I do not want this to turn into what brand of oil is better but was wondering what most of you are using in your bikes. I just bought a 2012 Street Glide and am getting close to the 1000 mile service interval. My question is synthetic or conventional oil? I have always used synthetic in my metric bikes but this is my first Harley. Your input is greatly appreciated.

 

I have always ran Mobil 1 Vtwin synthetic. I did my 1000 mile service and put Syn3 in. My 1st service was free,so thats why I let the dealership do it.

 

I'd suggest something slippery and brown.

 

That's what I use

 

This should work too then

 

What else would you expect from asking that question?

Here is a link to a poll from the oil section of the forum.
https://www.hdforums.com/forum/oil-a...your-bike.html

 

There was an interesting article in American Iron +/- 6 months ago on this topic.
Donny Peterson's opinion was that the sulpher in dino oil assists in the curing process of the pistons, cylinders, etc., and is therefore,a better oil to use for the first 5000 miles.
After 5000 mi. synthetic is a good solution, especially for extreme (hot) conditions.
I will go with Donny's recommendation.

 

You know, It's funny. I read dozens of posts about this topic and there are always folks posting "I use brand X synthetic and have 100k+ miles", and folks saying the same thing about conventional oil. You'll find posts from more people saying they run synthetic than run conventional but I don't believe that means $hit because not many people do extensive testing on oils and engines, they just run what someone tells them is good or what they think is good. Run what you are comfortable with. Having said that, I think most oil out there is pretty darn good regardless of whether it's conventional or synthetic.

Personally, I ran several brands of synthetic in my first TC88 just to see see what everyone was ranting about. No science here whatsoever but the motor made a lot more noise (topend) with synthetic than with conventional. Never noticed any difference in the tranny between synthetic and conventional and synthetic in the primary made the clutch grabby.

In my TC96, I am currently running HD360 conventional 20/50 in the motor and Formula+ in the tranny and primary. Works great, no issues, can find neutral up or down and clutch engagement is smooth.

Not saying conventional or synthetic is better, just letting you know my experience.

 

I've owned a bunch of bikes, and like a lot of folks here, I just use dino stuff I find at Walmart. It's not so much what you use as it is doing the changes regularly.

 

I run Amsoil 20w-50 in the engine and primary and 75w-110 in the tranny.