Skip-pimp...thanks for the good explanation. That makes sense.

Thanks for your role with the soldiers.

 

I just changed my primary oil at 2974 miles, and the oil was dark and the drain plug magnet has sludge on it. I use HD formula +1 oil in it, and I believe it's normal. I would get nervous if I found metal shavings on it.

 

, the primary oil always gets dirty from the simple fact that the clutch plates wear due to friction during the engagement process. Fine particles of the clutch plates get into the oil and discolor it, a completely normal process; nothing to worry about.

 

====================================

HD recs 10k oil change for prim case and thats way too long IMHO.

Any HD primary i have changed oil in has looked pretty dirty at 3k-5k miles with quite a lot of contamination & crap built up on drain plug and comming out in the oil itself too ,but didnt look quite as dark/bad as your prim case oil.

But being a trike maybe prim gets/hotter due to diff airflow and or maybe more wt for a trike both of which can overload/stress the oil more etc vs a std bike so max i will go on prim oil is 5k miles .

Since its easy and relatively cheap to change prim case oil that seems to get dirty /contaminate pretty easy i generally change it when the bikes due for a motor oil & filter change which i generally do at approx 3,500-4k miles.

Same goes for the washable SE stage-1 air filter in my bike that i also clean/srv'c with doing a motor oil & filter change.

HD rec's 20k mile oil change for trans but max i will go there is 10k miles or 1yr,which ever comes 1st.

HD also rec's 50k fork oil change,changed fork oil 1st time at approx 12k miles putting in stock rec fork oil and it was filthy black that smelled like a dead fish in the sun on a 90 deg so flushed forks before refilling with new fork oil.

Well its now 5k miles later/18k miles and i decided to change fork oil again to install SE hvy fork oil to reduce fork dive when braking and to also improve handling a bit too.

Well the fork oil was very dirty again after only 5k miles when i installed the SE hvy for oil so since its so easy to do i am going to do it @ 5k miles or 1x yrly whichever comes 1st.

Keeping fresh cleaner oil in the forks should significantly extend the srvc life of all components in the forks esp the fork seals .

Thats because ensusing theres always cleaner oil in the forks the seals arent getting ground to death anymore by fork oil that's dirty & heavily contaminated with dirt scratching ,tearing & wearing the sealing lip on the fork seals causing them to fail/leak prematurely.

Same reasoning is why i stepped up all HD's rec's for oil change maint sch'd rec's on the bike, engine oil & filter change from 5k to 3,500-4k miles,prim case from 10k miles to 5k miles max or bit earlier with motor oil change, trans from 20k miles to 10k miles or 1 yr, & fork oil from a crazy 50k miles to 5k max too.

Theory/reasoning for doing that is simple,when all the above mechanical items are exposed to/bathed in cleaner fresher oil (having less dirt contam in it) all the time using my significantly earlier oil change maint schd rec's for all oil related mech items on the bike that should extend the srv'c life of all those mech items vs changing oil much later at 2x-3x more miles like HD rec's where those mehcnical parts are exposed to & or are lubed by oil that has more dirt & wear related particles in it causing more premature wear/gailling/gouging/scratching etc between all moving parts that are being lubed by the oil with 2x more miles on it also having a lot more dirt & or wear type particles & contam in it too.

BTW,i run Spectro oil in the motor,prim & trans that are all specifically designed & formulated for large disp HD V-Twins .

Spectro is a premier motorcycle oil blender/mfg that has earned a well deserved good rep in the motorcycle race scene since i believe is the late 50's to date.

Happy Motoring!

Scott

 

No worries man, teaching and mentoring them on helicopters during the day, just makes sense to continue to bikes after work... Glad I could clarify for ya.

 

We use Red Line fluid in the chain cases on the builds, and services, here.
Seems to stay clean for many miles.
Scott

 

That to me is pretty dirty. It would make me wonder if the Harley Dealership even changed it?
it is what it is though. Nothing you can do about it now. But from here on out, if i were you, I would be doing all my own maintenance on my Hog. I Had my 5,000 mi maintenance done by my Harley dealership and it cost me $300 Bucks! Never again.

 

Wet clutch , Primary looks nasty in a short time.

 

Of our three reservoirs I would say the primary oil gets dirty quickest. Bear in mind also that we are each likely to use our clutch in different ways, so there will also be significant differences between us, before we add a heavy trike into the mix. Dirty primary oil is no surprise. Ride on!