I used to own a '76 shovelhead,, i loved the bike then the marrage and house kinda took that away,, but now i am looking at buying a 82 FLH,,, at the same time i am moving back down to Alabama,,, the question i have is when i had my 76 i found that if i idled at a red light to long especialy after 30-40 miles of riding it would start smoking alot.... was woundering if i was maybe running wrong weight oil,, belive it was a 50 weight oil at the time.. was woundering what weight oil should be run in a shovelhead moter in the hotter tempratures of the south and as i want to ride year round should i change the weight of the oil for winter and summer riding... i agrea with anouther post here,, i may be a young rider but anything pre 84 is prefered to newer bikes,, just don't like having a computer on a bike.

 

I live in S. FL and run either 70 or 60 weight in my pre 75 bikes. They did some oil system modifications in the last few years of the Shovelhead and I think they went to a multi-grade. I believe you should be all right running 60 weight.

 

The Shovels have cast iron cylinders and tend to run a good bit hotter anyway and also don't cool as quickly. Smoking, spark knocking, rattling and all that is somewhat normal, but only after having to drag around in traffic a good bit. Oil doesn't have that much to do with that, but good idea to stay heavy in hot weather. And oil cooler is almost a must.

But besides all that, your Shovel shouldn't smoke much at all ...

 

Thank ya'll for the information... if all goes good will have my bike this weekend... been to long with out....

 

I picked up a trick from an Amsoil guy that worked for my Evo and should for a shovel. I was running 50 or 60 wt in my high mileage Evo for summers here in Daytona but had a lifter that would rattle as it was warming up, not cold, not fully hot, in between. Next oil change I added 1 qt of amsoil to the 50 wt like an additive. Lifter noise went away and stayed gone... compleatly. She's got 105K on the factory original build, new lifters and adjustable pushrods at about 60K.

andygears

 

in my 76, I use 70wt in summer(as soon we get into the 70's on steady basis) and 50wt in the winter, so far so good