I have an 04 XL1200R. At 300 miles I switched to 20W50 Syn3 and had one problem, upper end noise. Having used synthetic oils in my cars and truck for years this really didn't bother me however, it seemed a bit excessive. At 3,200 miles I switched to 15W50 Mobil 1. This oil has been in the engine and primary for the last 250 miles. The clutch as well as engine would appear to be much quieter and the temperature of the oil seems to be roughly the same both on the road and in traffic. I have however noticed that the Mobil 1 doesn't take near as long to acheive operating temperature. Has anyone had any problems running a quality automotive synthetic in their bike? If so, what have you observed?

Stephen Hawk

Been using synthetic oils both in the scooter and truck........no problems at all :D

General folk lore has it that it is bad to change to synthetic oil too soon with a new engine -- the lore says that the syn oil is slippery enough to prevent a good brake in. Could be -- I've seen it on the INTERNET. The only street engine I ever used Syn oil in -- blew up at 29k miles Toyota Spyder -- ring failure -- personal folk lore.

Has anyone had any problems running a quality automotive synthetic in their bike? If so, what have you observed?


No, and a loooot of folks use Mobil 1 15w50 synthetic just like you specified in their Sportsters. A whooole lot. It seems to be a common alternative to the high priced syn3. I ran it for a while, and it was fine. I switched to syn3 on my 10k service just to see if there was a difference and there was; my oil blow by issue came back with vengance. I never had it with the Mobil 1 after my conversion. Next oil change I am going back to the Mobil 1 15w50 syn.

So even something like castrol synthetic would be good if the right grade?

I was told by a HD mechanic to not use anything but HD oil because (if I remember right) anything else was, basically, too good for the engine and seals?

Aint nothing like a $35 oil change. :frownthre

So even something like castrol synthetic would be good if the right grade?

I don't know about that, I just know that Mobil 1 syn 15w50 is very commonly used in our Sportsters. I personally wouldn't be the first to see if Castrol worked just as well.

Mob 1, provided in newly delivered Corvettes and Porschs and some Mercedes, not a bad start. Have used it on my main scoot now for 6000 miles, seems good to me.
One thing I would never do is pay, what it is $7.95 for the HD stuff? Mobil also now has a VTwin 20/50 syn, but I really doubt there is any serious differance between that and the 15/50.

I've used Mobil1 15w50 in the engine and the primary for the last 10K miles and really like it. I'm not a technical expert by any means, but it seemed to make shifting much smoother.

Hey Welcome to the forum Panhead!

Gary

I switched to Mobil 1 15W/50 at 1100 miles and at 3581 miles the motor is still running quieter than with the HD 20W50 oil. Someone posted a link to some interesting reading on a lot of different oils. I don't remember which site it was on. It might have been on the Yahoo forum if it wasn't on this one. I'll try and find it. It was just last week.

here is something to read Steve :D http://www.ducatimeccanica.com/oil.html

I always use automotive motor oil in my Sporty since the PX does not carry V-Twin oil very often and I refuse to pay the German prices for Syn which is about 15 euro ($20) per quart. The PX ALWAYS has Mobil 1 15W50!!!

There was a study done in 1994 by a physics professor at a Cal state University who happened to be one of us, a biker. The study indicated that the one variable, which motorcycle manufacturers couldn't support was viscosity breakdown. In all the oils tested, including the better synthetics, breakdown occured around 1,500 miles however, the amount of breakdown relative to the synthetics was minimal when compared to dino oils. I'm not quite ready to try Mobil 1 in my sportbike yet but things are looking positive for a future change-over. In going back to read one of the links posted I see the study has made it to this thread. I will however say this, in researching the use of Mobil 1 I did find one user that complained of oil foaming on an R1 Yamaha but the owner failed to give any supportive data to indicate why the oil was foaming. I ran into another individual that indicated his clutch was slipping shortly after the change-over however, he was unclear as to whether or not this could have simply been caused by an old clutch pack and again, this was a sportbike.

I had my sporty out for a night cruise with a friend that has an 05 1200 custom and after 20 miles we stopped for some grub. When I looked at his oil tank gauge he was running the identical temperature to me and he is on Syn3. The ambient temperature was 46 degrees and when we fired the bikes up, he had to warm his up where mine was ready to go after about 30 seconds of run time with little or no choke. Granted, I have only been on Mobil 1 for roughly 300 miles now but I can find no reason to ever go back, this 1200R loves it................

