I thought the 'best oil you can buy' was Amsoil, or Mobil 1, or the higher end Ester based Group 5 synthetic oils like RedLine......

Oil buyers worry much more about the specific oil to use than our air cooled engines, as Harley engines are too dumb to read internet threads and realize that they are being 'abused' unless fed <insert your favorite> super duper oil.

I know many guys with over 100,000 miles on their bikes using nothing buy Mobil 1 synthetic 15W50 oil (which costs about $4.25 a quart)... Some of them have opened their engines and they were clean as could be, with minimum wear on any components.

Same could be said about high mileage engines running $2.75 a quart conventional Rotella T oil, Castrol, or just about any other oil on the market.

I've been riding Harleys close to 40 years, with guys that average 20,000+ miles a year on bikes, and I've never known of any oil related failure that was caused by the type of oil being used... Any problem could be traced back to owner neglect and/or lack of routine preventive maintenance.

All our engines care about is that you change the oil and filter at reasonable intervals, no matter if you use $3.00 a quart oil or $13.00 a quart oil...

 

"How do you like the Schaeffer's 239S-30 in the primary? I have always used the 20w-50."

I like it fine. I also run the 239-S 50W in my son's (my old bike) Sporty. Switched from Redline Sportstrans (or what ever they were calling it) and noticed considerable drop in wear. In the primary, however, I don't think it matters a great deal. I, like Oldfenderguy, think that as long as it's being changed out often to get rid of the clutch dust, darned near anything will work.

Try to make this quick, but I blended the 10w and 30w 239S down to a 15 weight (you can do that as their basic chemical makeup is identical), and am running that in my Ford F250 manual transmission. Ford was recommending Syn ATF, but it just wasn't shifting smoothly. What a huge difference now. VERY pleased with that move.

And again, I can't argue with Oldfenderguy. It's just that UOA was so improved over Redline (in two bikes), and at less than $5 a quart, I couldn't help but switch over to Schaeffer. Perhaps it's just a 'feel good' thing, but feeling good ain't all bad!

To any I offended, I was being a smartass about the corrilation between posts and intelligence

 

i decided to try schaefers this time around, its not hard to find the 7000 racing 20-50 in this area. i was running amsoil, but what the hell, i put it in and immediatly noticed a marked drop in temp, we will see what it runs like

 

Please keep us posted. I'm very curious as to your experience with it.

 

Where can one find this "oil test" where Schaefers beat all the other oils?.,

 

Hey JW, the O.F. Guy from the Ozarks! Ya ever think ya might as well be talkin' to the wall? Watch this, it's my turn. Just gotta decide which wall to face!

I'll admit I like seeing the discussions, test results, etc., but if you really want to know how an oil is performing in your muttersickle, then take a sample when you change it and have it analyzed. I do that, and have seen no statistically relevant differences in wear from using any of several oils, dino or synthetic, in both an Evo Big twin, or a Nightster. What I am seeing is that the Nightster has a bronze bushing that is slowly failing. And I have the ammo to get it repaired under warranty when it finally becomes identifiable where the failure is taking place.

Paraphrasing OldFender, change oil and filter frequently. Ride bike. Have fun.

 

Yeah, sometimes ya' kind of feel like the guy below, but life goes on....

 

But, when it's too cold or wet out to ride, what would we do for entertainment?

 

Well said. I do run Redline, but it is a personal preference based on oil analysis to ensure that my 5k mile change intervals on my 120 were not causing any issues. That being said, I could get away with most any oil if doing 3k oil change intervals, and still probably most any synthetic at the 5k intervals.

I too have never heard of an engine failure due to oil related failure. You may also add that over time, wear may be increased with an inferior oil, but it would take far more miles than most of us will ever put on an engine.

 

Dalton, very nice ride. Did a double take as I thought it was mine, very similar..

I'm throwing caution to the wind and going down the technical road here based on a few comments in this thread.

I don't believe that base oils classified under Group 5 necessarily mean they are higher end. The description of Group 5 is any base oil that does not fall under any of the other group classifications (Group 1 thru Group 4). Depending on the application and intended length of time in service a particular type of base oil may or may not be desirable.

I agree with a very common statement made in this thread, regular service with any decent oil will keep you out of trouble. I also agree strongly with cHarley on having your oil analyzed. It's a blood test on your engine... A good test kit will show your wear metal levels, additive depletion, contaminates (such as fuel or dirt), viscosity and base oil condition (oxidations levels). Testing your oil will quickly give you either peace of mind or a small stroke...

Plus someone else referred to severely hydrocracked oils as being negative. Severely hydrocracking a mineral oil molecule makes it extremely durable, uniform in size (like synthetics), lower in sulfur and also lends strong anti-oxidation characteristics to the molecule. These are all very positive attributes to an oil in any application.

I believe the biggest impact you can have on your engine (speaking in terms of lubricant selection) and chain case is to use an oil with a strong anti-wear package. You've all probably heard "you can't run car oil in a motorcycle". Well, you can, but depending on the make it can have negative effects on wear and/or cause clutch issues. Regular car oils that meet both the API Service Class SM and ILSAC specs have very low zinc (anti-wear) levels. Much too low for Harley requirements.

To get the most life out of a Harley I believe you should choose an oil with a strong anti-wear package to ensure longest cam life. Plus (as opposed to Japanese design) Harley's clutch design allows the use of friction modified oil like the package found in my personal favorite flavor, Schaeffer's Supreme 7000 20w-50 racing oil.

Research your favorite oils zinc (and friction modifiers) level and compare to others. You might get a surprise. Keep in mind an oils job is to reduce friction and wear.

Another very important and often overlooked spec is an oils anti-foam characteristics. Foam holds heat and can displace a lubricant.

Cheers!