| Author | Message | ||
     Tsm81xtreme |
Okay, So I am thinking of going with Royal Purple oil this time. Which should I use, 20w-50 regular or 20w-50 synthetic oil. Let me know what you guys think. Thanks. | ||
| Buellistic |
Use HARLEY-DAVIDSON SYN3 20W50 ... First 60K used HD Dyno 20W50 ... 60K to 108,062.75 miles as of the last ride HD SYN3 20W50 ... MAY THE LONG LASTING BUELL BE WITH YOU !!! | ||
| Sloppy |
Use an oil that the manual recommends. API - C... otherwise it really doesn't matter. I use Mobil 15w-50 in both tranny and engine. | ||
| Hootowl |
Most folks go with synthetic because it tolerates high heat better, but as long as you are changing you oil like you're supposed to, it doesn't matter. I use Mobil 15W50 in engine and tranny as well. | ||
| Phelan |
I like/prefer Amsoil 20-50. | ||
| Tsm81xtreme |
About the synthetic, tdman77, sent me an email wednesday that said one of his instructors at MMI, had a harley guy in their class that day, and the harley guy said to NOT use the harley synthetic oil. I dont know why, that is just what tom told me. | ||
| Buellistic |
The oil in a air cooled engine, it is also use'ed to cool the engine ... MAY THE "COOLER" LONG LASTING BUELL BE WITH YOU !!! | ||
| Sstlouisjak |
I really like the way my bike runs on Valvoline VR1- 20w-50 Race Oil | ||
| Phelan |
TSM, that statement is based off an old wives tale about synthetic being "too slick" for the bearings to work properly. That theology has been proven wrong by independant studies. | ||
| Limitedx1 |
amsoil and royal purple is what the majority of gearheads around my town run | ||
| Rich |
What's on sale?(synthetic-wise) That's what I try to use. | ||
| Buellistic |
"i" like to go into HARLEY-DAVIDSON Dealers and ask for BUELL engine oil, then the fun begins !!! | ||
| Oldog |
TMS Td and I had a "conversation" on that "instructor" not too long ago, "harley jugs never crack" is what he was told by his MMI instructor, I wonder how show and tell went?  | ||
| Tsm81xtreme |
That sure is a crack!!!!! I think that I will go with Royal Purple Synthetic | ||
| Buellistic |
Oldog: Took the MMI School tour a few years ago, do not believe "i" would want one of their GRADUATES touching my BUELL !!! | ||
| Fullauto |
I use the normal HD 20w50 and I have ridden the bike for two years in what you would call "extreme temperatures" with no problems. I just change it every 5,000 km (3000 miles). Summers in the Pilbara region of Western Australia reach 48 degrees C and I have ridden extensively in these temps. That's about 120F. No use spending money for nothing. | ||
| Tdman77 |
It wasn't a Harley Guy but a test we did at school where HD Syn3 did worse than the HD dino oil. Amsoil came in second after Royal Purple. Royal Purple worked so well the carb motors we used it in had to have their idle turned down. Another note NEVER use automotive oils in a motorcycle! They have additives that can be extremely harmful to the engine. Oldog - Your cracked jug picture was awesome. Again a case of a "Harley Tech" trying to apply their knowledge to Buells. Once the Buell instructor got involved. He said that is a well know problem on the under slung shock Buells. The root of the problem with isolators and cracked motor mounts/bolts is because the shock is putting the engine case under huge loads when the suspension is compressed. This causes the case to flex along with the front jug, thus the iso/motor mount problems. Every wonder why they switched to a compression shock on the XBs? | ||
| Sloppy |
"another note NEVER use automotive oils in a motorcycle! They have additives that can be extremely harmful to the engine." What kind of statement is this? Buell ADVISES to use AUTOMOTIVE OILS in their bikes! That is what API-C oil is... Do the laws of physics suddenly change when the engine has two wheels? Does the viscosity change when the engine suddenly learns it's not under a hood? Do we suddenly believe that Obama knows what the hell he's doing? I hear a great gnashing of teeth from Tribologists across the world when I read comments like that... | ||
