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Old Jan 25, 2015 | 06:35 PM
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Hey Guy,s
New to the forum, got a oil question and there,s a lot of posting on the subject between petroleum and synthetic, I,ve had a couple of softails back in the day, a 72 and a 75. Both were AMF and I got a lot of miles off of both and I ran regular petroleum. I,ve recently got a 2001 softail with 23,000 miles and seems to be a solid ride, I don't know the history of what oil was used before me so when I changed it I used Amsoil, if I go to petroleum on the next thane will I be alright. I,ve always heard that you can go from petroleum to synthetic, but, not synthetic to petroleum, is this true or does it matter.
Thanks,
Rip1
 
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Old Jan 25, 2015 | 07:55 PM
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Originally Posted by Rip1
I,ve had a couple of softails back in the day, a 72 and a 75.
This thread need go no further.
 
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Old Jan 25, 2015 | 08:08 PM
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welcome aboard ! Synthetic is the way to go nowadays .....you can mix em both ways so it does not matter . Just don't use it to break in a new motor .
 
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Old Jan 25, 2015 | 08:11 PM
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Run what you like...

I'd assume you're a grown *** man, and if you dont know what oil to put in your bike... take it to a shop to have your oil changes done.
 
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Old Jan 25, 2015 | 08:21 PM
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Lol tough crowd tonight !
 
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Old Jan 25, 2015 | 08:56 PM
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Originally Posted by Rip1
Hey Guy,s
New to the forum, got a oil question and there,s a lot of posting on the subject between petroleum and synthetic, I,ve had a couple of softails back in the day, a 72 and a 75. Both were AMF and I got a lot of miles off of both and I ran regular petroleum. I,ve recently got a 2001 softail with 23,000 miles and seems to be a solid ride, I don't know the history of what oil was used before me so when I changed it I used Amsoil, if I go to petroleum on the next thane will I be alright. I,ve always heard that you can go from petroleum to synthetic, but, not synthetic to petroleum, is this true or does it matter.
Thanks,
Rip1
Welcome to the forum.

As you can see, oil threads bring out the best in our members. As all topics go, everyone has their opinion. No need to mention what opinions are like.

Use whatever oil you want. Just change it regularly and you'll be fine.

If you are curious what oil or fluid most members are using in each hole, peruse the sticky's in this subforum

https://www.hdforums.com/forum/oil-a...ted-topics-30/
 
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Old Jan 25, 2015 | 09:18 PM
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You already started with Amsoil...why change? That was a rhetorical question; there's no need to. Great oil and no reason to use anything else.
 
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Old Jan 25, 2015 | 09:23 PM
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Originally Posted by Dan89FLSTC
This thread need go no further.
Yeah the softail released back in the mid eighties. Maybe the OP is just mistaken.
 
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Old Jan 25, 2015 | 09:25 PM
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Delete.
I realized too late this doesn't deserve comment.
 

Last edited by schlacker; Jan 25, 2015 at 09:28 PM.
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Old Jan 25, 2015 | 09:35 PM
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Originally Posted by Rip1
I,ve had a couple of softails back in the day, a 72 and a 75. Both were AMF and I got a lot of miles off of both and I ran regular petroleum.

I'm confused....... Harley didn't introduce the softail frame until the 1984 FXST Softail.

Davis designed an early softail in about 1975ish, refined it to the current style softail about 1980ish, and sold his patents to HD in 1982...

If you had a softail in 1972 and 1975, they were custom bikes.... Those bikes would be worth some money if they had an AMF engine in a pre-Harley, Bill Davis frame.....

In any case, welcome back......

As far as oil goes, dino oil will work with no problem in these engines, with routine maintenance.

However, due to larger displacements and EPA lean tunes, these newer engines run hotter than the old 1200cc engines of the 70's. Because of that, I feel better using a good synthetic oil in my twin cam engines.

With todays oils, you can switch back & forth between syn and dino oil to your heart's content.... it won't hurt anything if they mix....
 
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