I store the bike in the winter, so I change the oil as soon as it comes out to play in the Spring, regardless of miles. I then wouldn't change it again until/if I hit the 5K mark that year.

 

Well it depends, I spend a lot more time on my X-11 than I do my sportster, but saying that I do at least change the Harley oil once a year, the X-11 due to its use gets proper service intervals.

 

Sorry to bump in on this, off topic a little.
what would be the best oil to use. ive just made an enquiry at my localish Harley dealer and for the first 1000 mile service they quoted £245.00.
that seems a bit harsh for a first service.

 

It does seem that way, but rest assured they do a lot more than simply change oil! Personally I recommend going through with that, for a number of reasons. They will check your bike thoroughly, to ensure everything is right with it. In my long experience of owning new bikes that can identify things you are not aware of. Also if you have any doubts you can get them checked out. In the case of my Sporty, that included stripping and rebuilding the front forks, at no cost to me.

As for best oil, there are more oil threads around HDF than probably any other subject! When you have read them all make up your mind, but in the meantime just buy H-D oils, as per your owners manual. But buy the factory service manual first.....

 

If done properly, the 1st service (at 1000 miles) involves more than just an oil change. They should be checking and re-torquing all the critical components/fasteners on the bike and are essentially certifying that the bike is up to factory assembly specs. Last I looked, there's a checklist in the back of the Owners Manual that details what is involved at each service interval.

 

Thanks for your advice guys, I was just a bit shocked at the price
My wifes Audi A5c only cost about £50.00 more,i will have it done just to keep the warranty but after this one I may look for a local service place that not a big franchise.

 

I'm so freakin' old school that I have a hard time believing any oil will hold up to 5,000 miles of hot summer driving. The tank oil reaches 220°F on a hot day or in traffic. I know the new oils are a lot better than the prehistoric stuff but I still like to shave a few miles off the suggested changes

I figure they might want things to wear out early for job security.

I change oil at 3k just like my vintage car.

 

I average about 4000 miles per year (5 month riding season) and change mine every fall before storage and again in the late spring, I only run Amsoil so I know that's way too often but I don't care, I enjoy doing it & knowing it's as fresh as possible.
I also changed it at 500 miles when I first got it, 1000 just seemed way too long for a freshly built motor.

 

I could never quite understand the Amsoil policy of recommending vastly extended change intervals. If this is some attempt to cater to the parsimonious rider, it is also a dangerous protocol IMHO. There is a lot more to consider than the base oil's resistance to shear, as valid as that certainly is, but oil change frequencies are what catches what the additives package and filtration may miss. If extended intervals were the best reason I could find to justify the purchase of a synthetic, I'd stick with a high quality Dino and more frequent changes. For guys like us, in the great white north, thinner when cold synthetics don't need to be price competitive with waxy Dino's to justify their use. Not in my book anyway.

 

Amsoil is a small company with only blending facilities, they don't have refineries to produce synthetic base stock oils.. Who do they buy these pao base stock oils from???

Their major supplier of PAO base stock is Exxon/Mobil, the largest producer of synthetic oils in the world. They purchase some Group III base stocks from Shell, Petro Canada, and others. About 90% of their additive packages come from Lubrizoil.

They have no magic oils, just higher prices, through their multi level marketing.