Thanks for the head's up.....good lookin out!

 

Expensive.

 

Better check out the date of this thread. Don't think you are gonna find a deal.

 

Yeah, I think the sale is over.

 

Check your local Walmart. They are starting to carry it again.
Just saw it for 27.19 per 5qt jug.

 

NAPA 15w-50 full synthetic is currently on sale for $3.49/qt

 

Yeah I realized that after I put a post on there....I'm all over this forum and I don't remember seeing that thread in Dec WTF?

 

A couple of notes: Automotive oil (liquid cooled engines) is not the same as oil for air cooled engines. Use one for the other at your own risk. Read your Harley manual about substituting oils and note the diesel application reference.

75W 140 gear oil is about the same viscosity as 20-50 engine oil. Do a little reading to find out why the difference, but in part it is to help avoid mixing up and putting gear oil into an engine.

 

There is no risk using a name-brand synthetic "car oil" in a Harley engine as long as viscosity requirements are met (or close), and the HD manual does not tell you not to use these products. In fact, most MC-specific oils are designed to work in multiple locations, like for bikes with an engine/tranny/primary combo, and doing so may make it less effective than a non-MC-specific product for engine-only applications. They usually contain little or no moly, which helps protect clutch packs from slippage but is very good for engines. These oils are always more expensive than their non-MC counterparts, sometimes considerably more, but their quality isn't superior according to three tests by MC mags. In fact, Mobil 1 15w50 rated high in all of them, and it is not a MC-specific product. It is also one of the least-expensive synthetic oils around (~$27/5-qt. jug at Walmart at last check).

Since Harley engines don't mix with other parts of the drive train, a non-MC-specific oil with more friction modifiers is arguably better because it typically contains more molybdenum compounds. MC-specific oil sometimes contains more phosphorus and zinc, which are fatal-protection additives that are more important in engines with flat-tappet cams, but this variance isn't enough to make any meaningful difference. It is worth noting that Mobil 1 15w50, for example, contains more of these additives than Harley's own Syn3. I rode >100k miles using a synthetic "car oil" (not M1) in my last bike (RK Evo) with no problems nor reduction in compression or increase in oil consumption. I'm using the same oil in my '07, now with 50k miles.

 

All good info, glad you were successful in your experience. Now let's hear about the heat experienced in an air cooled versus a liquid cooled engine and whether any coking might occur with one oil as opposed to the other. I have always suspected that turbo approved car oil might be OK in an air cooled scooter but have never researched it.