The nitty-gritty of SYN3

[george douglas]

Just changed the oil in my 01 road king. 20w 50 engine, 20w 50 primary, 20w 50 tranny. Other than the tranny I have been doing it this way for over 20 years in Harleys. Enough said.

[Vegasfireman]

Originally posted by george douglas
I will drink to that. I just gave my road king a long deserved oil change. I finally put the 20w 50 amsoil in the tranny instead of the 75w 90 gearlube. For a tranny that shifted pretty good in the first place, it really shifts nice now. Figured if I am selling the Amsoil for all three cavities, I ought to be using it the same way.

I have been running the AMSoil in my Kings for a total of 64,000 miles.

The 98 RK I rode it for about 49,000 miles and in my '03 SE for about 5,000 Miles with AMSoil products. The rest of the milage was break in and no Synthetic.

I ride them both hard fast and heavy. I pull about 1,500 pounds when you add the bike, broad, trailer, gear and my fat ass to the mix, and I do it at speeds over 100 on a regular basis. For me Sturgis is less that a 2 full day ride.

I run the 20 50 in the engine, 75-90 in the primary and 75-140 in the tranny. I never had a problem with anything using these weights or the AMSoil.

Craig

[george douglas]

Craig,
I am curious to why you are running gearlube in the primary and such a heavy gearlube in the tranny? Harley, until just recently with their syn3, actually recommends a 10w 40 motor oil in in the primary and a 75w 90 semi synthetic gearlube in the tranny. Maybe it gives you a comfortable feeling to have that much overkill protection for your bike.

[Vegasfireman]

Originally posted by george douglas
Craig,
I am curious to why you are running gearlube in the primary and such a heavy gearlube in the tranny? Harley, until just recently with their syn3, actually recommends a 10w 40 motor oil in in the primary and a 75w 90 semi synthetic gearlube in the tranny. Maybe it gives you a comfortable feeling to have that much overkill protection for your bike.

Hi George.

When I started with AMSoil, I did before it was cool to do it. *L* I did a lot of research and found out a lot about it, including where AMSoil reformulated their regular motorcycle oil (not their racing oil) just to appease those who said Harleys regular oil contained zinc and phosphorus. AMSoil did not contain it, and that was the reason NOT to use it.

After they reformulated their regular motor oil, AMS oil actually contained more of these compounds. It was talking to this fellow who gave me those recommended weights. I have used them ever since.

Since I have never had a problem with an internally lubricated part, I guess I have never seen any reason to quit.

I have seen where lots of people had chain tensioner problems in the primary, and I never had to readjust my primary chain after 10,000 miles. (If I remember correctly.) I know at one point after I started using it, I was amased that I had not ever done another chain adjustment. Oh we checked, but it was always in specs.

My old bike was abused as far as the way i rode it. High RPM's and High speed most of the time. I remember one time keeping up with the group going over Monarch Pass. I rode it like a Honda pulling a full load and a trailer, and when i got to the top and shut it down to wait for the others, gas was driping out of the air cleaner.

The old bike never got hotter than 220 and that was just one time in heavy sturgis traffic. Now that I have the SE103 I have seen it at temps of 245 several times. To me and the hotter temps, I think it would be even better to use these weights.

I never wore a clutch out and seldom did I have to adjust it.

All I can say is that it works for me. I'm happy with it. While I don't sell AMSoil I do have the dealer licence, and buy for 2 other friends when i get mine who run the same weights. I ride much harder and since they are trailer queens, a lot more mileage. They seem to be happy as well.

Craig

[george douglas]

Craig,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Your thoughts are truly based on your good experience, but I have used and sold the recommended weights of Amsoil for the Harley market since 1981 and no one has had the usual harley problems, so I guess you can skin a rabbit many different ways. As far as the primary and clutch area, I have had many reports of improved clutch response with our 20w 50 in there. When using too thick of a fluid in the tranny you are robbing a little HP is all, but you have a tremendous amount of overkill protection in there. Happy riding!

[Trekker]

I use Mobil 1 V-Twin in my crankcase.
Has anyone used Rev-Tech's oil?
I have some bottles given to me when I bought my Tour Glide, one's for the primary & the other for the tranny (80w).
Any thoughts?

[rickr01]

I've used Harleys HD 360 and the others that came before. I change my oil at 1500 mile intervals max. I have never had an engine related failure. Any of my bikes I needed to open (Base Gaskets and rocker gaskets only) have looked new inside. You could still see cross hatch at over 30000. miles. Thats good enough for me and now I run SYN 3. engine only. I run the other Harley lubes in chaincase and tranny. The tranny oil is semi if I am not mistaken. I have gotten over 100000 out of a Harley tranny with no failures. I have never even had to replace the blasted lifters. I always replaced the inna cam bearings the base and rocker gaskets after the breakend of a new evo, warranty or not.

[Ash]

So What are the recomended weights for amsoil in the engine, primary, and trans. I am about to switch and just thought I would run 20 50 in engine. I didnt even think of running it in the other two places. All oponions are appreciated. Oh I have a 85 wide glide with a revtek motor. It runs real hot in the summer so I was hoping the amsoil would help a little better then the regular harley oil. Thanks!

[george douglas]

You can run the Amsoil in all three holes or if you are more comfortable with a gear lube for the tranny, run the 75W 90 in there. The primary can run either the 20w 50 or a 10w 40. I run the 20w 50 in the primary to keep it simple, one fluid for everything. A clutch and chain could care less if it is a 40W or a 50W.

[rickr01]

Can somone in the know and unbiased tell me what is suppose to be wrong with SYN 3. Is there really nothing and everyone is just irked off because Harley has changed their toon?? Syn 3 has to be at least better then the dino I was running???
How about some concrete answers. All this oil data is ok if your a chemical engineer. I just want to know if it is a decent oil, and if it's better then dino. George how about an unbiased direct answer on that question not on which brand is better Amsoil or Harley.

[trooper113]

I'll give it a shot:

Dino is fine. Synthetics are a bit better and mostly hold up to heat better without breakdown. It's a matter of how much over-protection you choose.

Syn 3 is a semi-synthetic that costs more than the most popular full synthetics (Amsoil, Mobil 1, Redline[?]) and is being pushed by H-D dealers who only a year ago would tell you how evil synthetics are and that their use would likely void your warranty.

I use Amsoil and buy it from George. George is a good, up front guy to deal with and supports this forum. If I didn't use Amsoil, I'd probably use Mobil 1.

T113

[rickr01]

I thought Syn 3 was a full synthetic?? It I am not mistaken, they claim to be full on all the websites. False advertising, or differences in interpretation. There must be a standard for synthetic full verses semi. If not I'm going to mix some Vermont pure maple syrup from my sugar woods with citco crappo and make myself RICH!

[trooper113]

My understanding is that Syn 3 is a semi-synthetic. The first post in this series indicates that. Having said that, there's nothing wrong with it....just pricey for what you get.

T113

[rickr01]

Thanks,

Interesting seemingly never ending subject. Kinda like the good dealer bad stealer subject. No matter where you buy or live there is good and bad dealers stores shops etc. Find a good one for parts and new purchases and do the rest yourself....Thats my motto. I won't buy no matter what it is where I am not treated right plain and simple!

[rickr01]

Trooper,

Thanks for answering. I wasn't trying to be a wise ass. I'm just opinionated so my better half tells me!! Have a good day....Riding hopefully!