Hawk

Working for Mobil I have to say there are a lot of old wive's tales about engine oil, especially synthetics!

I have written an article last year (mainly for the car trade to use) and I will see if I can post it.

Personally I changed over to fully synthetic (Syn-3) at the 1000 mile service, which seemed the ideal time to do it. You will not harm the engine by changing sooner but it usually is best to let the engine "bed-in" first. As regards engine noise all 04/05 Sportsters seem to be noisy at the top-end regardless of what oil they run.

Cost seems to be the major issue with owners wether or not to run fully synthetic, as well as older higher mileage engines (you won't get the benefit then). Be careful when using a car grade because they use an anti-friction additive which is harmful to a "wet" clutch system.

You don't want to run syn. in a new motor until it is broken in, the syn will prevent the parts to wear in properly. I wouldn't use any Harley oils in even a lawn mower. It is low bid and only cost $0.10 a quart to produce.
After a lengthy investigation, I only use Amsoil..

I wouldn't use any Harley oils in even a lawn mower. It is low bid and only cost $0.10 a quart to produce. After a lengthy investigation, I only use Amsoil..
I heard HD dino is Amsoil repackaged :)

In regards to Mobil 1 or any quality synthetic, it doesn't really matter when you make the switch except to say that the friction and wear factors will be substantially reduced. I changed to synthetic in my FZ6 when it had 20 miles on it and I will never go back to Yamalube. I noticed a major difference in the upper end noise of my 1200R right away, it's quiet.... In regards to Amsoil, yup, it's good stuff but who wants to pay the price or hassle with the dealers? I can buy Mobil 1 in virtually any major town or city within the U.S.. Try doing that with Amsoil and the flash point of the oil really isn't any better than Mobil 1. Also, the viscosity breakdown in the Amsoil product occurs at roughly 1,500 miles just as it does with the other oils. I, as with others, am interested in empirical data that either suggests a betterment or greater failure rate between one product and another. It would appear that many Sporty owners are quite satisfied with using the Mobil 1 15W50. At this point I must agree that Mobil 1 automotive oil has made a marked improvement however, I have only put roughly 300 miles on the bike since the change. Observations over time may bring underlying issues that are not currently present. If so, I was hoping that some of the other owners could share their experiences with the product. At present it would apear that no one has data to support the failure arguement.

Thanks,

Hawk

I'm going with Mobil 1.

Ah damnit, you talked me into, too.

Really though, Harley oil is $3.25 a quart (Syn 3 is $8.75). For a dollar more, I can have the Mobil 1 synthetic. Can't believe I didn't think about it before. Throw in a good black Wix filter and, boom, oil change under $20.

Ah damnit, you talked me into, too.

Really though, Harley oil is $3.25 a quart (Syn 3 is $8.75). For a dollar more, I can have the Mobil 1 synthetic. Can't believe I didn't think about it before. Throw in a good black Wix filter and, boom, oil change under $20.

Well done Grasshopper :laugh

I have had 3 different guys that work at various H-D dealerships tell me that Citgo has the oil contract from Harley-Davidson.

BTW, I use 15w-50 Mobil 1 in the engine and H-D Sportrans fluid in the tranny/clutch case.

From my research in the different oils manufactured, Citgo does have the contract with HD to manufacture the oil for them.

Organic vs Synthetic. It's an arguement that will persist ad nauseum. I know a lot of guys that have logged in excess of 100,000 miles with both types of oil. Change oil frequently particularly of it sits for any length of time and gathers moisture. No oil can withstand that.

Citgo makes the organic blends, Mobil the synthetic (Syn3)...synthetic will run cooler and we all know HD's need help there biggest issue my customers have with synthetics are they will leak where an organic might have carboned up enough to seal a poor gasket

OH HERE WE GO AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!

A properly tuned machine will not over heat if ridden correctly.
New riders make the mistake of lugging the sportser engine.
The sporty has to be ridden like it was STOLEN OUT OF EAST L.A.

I was told by a HD mechanic to not use anything but HD oil because (if I remember right) anything else was, basically, too good for the engine and seals?

Aint nothing like a $35 oil change. :frownthre


Nothing like paying an outrageous price for oil that's not "too good" for your engine. You would think if the oil was not as good as others, the price would reflect this. But I forgot, some people really enjoy wasting their money on the pretty HD bottles.

The synthetics will run cooler primarily because they're slipprier. FWIW HD oil ranks lowest among the synthetics. Read the amsoil charts on the google button.