[simjue]

Noticed a pretty informative article in November issue of American Iron. Seemed like a good amount of info concerning dino vs synthetic oils. Bottom line to me was any 20w50 synthetic was acceptable for the v twin motorcycle and superior to any dino oil. Writer somewhat preferred the higher wt 80w90 for the transmission than 20w50. Worth reading if you can get a copy.

 

[newultraclassic]

Noticed a pretty informative article in November issue of American Iron. Seemed like a good amount of info concerning dino vs synthetic oils. Bottom line to me was any 20w50 synthetic was acceptable for the v twin motorcycle and superior to any dino oil. Writer somewhat preferred the higher wt 80w90 for the transmission than 20w50. Worth reading if you can get a copy.

I read the article and one of the things I noticed was that Donnie Peterson likes Mobil1 15w-50 for his Harley. My favorite oil.

Interesting to note that the Harley service manual calls for straight weight oils (50w, 60w) at the higher temperatures, 80-90-100 degrees F. Seems like everyone ignores that suggestion, especially the dealers.

.

 

[SFTL-1]

Donny lives in Toronto Canada, it's a little colder there then here in the lower 48, otherwise I'm sure he'd be using 20w/50 or 20w/60.

 

[LittleBear]

newultra classic,
I also use the Mobil 15w-50 in my bikes. The problem I have with going to a straight 60 in the Texas heat, is I may not always be riding in the heat. A few oil changes in the heat of summer it would probably be Okay, but I might decide to ride into the Rockies of NM or somewhere cooler. I do not know how well straight 60 oil would work under those cooler conditions so I stick to 15w-50 year around. Is it really a problem at higher outside temps? I do not know for sure, but I do not think so. Please let me know what you think.

 

[ratt]

newultra classic,
I also use the Mobil 15w-50 in my bikes. The problem I have with going to a straight 60 in the Texas heat, is I may not always be riding in the heat. A few oil changes in the heat of summer it would probably be Okay, but I might decide to ride into the Rockies of NM or somewhere cooler. I do not know how well straight 60 oil would work under those cooler conditions so I stick to 15w-50 year around. Is it really a problem at higher outside temps? I do not know for sure, but I do not think so. Please let me know what you think.

Yup on our fall run from michigan to texas and back we see temps from high 90s to low thirties. I have a 01 electra glide carb bike with 52k on it. On this last trip both going down to texas and on the way back the bike just shut down in the heat. The engine wasnt tight and would turn over and all electrical power seemed to be in tact ,,,,after a 15 to min rest on the side of the road it fired back up and ran flawless for the rest of the trip ,, in 4700 miles it quit on me twice ........ now i have to try to figure out what caused it.......any suggestions? I am pretty well sure its heat related.....rat

 

[trooper113]

Overheated marginal circuit breaker? I don't think carb bikes don't have heat management systems.

T113

 

[TheDuke]

I guess under an EXTREEME heat condition, both cylinders might misfire enough to kill it. 15 minutes later it might have cooled enough to start?

I'm no expert by any means, but it seems that it had to either be that or somehow something cut off your fuel enough to kill it?

 

[newultraclassic]

newultra classic,
I also use the Mobil 15w-50 in my bikes. The problem I have with going to a straight 60 in the Texas heat, is I may not always be riding in the heat. A few oil changes in the heat of summer it would probably be Okay, but I might decide to ride into the Rockies of NM or somewhere cooler. I do not know how well straight 60 oil would work under those cooler conditions so I stick to 15w-50 year around. Is it really a problem at higher outside temps? I do not know for sure, but I do not think so. Please let me know what you think.

Hi,

The 15w-50 is actually supposed to react exactly the same as 20w-50 when hot. As you probably know, the 50 designation refers to viscosity at operating temperature. I think that 15w-50 or 20w-50 would be OK for almost all usages. If it gets much over 100 degrees, probably you should stay home and have a Bud anyway.

I run straight 60 weight dinosaur oil in my 1982 Shovelhead, always have. It runs great in hot, cold, in-between. Those old bikes run better on thick stuff. I don't think straight weight would be necessary in a modern engine, though. They really don't need it. Mobil1 car oil (gold top) is just fine at less than $5.00 a quart at Wal-Mart.

.

 

[LittleBear]

NewultraClasic,
Thanks, that is the same line of thinking I have. I do buy it at Wall-Mart.
Went to Mobil 1 15w-50 because I can buy it anywhere in the US on road trips.
My brother uses 60w Valvaline Racing oil in his Shovelhead on my advice. He can get it anywhere in the US and is a good oil for his motor.
What 60w do you use in your Shovel?

 

[newultraclassic]

NewultraClasic,
Thanks, that is the same line of thinking I have. I do buy it at Wall-Mart.
Went to Mobil 1 15w-50 because I can buy it anywhere in the US on road trips.
My brother uses 60w Valvaline Racing oil in his Shovelhead on my advice. He can get it anywhere in the US and is a good oil for his motor.
What 60w do you use in your Shovel?

I've used 50 and 60 wt. Harley, Rev Tech, Valvoline and a couple of others that I can't recall. I finally settled on 60 wt. and Valvoline and Rev Tech are good. Harley is also good but a little higher in price and they laugh at you when you tell them it's for a Shovelhead so I generally buy the other stuff to avoid humiliation.

It would be nice if I could get a straight 60 wt synthetic locally but I can't find it.

 

[georgedouglas]

I've used 50 and 60 wt. Harley, Rev Tech, Valvoline and a couple of others that I can't recall. I finally settled on 60 wt. and Valvoline and Rev Tech are good. Harley is also good but a little higher in price and they laugh at you when you tell them it's for a Shovelhead so I generally buy the other stuff to avoid humiliation.

It would be nice if I could get a straight 60 wt synthetic locally but I can't find it.

I can have the Amsoil straight 60 weight synthetic shipped right to your doorstep. Check the spec's out on this product. https://www.amsoil.com/storefront/ahr.aspx Several of the forum members are already using this product and it meets the Harely spec and it has the advantage of circulating well on start up in very low temperatures. Also concerning rust protection take a look at the rust testing that Amsoil has done on the majority of motorcycle oils. https://www.amsoil.com/StoreFront/mcv.aspx

Amsoil has designed some real rust protection over kill into their new motorcycle oils. With this new additive technology most the concerns regarding winter storage is a mute issue if you are using the right oils. As more company's see the test results on how their oils performed on rust testing, they will be forced to catch up on this new additive technology. Leaders in technology always raise the bar no matter what their product is and this is good for the consumer.

Also in an earlier post someone mentioned using WD40 as a rust protector. WD40 is not designed for that purpose and in the aviation world we had to quit using that product because of corison it was causing to the airframes.