I bought a brand new softie last fall. Got 1k service comming up. Undecided on whether to do it myself or not? Anyways, my question is:

Do most people switch to synthetic, or stay with regular?

 

Most go synthetic.

 

stay with regular...and we're off and running !!!!!!

 

Most folks I know go with syn, I do not.

 

Not wanting to take any chances, I use half-and-half

 

I use regular.

 

I've used Syn3 in the engine since the beginning.

I recently, at 19k miles, changed over to Syn3 in the transmission and primary. I hadn't really intended to make the change in those two holes, but when I had my primary vent installed at the dealer, the tech put Syn3 into the primary. So I went ahead and changed out the transmission, too, when I got home.

I've now put about a thousand miles on the bike since then, and can say that there is absolutely no detectable difference in operation of the motor and transmission with the Syn3.

I've been using synthetics, mostly Mobil 1, in all my motorcycles for over 30 years. I like synthetics because I ride year 'round. One of the best features of synthetic oil is that it doesn't thicken up as much in cold temps. Flows better, faster. Also, is reputed to resist breaking down in high heat. These HD engines certainly do run hot!

 

How do you know ?

 

Since we’re talking an air cooled engine (some with help from liquid cooling) there is a rationale for using synthetics over Dino because syns deal much better with temperature swings from ambient to 400+ degs as the oil passes through the cylinder heads. No downsides to synthetics just upsides.
Bob

 

You've put a 1000 miles on since last fall? Unless you live in the arctic circle or a rain forest that's a pretty low number of miles. After changing the oil ... promptly have the bike shipped to me for some actual mileage to be put on it. In your case you should go synthetic since it's going to be in the bike for about 3 years before you hit the 5k service. Yes I'm d-bag...see ya at the rally.