Its supposed to shake in neutral. Its a "feature" (or so they say).

 

I usually stay away from the "my oil is best" discussions, but something needs to be said here. First and fundamentally, there are other good oils available other than Amsoil. Amsoil is a quality product as far as I can discern, but hard for most people to find and more expensive than other good oils that may be more accessible. All 20w50 oils are higher viscosity than "most 90w gear lubes." No20w50 will "flow [acceptably] at -65 deg.," and if they did they would be labeled with a lower SAE grading than 20w, but it really depends on your definition of "flow." The lower (e.g., 20w) rating is the visocity measured at 0 deg. C, and all20w oils will flow similarly at this temperature. Amsoil may "flow" at -65 deg., but icebergs "flow" too, and it is matter of speed. Saying it "flows" doesn't tell me much. Test it against other oils at -65 deg., then ask yourself when a spec at -65 deg. is important in any context revolving around motorcycles.

About 10 years ago I engaged in a lengthy study of oils to determine the best for my vehicles, since I was ready for a change from M1, and Amsoil was an option. I decided against it because of deceiving claims made by Amsoil sources comparing their products with competitors. Wear-ball tests are a good example. Amsoil is very active posting "independent tests" always showing Amsoil superior in every category to competitors, but I've seen wear-ball tests using a different SAE procedure that show Royal Purple to be far superior in this type of test. When I approached an Amsoil representative about this I was told "That test is invalid because it is too tough for testing engine oil." My retort was, if so why wouldn't a tougher test relate positively to a less-harsh environment. I was never given a response to that, and the petroleum engineers I've spoken to agree with me. There is no such thing as a test of this type that is "too tough" to be valid.

There are lots of good oils available, and I never tell anyone that my choice is best. When they ask I give them the options to use Amsoil, M1, Redline, Royal Purple, or any of a short list of major synethetics available, based mostly on price and availability. I think M1 (the 15w50 automotive variant) is a great choice for most HD riders, even though I use something different. Why? It's cheap, readily available everywhere, and is an excellent product. Tests conducted by bike magazines, et al, show the 15w50 is nearly identical to the 20w50 V-twin variant that costs twice as much, and totally adequate for use in an air-cooled motorcycle. The argument that you must use only a MC-labelled oil in a Harley is bogus, IMO. I ran my last RK 106k miles on a non-MC-labeled synthetic oil, never had the heads off, had 158/158 compression, and it ran like new when traded-in last November. My oil change interval on that bike was 5k miles. Would Amsoil do better? I doubt if you could do better, but it might do as well, as might M1 or Redline.

My point is that oil technology has increased in quantum leaps over the past few decades, and there are many good products to choose from. I'm sold on synthetics, but there are even some good fossil-oil products available. Better is relative, and every oil fan can point to some test or article that points to his product as the best for any given engine.

 

Phins74 - Titusville PA?

Rick