Synthetic or Petroleum Oil in Your Sporty?
December 6, 2007
What kind of oil should you use on your seat to ensure the old lady slips off the back when you take off? Oh, wait, wrong topic. Let me start over…
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What kind of oil should you use on your Sportster, petroleum based or synthetic? First let me go out on a limb and advise you die-hard HD fans that the HD brand oil is inferior to other oils. (This from an actual HD mechanic I know, shhh.)
It has been my experience that synthetic oil works better in motorcycles. Crude based motor oils do work ok. But synthetics give you Longer oil change intervals, are better for the environment and more cost effective to boot.
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The synthetics have a higher resistance to thermal breakdown, while it provides superior heat protection and much better start-up protection because it doesn’t have all those waxes and other crap in there that gets thicker when it gets cold.
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What kind of oil should you use on your Sportster, petroleum based or synthetic? First let me go out on a limb and advise you die-hard HD fans that the HD brand oil is inferior to other oils. (This from an actual HD mechanic I know, shhh.)
It has been my experience that synthetic oil works better in motorcycles. Crude based motor oils do work ok. But synthetics give you Longer oil change intervals, are better for the environment and more cost effective to boot.
.
The synthetics have a higher resistance to thermal breakdown, while it provides superior heat protection and much better start-up protection because it doesn’t have all those waxes and other crap in there that gets thicker when it gets cold.
Once you go synthetic, you will probably never go back.
The key is proper maintenance!! I have run the whole gammit of oil in my 35 year old sportster from regular automotive 30 wt to hd 60 wt, what ever was handy at the time. this machine has well over 100k miles on it and never had an overhaul except a blueprint ring job after I totaled it out in 1975 and had to pull the head because of a broken valve spring. Never had synthetic in it. I gave it to my son two years ago and he torn it down to paint the frame so I went through the engine and had practically zero wear. I do not have harley’s original spec but going by the book, less than 1/10,000 pin wear and so little bore taper, I just deglazed it and went as is. I still have to old parts is some doubt it. I used to run the dog out of it in my younger days and 7500 rpm speed blast were common and it topped out at 133 mph. I only hope this 1200 sport will be as good as this old iron head.