Regular oil vs synthetic every 1000 mi.

[Drumrguy]

Here is what I do, normal maintenance at the recommended service intervals, all service at recommended service intervals and don't put a whole lot of thought into it. As we all say any true synthetic oil is good and dino oils are good but not as good as synthetic. Heck, I change the oil in my car every 3000 miles religously and at 64K the motor blew. go figure. Point is if something is gonna happen it will regardless.

 

[GARVIN]

in 35 years of wrenching I have found that the people who drive their engines have very few problems . the engines that are babied have nothing but problems . I don`t mean red line all the time , I mean full range of rev`s on regular basis and making the engine work not lugging, the only engine I have had go bad was my very first new bike - broke in motor just like manual said, rode the bike easy < bike spent more time in shop first year than I did riding,.

 

[mnultra]

Heres one that will drop your jaw a bit.
The used HYD oil in our tanks is better filtered than the new oil we get.
That why all HYD oil we put in gets pumped in through a filter before it gets in system.
Engine oil goes through the filter on the engine those filters if good one filter the oil to a higher standard than the manufacture.

Smitty. As you know, I work at at Cat dealer and you are correct about filtering the fluids before they enter a machine. We build all of our own custom oil systems for our shops. When we have oil delivered, by our standard it is not clean enough for use, and we "kidney" loop all of the oils through a seperate system with four 5 micron filters. When we run a particle count on the oil and it meets our standard, it is then stored in bulk tanks with dessicant filters to make sure that moisture build up is eliminated. From there, before any fluid enters a machine, it passes through two additional filters from the tanks to the "guns".

It may seem like overkill to most, but it a practice that we feel helps ensure longevity of our products whether it be engines, hyd. systems, finals etc.

One thing that should be taken into consideration is that checking your oils to often can actually be detrimental in the long run. Every time you open up a system, it allows contamination in. Every time you wipe the dipstick off with that old garage rag, contaminates enter the system. I ceratinly am not saying don't check your oils, but if you check it every time you ride, and have never required top off fluids, do you think you are doing your bike any benefits?

 

[mnultra]

Smitty. Sorry, the last paragraph should have been addressed to everyone else.

As you can tall I am a user of CAT products and have learned to follow the CAT progarm. IT works.
What I am trying to get across is that chnaging oil and lubes to often can and is in some cases more harmful to you eninge and tranmission.
Same with air filters.
All of this applies to your HD as well.
The new 924H we picked up for Milwaukee is a nice machine

Couldn't agree more

 

[Alamo]

My 1959 to 1969 Electra Glide-Duo Glide service manual says to change engine oil at 2,000 mile interval. OK. That is 40 years ago.
Now days with the additives in dino oil and fully synthicic oil that is not nessasary. Unless you have an oil change fetish.
The advanced metallurgy and closer tolerances in todays Harleys allows The Motor Company a service interval of 4,000 miles on dino oil.
I use Amsoil 20w50. Change filter and top off oil @ 5,000 miles. Change oil and filter @ 10,000 miles. To each their own. :TEXAS

 

[Terry Jackson]

Oil contamination comes from 2 sources, burnt oil off the cylinder wall, and combustion blow by. This contamination is carbon based, and very hard. Synthetic burns at a higher temperature, thus making less contamination. Which means you can go further between oil changes. Gapless rings also greatly reduce blowby, which is the # 1 source of contamination. Running gapless rings will keep your motor running much cleaner.

Oil and Grease are both somewhat contaminated when new. Manufacturer that use patroleum products in their products have to filter them at the point of application. You would be surprized at how much contamination is in our lubricants.