be get away with it, but I'd bet not for long.
Is your Harley really not worth spending a few extra bucks on by using the best products you can find? Think of it this way, a $20 quart of tranny oil spread over 20,000 miles works out to be $.001 per mile. For some, 20,000 miles takes 2 to 3 years to rack up. I don't understand why it's worth trying to save $5 spread over 2 years.
I'm not a salesman for any oil so I don't have a vested interest but what I know is from experience and trying different products and sticking with what I've found works the best on my bike.
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I agree with everything you said, except for the underlined part. Are you saying you only change your tranny fluid every 20,000 miles??? For only $20 a quart, I'm changing mine every 5,000 miles. Like you say, its not worth trying to save a few bucks, especially as much as these bikes cost, or the repairs on them.
 
After the initial 1K change, HD recommended trans. change is 20K, which I do a bit more often. Engine oil needs changing because of chemical contaminants from the combustion process, primary needs change because of particles from the clutch plates and chain. The trans. gets very little contamination. At 15K, my trans. oil looks like it did when I put it in. Oil doesn't loose it's slippery because of time/wear, that's why there is "reclaimed" oil. But, you sure are not going to hurt anything by doing more frequent changes, and you just might find stuff on your drain magnet that alerts you to a problem.
 
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I am a bit more conservative on the fluid change frequency. I change all three applications and engine oil filter every 3000-4000 miles. But I also change the plugs then too. None of that (except the engine oil and filter) is absolutely necessary. I just do it because it is cheap insurance on my $20k investment.

And NO, I do not use the same fluid in all three applications.

TQ
 
glazier said:
I agree with everything you said, except for the underlined part. Are you saying you only change your tranny fluid every 20,000 miles??? For only $20 a quart, I'm changing mine every 5,000 miles. Like you say, its not worth trying to save a few bucks, especially as much as these bikes cost, or the repairs on them.
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I was just using 20,000 miles as a reference and what Harley recommends. I change all 3 holes every 3000 miles. Some would say that's a waste of oil and they might be right. It gives me the warm and fuzzies so I do it every 3000 miles. Probably more for me than the bike. :D
 
I think I'm gonna go with a high quality setup ... Moibil1 vtwin in the motor
Mobil 20-50 non-synthectic in the primary or maybe formula+, and redline in the tranny .. I think from all the research this will be a great setup
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OK .. still undecided here ..everyone seems to agree on snthetic in the motor and trans .. some don't like it in the primary .. I've change dmy mind on the redline and decided on spectro for the tranny. I'm pretty satified that mobile 1 v-twin will be fine for motor. so what do you recommend for the primary in non synthectic?
 
HD Formula +.
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