I was mulling around on the S&S website and found the following post on their Questions board. After reading this it made me wonder...what's the better oil filter for a TC. From what I gather, the TC filter is a 10 micron filter which cleans oil better but is restrictive and the Evo filter is a 30 micron filter which flows better. Now with that said...would a faster flowing filter not be better for these TC motors by returning the oil faster for cooling? Anyone have any thoughts on this?

Here is the article:

Should I run a 10 micron or a 30 micron oil filter?[/align]A micron rating is given to show the efficiency of the oil filter (one micron is a millionth of a meter).
This leads consumers to believe that the 10 micron filter must be better for their bike. Here is where it can get confusing; though the 10 micron filter may have a higher filtration rating it does not allow the oil to return to the tank as fast. With this in mind, the 10 micron filter was developed for use with the Twin Cam style engine, which has a different oiling system that allows oil to be forced through a more restrictive oil filter. The reason for the tighter filtration was explained by the manufacture as necessary to assure all of the smaller passages, in the Twin Cam style engine, would stay clear of debris. If you run the 10 micron filter with an evolution style engine it will not be able to return oil through the filter fast enough causing the oil to back up into the lower end robbing power and/or causing oil to puke out of the lower end.
The 30 micron filter is designed to work best for your Evolution style engine, the filtration is still excellent and it will not cause oiling issues.
When it comes to filtering oil application is very important. There have been a lot of changes and updates too many filters on the market, with claims of better filtration, don't be fooled into using a filter that might not be the best for your bike.[/align]

 

Run the one specified for your motor, as in one which meets or exceeds specs. Failure to do so would undoubtedly render any warrenty on your engine invalid. If there is no cost saving and no need to conform to EPA or similar, then I would bet that the engineers got it right on the oil filter specs.

 

LOL...I think my warranty was void on the engine when i ripped it apart and added the go-go to it!

 

Good point well made

I didn't read your footnotes.

 

I won't disagree with the point of your post but this statement isn't quite true. All quality oil filters have a bypass valve which allows the excess oil flow to bypass the filter when the pressure limit is exceeded. Even at 30 microns this valve comes into play.

 

I didn't make the statement, S&S did. That's from their website.

 

The Evo filters after the oil passes through the engine. The Twinkie filters the oil before it passes through the engine. never use a twinkie filter on an Evo. You can use an Evo filter on a Twinkie, but you'll end up with dirtier oil, less engine life on average, not to mention the possibility of eventually plugging up some small oil passages. If the 10 micron Twinkie filter clogs enough to be a flow-restriction problem, the bypass valve will open and oil will simply bypass the element.

I doubt you'd notice any increased cooling of the oil. In fact, it is possible for a fluid to flow too fast to be cooled properly.

Sometimes even HD engineers know hat they're doing!

 

I would suspect the tolerances are much closer in the Twin Cam than the Evo thus needing the finer filtration.

 

The 96" uses a 5 micron and is filtered before engine. Keep in mind the bypass is used for a short period of time as the oil heats up. Keep in mind that it has also cleaned the oil on it's prior run so it's bypassing fairly clean oil. By going to a basic hole for the outer cam bearings on the 96 , cleaner oil will benifit this area with long life. I questioned this choice in micron sizeearly on but now admit it's a wise choice. Robbing hp with smaller micron sizeis nonsense as the pump load is determined by the engine pressure relief valve , not the filter media. With no filter and a connecting pipe the load or hp required to turn the oil pump would be virtually the same. Certain manufactures of filters use the (bullshit baffles brains ) method of marketing. On the most part it works. Manufacturers choose a given filter for a reason so it's likely the best choice.
Ron

 

It's my understanding that the evo oil pump produces less pressure than the twin cam pump. Therefor the evo motor needs a less restrictive oil filter than the twin cam.