Oil duration?
 

HI guys, I have some doubts about the duration of the oil inside de engine.

How many months to change engine and primary oil?

it's 5000 miles in distance but if I need 2 or 3 years to do that distance?

By the way, I use RevTech MTP 20w50 synthetic oil on my 2005 sportster.

Thank you all.

At least 1 time per year for sure but 2 times per year would be better...oil breaks down over time and faster if you do little rides.

You get one year/12 months out of oil ( engine,primary,transmission) if you don't ride 5k miles.

The only sure way to know is to have a Used Oil Analysis done.

FWIW, oil that is used infrequently can be just as damaged as oil used over too many miles. Raw fuel and other junk that's not boiled off can ruin even new oil.

Thank you all, I'm learning.

only sure way
 

I think you're right--that's the only sure way to know what your own interval should be.

Because riding conditions vary so greatly between geographic locations (dust, stop-&-go, mountainous...), individual owners' styles (around town, riding double, towing...), even seasons...the Moco can only give broad recommendations. They likely play it very safe, knowing many owners will use cheaper oil w/ their 5,000-mile recommended interval (for my TC96).

As mine is just now ready for its' 10k service, and I intend to do this myself, the process has given me cause for thought. Mine has run Syn3 in 3-holes since its' 1k service. And though it would be very easy for me to continue this practise, as I have two spare qts, I have recently become aware that there may be compelling reasons to select perhaps other specific lubes for each hole. Before making any deliberate changes to its' diet, a UOA might be appropriate at this point. Thanks for bringing it up.

Further, I intend to determine my own service interval. Because I believe that synthetic oil lasts longer, it seems that regular filter changes/cleanings could greatly increase oil-change intervals; the cleanable filters are very appealing in this regard, and quite naturally make you inspect what is being cleaned out, so you have warning when your followers, for example, may be nearing failure. And the amount of new oil you replace at each filter-change/cleaning helps to preserve and dilute the "perpetual soup". Periodically it would be wise to do a UOA, maybe every 10-20k?

Keep in mind that a UOA contains information not only on the state of the oil itself but also other particles found in the oil that might point to some engine-related issues.

While a good oil may go many miles, the benefit of performing UOA more frequently is that it might show a trend that could be addressed before a major problem occurs.

I think for just the regular guy though...if you put that little miles on a bike that changing the oil twice a year would be sufficient.

You got that right, Harley has already gone through all the oil analysis bs , that is how they have come up with the oil change intervals, however these intervals only apply to normal operation. If you operate in conditions that exceed normal conditions you should change the fluids more frequently than the recommended intervals. Or you can re-invent the wheel.

One year is fine. Most any 20w50 oil has a high enough TBN to resist corrosion for one year.