First off, thanks everyone. I am new to this forum but have been reading advice from here for a couple years now and have nothing but good things to say. I am a proud new owner of a 2004 1200C that I bought this spring and now that the season is winding down here in wisconsin I have a few questions since I plan on working on the bike this winter.

1) will a Shinko 170 rear tire fit without modification? I know Shinko says I need a 4.5 inch rim but I have heard of it being done on the stock wheel so thoughts there?

2) I have heard good things about bassani slip ons but I was curious what you guys thought about them. Too loud? Waste of money?

3) The bike will be getting fresh oil before being put away. I have no idea what type of oil was put into it before I bought it. Can I just put synthetic motorcycle oil in it and be done with it or will that damage my clutch if it currently has non-synthetic oil in it?

Thanks everyone!

 

Welcome to HDF from the UK.

1. Some members have used that tyre on the stock 3" rim, but IMHO that doesn't make it a good idea! As you point out it should go on a much wider rim.
2. Mufflers are very personal! Don't buy any of them unless you have heard a pair.
3. Oil gets done to death in here! It doesn't matter what your bike currently has in it, you can use dyno or synth. Personally I would stay with dyno as I don't see any worthwhile benefits of using synth. There are far too many brands available to advise, but I use an oil designated for V-twin use.

 

Thanks for the advice.

 

Where in WI are ya?

 

Don't really need V-twin specific oil in your bike. It's designed for bikes that share engine, clutch, and transmission oil, like Jap bikes.

I use Castrol GTX 20/50 in my engine, Mobil 1 75W90 gear oil in the primary/clutch/transmission. You can also use Formula+, Bel Ray Sport Transmission oil, or many other quality oils.

John

 

Not the stuff I use! There are enough myths about oils in here........

 

I want to hear about what you use. I use VR1 synthetic in my engine now. I always used car oils till the SN spec came out and the add pack was dropped in 20w50 to the ame level as 5w30 has. The VR1 has the old additive package and runs great in the bike. The JASO spec oils are pretty weak when you look at the spec and compare it to oils like amsoil Zrod, brad penn Grade 1 or Valvoline VR1. The VR1 also has CF spec, one of the specs Harley says to run of you cant run their mediocre oil.

OP, to be safe go with a good V twin oil and change the primary oil aswell. Lots of stuff will work in the Primary. For me Formula+ has been best, but it is not required. Just make sure its yellow metal safe and has no friction modifiers like moly.

For the rear tire, I know several in person who run the 170 777 on sportsters, it works perfect, never a problem. However I am with grbrown on this issue. I wont even run a 150mm 777 on my bike because it has 3.5" as a minimum rim. I run a 130 and it runs perfect, its also lighter. Less rotating mass means the engine puts more of its power to the pavement. When I dumped the heavy OEM tire and put a 130mm 777 on the rear my quarter mile ET dropped .3 seconds on average, thats the same gains a full stage one does for your ET. I would say go for the 170 from what I see my buddies run, but I would never do it.

Dont over think it and all will be good.

 

Thank you all so much. Sounds like I need to research oils a little bit more. Oh well.

to Bnjfreak, I go to school at UW-milwaukee but I put most of my miles on north of Green Bay

 

+1 - V-Twin labeled oil is specifically made for "single sump" motorcycles, where having friction modifiers in the oil can cause clutch slippage. The downside is that friction modifiers are a very good thing to have in your motor oil.

Because the oil supplies are separate, Harley owners don't have to settle for using an oil without friction modifiers for the motor.

 

See if you can find someone local that is running a pair of Cycle Shack slip ons, to see if they are going to be too loud for you. A lot cheaper than Bassanis.

And check Hammer's website, there's a dyno test on there between the Bassanis and the Cycle Shacks.

I'm installing a pair of CSs on my bike today.