DONNY WRITES THAT MOBIL OIL MAKES 20W50 SYNTHETIC OIL FOR CARS THAT IS THE SAME OIL THEY RE-PACKAGE FOR MOTORCYCLES. I CAN ONLY FIND 15W50 FOR CARS. DONNY PREFERS MOBIL 1 15W50 BUT HE LIVES IN CANADA. WOULDN'T 15W50 BE TOO LIGHT FOR FLORIDA TEMPS? MOBIL'S WEB WWW.MOBILOIL.COM ONLY SHOWS MC. OIL IN 20W50. ALSO DONNY SAYS USE A LIGHTER GRADE OIL IN THE PRIMARY BUT GIVES NO RECOMMENDATION. HE DOES RECOMMEND A HEAVIER TRANS. OIL THAN 20W50 AND LISTS 80W90 GEAR LUBE. WHAT WOULD YOU USE IF YOU LIVED IN A CLIMATE THAT SELDOM DROPS BELOW 40 F?
I may be wrong but i don't think Donny said that they make 20w50 for cars. If you own an evo or twin cam 20w50 would be fine If you own a shovel or older i would recommend a straight weight unless you are able to keep them from leaving their mark then i would try a synthetic. In the hotter climates i would also use an oil cooler.In the twin cam i would use an oil cooler no matter where i lived.
THANKS FOR THE INFO. I HAVE BEEN USING HD SYN. 20W50 IN MY EVO AND TWIN CAM AND HD 60W IN MY OLDER BIKES. I MAY CHANGE OVER TO MOBIL 20W50 AND CHANGE BACK TO GEAR OIL IN THE TRANNY TOO. THE OIL COOLER IS A GOOD IDEA ON THE TWIN CAM. MY ENGINES ARE STOCK AND I CHANGE THE OIL EVERY 2500 MI. AND HAVEN'T HAD ANY PROBLEMS WITH OVER 20,000 MI ON EACH ONE. I USE A CLASSIC FILTER ON THE EVO AND THE PREMIUM 10 MICRON FILTER ON THE TWIN CAM. BUT I HEAR THAT SOMETIMES THE OIL GETS RE-CIRCULATED SEVERAL TIMES BYPASSING THE ELEMENT IN THE PREMIUM FILTER. I WAS WONDERING IF A CLASSIC FILTER MIGHT NOT BE BETTER FOR THE TWIN CAM TOO IF THE OIL GETS FILTERED EVERY TIME THROUGH?
I ran into the same problem. After checking a few places in town and not finding any Mobil 1 20w50 for cars, I looked on the internet and could only find 15w50- 15k extended mile oil change. (ha) It went for about $7+ per qt. That's not much less than the Mobil 1 20w50 for V Twins.
After reading Donny's article again in the Nov. issue I did see on pg 38 3rd column where he refered to the Mobil 1 as 15w50. I missed it the 1st time too.
I then considered Castol 20w50 after seeing where he rated it 2nd to Mobil 1. Doing a search for Castol on the internet opened up a whole new ball of wax. Although it's readily available locally for about $3+ a quart, the oil was pretty well trashed by comparions to Amsoil in the web sites listed in the internet search pages I pulled up. Looking up Amsoil the prices were $7 and $8.50 for 20w/50 car and mtcy.
Now I don't see where to save any money on oil without going to something like Castrol. I too, could use some advice.
Hey schreckster, Use the classic filter on your evo and the 10 micron on your twin cam. If you use the 10 micron on your evo there's a good chance you could have a problem with the oil bypassing your filter. I would stay with the 10 micron for the twin cam. And for redglide, i have always used mobil1 (automotive before they developed the 20w50 v-twin oil). Since there isn't much difference in price between the two i now stay with the 20w50 v-twin. Now i'm not saying that you should use mobil1 it just happens to be my preference. Threre are others out there that also have a good reputation and amsoil is one of them.
Don't run straight weight in bikes, it's a bad idea with the way the bike motors have to warm up and being aircooled with all the stop-n-go driving, it just turns oil to junk quick, and doesn't thin out quickly in cold weather.
I don't trust the HD syn oil, keep hearing stuff about the way they tested the stuff and how the numbers aren't right.
But I do like the Royal Purple . A few more bucks, but that stuff works! Plus the dollars even out since I don't have to change it as often, and it's not going to go bad on me with days of riding in hot weather.
I also like Lucas oil and gas treatments, it really does work. I'm getting 6 - 10 mpg more running it with the Royal Purple.
The HD trans syn stuff works great too.
Guys, hate to tell you this but HD syn3 is made by mobil1, mobil 1 also has syn for motorcycles which is a diff formulation than mobil1 for cars. Wife works for HD. I have used Vtwin Mobil and now syn3 since I bought my 2000 FXDWG new I use it in all 3 orfices. I have used mobil 1 in all my other veh. for the past 20 years lets face it oil is your cheepest mech. Tipper
The only thing that i don't agree with is using a light weight oil in my gearbox. I'm going to stay with regular gear lube for that. I agree with you on oil being your cheapest mechanic,your oil and filter should be changed often,it's cheap insurance.
Try Red Line Heavy Shockproof Gear oil,it's #1 for Four five and six speed trany's.You will feel the differance in shifting,and the trans will be quietter.
I pay $6@quart for Royal Purple (and that's through mail-order!) where my HD shop wants $9 +tax@quart for their Syn3 at the shop.
Mobil might make it, but I have 3 friends that all had bike in the shop from Syn3 failure (2 motors, 1 tranny). Just because Mobil makes it doesn't mean it's the same stuff. There's a refinery not too far form where I am and they make oil for several companies (some big name, some "Joe's Garage 10w30") and it's NOT the same stuff.
I'd like to see someone do a head to head on oils, even if it bit the hand then feeds them. Hell, I'd even buy a lifetime subscription to the magazine that did that!
Donny Petersen-synthetic Oil Revisited 
Linear Mode
