My 2007 1200 has 8000 miles on it. I change the oil every 2500 mile, with synthetic.How long could one expect these engines to last before normal rebuild.What is the most miles you have ever seen before teardown.

 

I have heard 100000 miles or better.

 

my grandad' softail heritage deluxe has about 120.000 miles on it and neither of them seem to be quitting easily. the bike is 1996 and the sucker is 1936
since sportster and softail engines are built by the same company it should be something like "when it needs a rebuild"

here he is with is bike 'mavis' (the little blue)

 

You have nothing to worry about. At 8k miles it is almost run in now....

 

There is a gentelman down at the local dealership with an 883 (not sure the year) that has 110,000 on the meter

 

It is up to you........start her up and take off like a scolded cat with out letting her warm up, put crappy oil in and run it dirty, bounce it off the rev limiter for kicks all the time.......not long. Keep clean quality oil in her, let her warm up a bit before pushing her and ride it with some respect 100000 more is not unlikely.


RAL

 

Wish you were near me. I could have free oil. I change mine once a year and it still looks clean. You will never wear it out unless you red line it a lot. Have 40K and top end sounds fine. Primary has had it's share of problems. Does a sporty have three different oil systems or do they systems share the same oil?

 

Bud,
I have a 2008 1200XLC with 43K and running good, no leaks, runs or errors.

 

Basically as long as any car engine. 100K should be easy to hit as long as you change fluids often, let it warm up before running it hard, and perform scheduled maintenance.

I like to change plugs every 10K miles. I find that second to an oil analysis, pulling plugs and looking at them closely every 10K miles is a good litmus test for engine health.

 

You need to change your oil according to the maintenance schedule. My '05 has two oil systems, engine and primary. Recommendations are in the service manual.