I know I'm probably in the wrong forum room but, I figured I might get more responses this way.

Does anyone know from experience which automotive filters you can use on a 2004 FLSTC. Just trying to save some dough!

 

Used an off brand filter on a truck a few years ago and lost all the oil pressure. Since then I've always used the harley filter on my bikes. But it's said that K&N has a quality filter but the money is about the same. There are cheaper ones but a motor is too expensive for me to replace.

 

Here's an excerpt from this site:

• Purolator PL14476 / PL14477
• Mobil1 M1-102
• Bosch 3330
• Walmart Supertech ST4967 / 4386
• AMSOil SMF 133/134/135
• Baldwin B33 / B37
• Fram PH4967
• Hastings LF410 / LF 413
• NAPA 1394
• Purolator ML16822
• WIX 51394 / 51396

The ones in blue are the recommended ones to get.

 

I always wondered the same thing. I'm sure Harley just buys from some automotive filter manufacturer and charges us more, so who makes their filters and to what specs. I do know that filters have different valves in them so it is important to get one with the right specs or you will trash your engine.

 

I bought a FRAM that was stated as a direct fit for my NT, and after I part filled it with oil I went to install it and it didn't fit! The threads did not match, so threw it away and went back to the genuine H-D filter.

 

Read about using filters other than hd. Some say that hd filters micron specs are much smaller to filter more out than car filters. Until some one can prove that the filtering specs are the same, for me its not worth the risk to save a couple bucks.

 

I don't want to argue whether or not the hd filter is a good one or not, but you can't make a comparison solely on micron specs, unless they state how effective it filters at that level. If a filter claimed to filter to 1 micron, but it can only filter .001% of 1 micron particles, it wouldn't be a good filter. Unless HD will ever publish their efficacy numbers, there is no way to make an accurate comparison. So my advice to the OP is, do some research, read as much on oil filters that you can stand to before going crazy from too much information, and take everything you hear, even from this forum, and from me with a grain of salt. Here are some sites that pertain to oil that have good info:
- http://motorcycleinfo.calsci.com/Filters.html
- http://minimopar.knizefamily.net/oilfilters/mopar.html
- http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php

Enjoy.

With that said, I'm using the M1-102 filter with good results. If you take a look, it's actually more expensive than the HD one. So no one can flame me by saying that I'm trying to save a buck.

 

Thats right! No one can say for sure if other filters are better or worse...

 

You have to ask yourself why risk it for a few bucks...plenty of other places to cut back, instead of wondering just get a genuine HD

 

I'd definitely research who makes the filters, etc. Cars, bikes, whatever, I've always believed in using the filter it came with from the factory. I have seen generic filters cause engine failures for sure. Some are good, some are not, and it's very hard to know what's what. Use whatever oil you want, very seldom will a different oil hurt anything, but a filter is definitely something to be sure about. I use the HD on my bike, the Motorcraft on my truck, etc.