I'm very new and inexperienced just buying my first Dyna last May. Then bought a new '13 Fat Bob last Oct. I'm using synthetic oil and so far I've stayed with the maintenance schedule of every 5k. I've put on 26k since last May. I'm no mechanic for sure so all maintenance is done by my dealer at about $450 every 5k. I'm thinking of changing to 10k for regular maintenance which I believe to be primarily an oil change. If moving to 10k from 5k is a bad idea I'd like to be told. I don't want to abuse my bike but it seems that I'm paying too much too often. Please advise me.

 

I wouldn't push the oil 10K miles. Changing the fluids is very easy to do yourself.

 

Go to Harley web site and there is a link that you can type in your VIN number and see whats in an maintenance schedule, find a mechanic away from HD and you will see a drop in overall price you have to pay that is if you don't want to do the work.

 

Last time I looked Harley recommended oil changes interval every 5,000 miles or once a year. I haven't seen that change but I don't follow it anyway. I change my own oil with synthetic ever 2500 miles which is three to four times a year per bike. Primary every 2500 miles because it is easy to remember and transmission under 10,000 miles. I change fork oil and brake fluid annually. Doing this myself just takes time and the cost of fluids. You paying to have it done is expensive. I will not tell you what to do but if Haskell Texas gets as hot and dry as the rest of Texas. I would stick to Harley's recommendations ----whatever they are at a minimum. You are paying too much because you pay labor charges. Just my opinion. This forum is full of opinions. You will get plenty.

 

Not sure about 2013s, but if your book says 5K, that's with you need to go with. I believe oil is 5K the primary is 10K and the tranny is 20K by the manual. Generally dealers change all 3 holes and it only costs an extra 25 bucks for the oil as they will still charge the same for labor. The best thing is to learn how to change the fluids yourself. It's not difficult for most novices to do. Then you are generally done for around $75-80. You'll hear buy a manual, but before you do that ($60), read your owners manual. It has the instructions for how to change the fluids, watch some you tube videos on how to and see if you are up to the task. You spent a lotta money on your bike and keeping up with the fluids is one of the most important things you can do to care for it. Don't cheap out there.

 

I disagree with the utube learning technique. There are tricks to doing this right and inept inexperienced people can strip threads, miss leaks, over---under torque plugs. I have seen more than one primary with the drain screw tightened till it took out the taper. We still have a few of the independent shops around here that will help someone work on their bikes or at least let them watch. Hopefully OP can find that near home instead of on line. JMO

 

I don't disagree with you on using youtube as the how to or manual substitute, but the OP said he wasn't a mechanic and maybe he's never seen any of this stuff actually done. I just meant there is a place to actually watch someone do a task and to see if the viewer thinks he is up to it. You're right, there are plenty of threads here illustrating how folks FU a simple task. Conversely, it's not rocket science and everyone did it for the first time once. Why not leverage technology and watch it done before you tackle it? Then follow the directions outlined in you manual. That is all I meant to imply

 

I believe it's 1k, then every 5k after that. And I wouldn't want to push it to 10k myself. My car is every 10k but it's air and water cooled.

 

Learn to change the oil and do the maintenance yourself.

 

You can easily learn to change your own fluids, especially engine oil, and save $400 each oil change. You can probably hire someone to teach you for much less than the cost of your next change.