Just a warning to you new bike owners having your oil & filter service done at the dealers.
After all the talk about oil filters for Sportsters, i just looked at the paper work for the 1000 mile service the dealer did right after i bought the bike back in july. They put in a 5 micron 63798-99A oil filter. So i put 4000 miles on it with the wrong filter before i changed the oil & filter myself at 5000 miles. Hope it didn't do any damage. : (

 

Why is it the wrong filter? HD claims this is an "upgrade" filter.

 

I thought the same thing Terp.
I didn't know it was the wrong filter either until cHarley set me straight.
And i Quote "the MoCo filter spec for the EVO is 30 micron. Using a smaller micron filter does NOT mean better filtration. It means your filter is likely to spend most of the time in bypass mode, which is the same thing as having no filter at all."

Read the entire thread here:
https://www.hdforums.com/forum/sport...-filter-2.html

 

I won't even use the 5-micron filters on my TC engines, let alone my bikes with EVO based engines.

But anyway don't worry, you didn't hurt your engine...

 

There is absolutely nothing wrong with the HD filter they put on your bike.

 

Except that it's not the correct filter for the Evo motor. The Evo motor has a low pressure, high volume oil system. Using a 5 micron filter might restrict the oil flow enough (due to increased pressure) to cause the oil filter to go into what's called bypass mode, where essentially engine oil flows into it and back out of it without being filtered, and may cause oil seals to weep. The motor calls for a 30 micron filter, so stick with a 30 micron filter so you do indeed know that 1) your oil is getting filtered and 2)you know it's the correct spec oil filter for your motor.

Someone can correct me if I am wrong however this is my understanding on why you should not use a filter under 30 microns.

 

Guys like you just kill me.

The dealer actually remembered not only to put oil in the bike after the service, but to put the drain plugs in as well. On top of that, you didn't indicate that either the filter or drain plugs were cross threaded, so I assume that there's at least a 70% chance that they're not. JEEZ!

Filters? We don't need no stinkin' filters.

 

Not only did they put the wrong filter on, they also didn't put enough oil in. No oil showed on the dipstick when i checked it after the service. Had to add a qt.
Sorry to hear of your untimely demise.

 

Then you probably shouldn't bother with a filter at all, since the 5 micron will spend most of it's life in bypass.

You sir, are right on the money.

 

Exactly the same here! I called my (very nice) SALESMAN over to the bike rather than the service guy. Slowly, an ounce or two at a time, measuring the oil about 5 times during the process, my SALESMAN put the oil in my bike, 29 ounces, in fact, so that it was filled to capacity but not overfilled.