Engine Oil Poll

Twisted_Games

I just started running Lucas in my bike, It was recomended by a friend. I was kind of worried about putting something i nthe engine I didnt know much about, but he has used it for awhile. I may go back to Mobil 1 v-twin on the next oil change.

Softail

Hi to all,
I want to be sure I understand correctly on what I am going to put into my o7 Softail Standard.In the motor I am putting the Mobil 1 V Twin 20W-50 Synthetic and in the Primary I am putting the Mobil 1 Racing 4T 10W-40 and in the Transmission I put the Spectro Heavy Duty Platinum 75/140 for helical and straight cut gears.Is this correct?

Softail

glider

Sounds like a winning combination.

Check the pricing on the Mobil 1 Racing 4T 10W-40, it may be less costly to use the formula + from HD in the primary. No special oil is needed in there and no friction modifiers either.

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dynarider

AMSOIL 20W-50 new in my bike before winter. It was great in my Sporty which I traded in October.

glider

And what in the trans?

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dynarider

AMSOIL 20W-50 in all 3 holes; engine, trans, and primary.

glider

Do yourself a favor and use a gear oil in the trans. 20/50 is for engines, not gears (even the Amsoil regardless of what they say in the white sheets)

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smitty901

This whole lube thing has me confused. I have been around awhile. I have seen the latest and greatest come and go.
IF syn3 is so bad why in the heck would Harley sell it. They could easly just switch to the better product. If my engine and transmission are going to fall out if if I use Harely syn3,why does my Fatboy have 45,000 hards mile on it with only a started bernex repair.
In my 2007 RG I run syn3. It shifts just fine. It is in Harley intrest to sell quialty name brand lubes.
Harley does not make the lube, they tell ---- to make a product to thier standard and --- does it.
I know that thicker lubes can reduce noise. However that does not mean the protect better. Lube we use in some equipent is as thin as water and protects better than the old thick stuff.
Someone explane to me why Harley would recomend and sell me a sub quialty product and lose me as a customer, when They count on me being a Harley owner for life.

glider

Smitty

Lots of questions to answer but I'll give it a try. Just for openers, I am not trying to convince anyone to use anything, I am just stating that in years of maintenance and repairs on harleys what I have found works best.

The syn 3 will work in your bike. Harley puts out the bids and usually the lowest bidder gets the contract awarded to them, in this case it was CITGO, (sound familiar?)
Syn 3 is a group 3 oil and then others like Mobil, redline and many others are a group 4. I'm not going to get into specifics here, that's for you to research and find the answers. For the same price or even less than the Syn 3 you can get a better oil (group 4) that will give more protection for the same price. Not a difficult choice to make here for me. Gear oil in the transmission and engine oil in the engine, NOT one oil fits all.

The dealers sell it because it has their label on it and it increases the bottom line for them being in the retail business. You'll find that most dealers carry another oil line besides syn 3. I have personally seen transmissions that ran on syn 3 and the bearings and shifter forks were blued in them which tells me a lot about syn 3 and just how good it lubricates in the transmission.
Just because you run syn 3 in your bike for extended miles, doesn't mean that there aren't a better choice in oils for your bike. Do some research and see for yourself. Any number of oils could be used to lube a transmission but it isn't being done to the fullest extent that it could be using the syn 3. Why not use peanut oil in the trans? Probably because it wouldn't do the job? Same thing here with the syn 3.
I've seen people say that syn 3 worked fine in their bike and that's OK because it's their bike, not mine. HD now offers the Formula+ for use in the primary AND trans, why not syn 3 any more? Hmmmmmm, very interesting!
Formula+ is still a compromise between the two and can't possibly do both jobs correctly regardless of the hype that is told about it, they have different needs.Formula + is basically a 50 wt oil that will be OK in the trans but a bit thick in the primary causing clutch drag. A trade off here too but slanted towards better protection in the trans than the syn 3 did. Why did they change to the formula+ if the syn 3 was doing the job? Or was it?
If you were to try a quality lube (gear oil) in the trans like Spectro platinum, you would become a believer here. They are subtle differences like easier/smoother shifting and easier to find neutral, but the main thing is reduced wear in the transmission and it is evidenced by the lack of fuzz on the VSS and drain plug when doing a service.
The people that have tried a quality gear oil and said they didn't see a difference are probably the same people that would drive their car with one tire very low on air without realizing it.

If you look through the self help forum, you'll find a post about the VSS in there that shows the accumulation of metallic fuzz on the pickup. A quality gear lube will just about eliminate this so you draw your own conclusion here.
Speed Sensor Pickup Problem Symptoms - Harley Davidson Community
Remember thou that the fuzz is gear material (wear) and if it can be eliminated, that's what we are trying to do here is give facts that will help members out.
Take some time and go through the self help forum, you'd be surprised what you'll find in there.

Your statement that you made "However that does not mean the protect better. Lube we use in some equipent is as thin as water and protects better than the old thick stuff."

The new energy conserving oils (ie 5w20) are thinner than the older oils because they contain friction modifiers and the newer engine tolerances are much tighter than the older engines of yesteryear. The same basics will pertain to engine verses gear oil as discussed here in this post.

It's also advised NOT to use the new energy conserving oils in an older motor.

There's an old saying that you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink.

PS It's a starter bendix replacement and not a "started bernex repair". They have to be replaced when they go belly up.

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smitty901

Thanks for the reply seems the more I read the more confusing it gets.
I work for a company thats has a lot of equipment And with 15,000 employess alot of cars and trucks. They spend millions on maintance research and finding ways to lower cost.
Simple things like filtering new HYD fuild befor putting it in reduced pump and motor failures. on some gear boxes they never change lube they have found moderen lubes make it unnessary.
Did you know that used AMSOL dumped on the corn field will grow 20% more corn. And slick 50 once used in a engine will make it run forever even with out oil.
I take no iusse with you information I just look for results.
Once I find them I will use the better product.
Better lube means less repair cost and time = more time to ride
Thanks for information