Hey guys, I just bought my first Harley (2009 Iron) a couple of weeks ago and while they were giving me the fairwell walkaround the guy said to NOT use Synthetic oil just Convential for ALL the oil changes. But, on here I'm seein people using Synthetic like it's going out of style? The reason I'm asking is that I'm at 600 Miles and the oil is a little low and was thinkin of adding oil to it. So which type should I add to it?

 

If you are just topping it off DON'T mix!!! When you CHANGE your oil you can switch to synth.

 

Well If you dont know whats in it, and at 100 you have to change it anyway. F it, might as well change the oil to run what you prefer synthetic, HD brand whatever. You will find most riders change oil more than recommended. Cant hurt, it only costs a few bucks, and it piece of mind, and its fun on a rainy night, drinking a couple beers playing with the bike.

 

If you are not doing a complete oil change you must re-fill with the dino oil that is already in there. It is okay if you are halfway in between the high and low marks on the dipstick. You can only use syn if completely changing the oil ... syn and dino oils do not mix.

 

Yeah I was thinkin that I get it changed at 1,000 anyways but I'm real worry wart so I wanted to just top it off so not to hurt anything. Anybody know what oil comes in them off the showroom floor? Weight and Brand? A couple of guys told me that if you switch to Synthetic it'll start leaking thats why the dealer says ALWAYS use Conventional

 

I would check my Owners Manual, it should tell you what oil is recommended.

 

Do not over fill.

Are you sure you are low?

 

Synthetic can cause old dried out seals to leak, if your bike is new it will not leak, change it out at 1,000 miles if you want to use synthetic. The bike will run cooler, and better protection from friction.

 

MAke sure your low before you do anything. The guy that lives a couple of houses down from me just topped his bike off yesterday and today he was knocking on my door in a panic. he had overfilled the bike and was getting a lot of blow by out the air cleaner. he was really freaked out! all i could do was laugh. i took a look and drained some out for him and put it about half way between the high and low level lines on the dip stick. How low is your bike reading? in my opinion wait until it gets to the low level line or just above then add. when you do add do a little at a time as well. you should be checking the oil every time you ride. keep a good eye on it and you will be fine.

 

I don't know where some of this "knowledge" comes from, but that is absolutely NOT TRUE. There is no harm caused by mixing dino & synthetic oils.

In fact, many HD owners go to synthetic oil when the oil is changed at the 1K service. An oil change on your EVO engine leaves about 1/2 a quart of old oil in the system, so when you convert to syn at 1K your still running about 1/2 a quart of dino mixed with the new synthetic.

It may not be ideal, but dino and syn are compatible and can be mixed.