I remember when I bought my new softail in 93 they recommended first oil change at 500 miles

 

Maybe i will change it for piece of mind but i will probably just use standard oil then synthetic at 1k

 

I would change it with dino oil and then syn at 1000 miles. I changed mine at 300 miles on my new build and that oil was nasty! Have dino back in and after another 300 miles it still looks clean. For the money why take a chance??

 

The oil change intervals that I subscribe to are 50, 500, 1,000 and every 2,500 thereafter. This is what S&S recommends for their motors and I think it would be what Harley’s engineers might recommend if not for the marketing department. (My opinion only)

 

Send me your address I'll be happy to send it to you

 

Did I miss that step? Disconnect the O2 sensors???

 

really? don't you get tired of trying to push that chain up hill? because our bikes have 3 separate reservoirs for oil, there is no reason that you can't use 'automotive' oil in the engine on your bike. in fact, your own owners manual will tell you to use diesel oil rated at sh, ch-4, ci-4, and cj-4. of course they want you to switch back to genuine hd oil at the earliest opportunity, but that is out of marketing, not necessity.

mobil 1 15-50 (which is an automotive oil) is rated at SN, SM, SL, and SJ. so it surpasses that rating that your own owner's manual tells you. and it works just fine in a v twin engine.

 

+1. without hearing the noise I have no idea what it might be, but if there is something wrong inside the motor, changing the oil won't fix it.

That said, I admit to being **** about oil changes. I changed mine at 100 miles, 500 miles, 1000 miles and usually every 3000 after that, but on long trips it has gone 5,000 a few times. Always synthetic, usually syn3 or Mobil1 v-twin, but if I can't find one of those I have used other brands of 20-50 synth. 130,000 miles on it now, zero motor problems, still running strong.

 

That's what I did.

 

Each to his own, but I would never perform a stage I on a brand new bike. I would ride it stock at least through the 1000 mile point, and usually further. Plenty of time for mods later. As in this instance with the OP, it can needlessly complicate your life.