| Smoke |
i like the synthetics in the bikes and use mobil 1 or amsoil motorcycle specific. i have topped off on trips with different brands or car specific synthetics when necessary. ymmv tim | ||
| Kalali |
I always use RP in my cars (MZ4, P GT3) and my X1. In the cars, I really can't tell a difference but the X1 is running 10-15C cooler on average. I just think the HD oils are way overpriced, even compared to RP. | ||
| Tdman77 |
Sloppy - Automotive and motorcycle oils have different formulas. Check out API's (Automotive Petroleum Institute) website out. The government (EPA) has different standards for cars vs bikes. I don't know but if Buell has switched to using all their gaskets and bearings to automotive equivalents then yes automotive oil should work. Having an older Buell I will stick to using RP cycle oil in my bike. Kalai - You are seeing the exact same results we saw. I was a Mobil 1 fan for over 2 decades but now the only oil for me is Royal Purple. Royal Purple is the only racing oil manufacture who blends their oils in house. Other manufactures pay someone to make the oil to their specs and then sells them as their own. | ||
| Kalali |
I actually did not know RP has cycle specific synth oil. While I tend to agree with Tom on the cycle vs. auto oils, my view is those of us who change the oil every 2000-2500 miles should be OK using the "lesser" formulation oil. Unfortunately, it is really hard to track a correlation in the long run between potential failures and the oil that was used. In my book, if the bike is running cooler, that is good enough or me. | ||
| Blake |
"Automotive and motorcycle oils have different formulas." Not true. What is true is that oil badged as "energy saving" include friction modifiers that dont' work well with wet clutches. What is also true is that any engine oil, automotive or motorcycle or whatever, that is greater than an xxW30 is never "energy saving" and not subject to automotive regulations related to "energy saving" performance. Thus any xxW40 or xxW50 automotive oil may include additives not permitted in the "energy saving" xxW30 and less oils and they need not contain friction modifiers either. Hope that helps. There's always been a bewildering amount of misinformation on the whole engine oil subject. If you ever want to test someone's expertise or knowledge of lubrication technology, ask them which is more viscous, an SAE 80 weight gear oil or an SAE 40 weight engine oil? The answer is... (Message edited by blake on July 25, 2009) | ||
| Blake |
no question, hands down, the SAE 40 weight engine oil. | ||
| Blake |
 | ||
| Sloppy |
Thank you Blake for the voice of reason! Let's be careful of putting erroneous information out here - in other words there is a large difference between fact and opinion! If you're not sure which oil to use then don't follow the oil rumor club's advice - instead educate yourself, read the owner's manual OR ask the vendor's tribologist directly. | ||
| Buellistic |
Tdman77: By the looks of your buell "i" would let you work on mine !!! The AUSTRALIAN down under rear shock in IMHO is a "BUELLschitte" excuse with a production run from 1986 to 2002 ... My wife and "i" weight close to 500 pounds and had a 500 pound shock spring made up so we could ride two up and get this, on SECOND front isolator with 108,062.75 miles as of the last ride !!! What the hell am "i" doing right ??? MAY THE LONG LASTING "FRONT ISOLATOR" BE WITH YOU !!! | ||
| Fast1075 |
Can someone refute or deny this oil question? I have been told that Harley Syn3 is just rebadged Citgo semi-synthetic. True or false??? If the answer is TRUE...Who really wants to contribute to Chavez???? | ||
| Buellistic |
BMC is NON-UNION !!! | ||
| Kalali |
I am sure there are a lot of people out there like me who would gladly use HD oil. Unfortunately, at least in my dealership, they charge around $11 for a quart. I just simply can not justify paying that much for oil. I honestly go out of my way to "support" HD/Buell OEM products but sometimes I have to draw the line... |
