best all round for harley M8 touring.

V

Vern31

Joined
Oct 20, 2023
Messages
8
Hello Folks

New member here and there is a Ton of info here. So its time to change the oil on the 18 Street Glide and was wondering if you could suggest a few oils? I want to use a Dino oil and would like to use something other than HD 360. I'm not sure what you would suggest for OCI but I'd really like to stretch it to around 4,000 miles if possible. This bike is ridden daily weather permitting but it is a short trip of about 15 min each way. I do get her out on the weekends to stretch her legs a little more.

This might be a silly question but is there anything to a certain oil making the top end any quieter? I have been reading about the Lucas oil stabilizer but the folks on this site don't seem to care for Lucas much.

Also, how do you feel about K&N filters vs. Harley filters?

Thanks for your help

Vern
..
 
For what it's worth i'm in Massachusetts and the AM weather is in the 40's now with the afternoons being in the 60's Summertime temps are usually 80's to 90's.
 
Welcome to BITOG!

Admittedly, I've never owned a Harley, but own Jap and Brit bikes. That said, Castrol Actevo (which is a syn blend) has worked well in any bike I've put it in, both air- and water-cooled. I would recommend giving their 20W50 a try. The best prices for it are usually on walmart.com.
 
I've had Harley's for years and the "what oil should I use" question comes up alot here. Here's my take. I've always ran mineral oil in my Harley and never had any problems with doing that. I always felt there's nothing wrong with Harley's branded oil beside it costing too much for what it is. Meaning a nothing special oil. Nowadays, mineral oil's costs are just about up there with what synthetic oil's cost. So at this point I have gone with synthetic oils. There are alot of motorcycle oil brands to choose from which will do what you need them to do. Mobil 1 V-twin, Lucas, Valvoline, 20w50 wt, are three just off the top of my head. And are easily gotten at your local auto parts store. There are more expensive brands like amsoil if you have deep pockets, but don't expect them to anything different. Harley usually recommends 5k oil changes, and if you scroll thru the motorcycle UOA's, you will find even at 5k, Blackstone usually says you can go longer. I've always used Harley oil filters without any issues. They cost about the same as what auto part store charge for filters, and at least I know I'm using the correct one. As far as oil additives go, Harley doesn't recommend using them. If your oil need to be stabilized, your probably using the wrong type of oil. If you ride in a really hot environment like say in Vegas and your oil consumption seems a bit high, start using a heavier grade of oil like your owners manual recommends.,,
 
1. The Harley oil filter is a top of the line filter, there isnt anything better. I dont know why you want to switch. It can't be price because you bring up K&N which, well, is ... never mind I dont want your thread to turn into a KN debate.

2. Harley oil is fine, you say you want conventional. That is the closest I think you will come.
Other options are:
Mystic JT8 15/50 semi-syn Diesel/gas rated oil. Which actually may be a great choice in your cold climate
Valvoline 20/50 both non syn and syn motorcycle oil.
Castrol 20/50 conventional

and in the synthetic well, just use Mobil 1 15/50 Automotive oil (it wont quiet your engine though) OR Mobil 1 20/50 motorcycle oil I think the motorcycle may run a little quieter, Im sure many others will chime in.

Honestly if I was running in that cold winter weather I would go with a synthetic or semi syn for that time of year.

Not sure about the M1 bikes but the older 103HO's called for 1500 mile oil changes if riding below 60 degrees and trips less than 15 miles. I assume you read the manual
 
Vern31 said:
The only reason I'm thinking about staying with dino is that almost everyone says that synthetic brings out more top end noise. Any truth to this?
Click to expand...
Yes, sometimes, depends on the oil but there is some truth. I myself experienced it after running standard Mobil 1 15/50 automotive oil, comes in the 5 quart jugs. It actually made me a little nervous a few years back, HOWEVER when I sent it to Blackstone labs for a wear report the numbers were better than fantastic over my even great numbers using the more quiet JT8 15/50

I have used JT8 15/50 since almost new in my 2014 Road King. I might have started on it in 2015 and continue today with every oil change ever, around 2000 to 3500 miles each time. Now well over 30,000 the bike still has not needed a repair. I really bought the oil because of the better price but it has really become a favorite of mine. I buy 2 gallon jugs. Heck, I even use it in my current and previous boat engine. *LOL*
The oil is a Citgo brand and rumored to be the supplier of HD oil.

The only exception was trying the Mobil 1 15/50 one time. The oil report is right in this forum somewhere, posted maybe two years back, comparing the performance of the Mobile 1 to 3 or 4 previous reports on the JT8.
I went back to the JT8 because of the noise yet the Mobil 1 wear numbers were amazing. Well, now it's 2023 and the fall. I have a fresh jug of Mobil 1 15/50 that I am going to try again, just for fun, also for fun I am putting on an inexpensive Fram Motorcycle Filter, mainly because we just moved to a new home and didnt get to the Harley Dealer yet and, what the heck, I know the engine isnt going to blow up.

When it comes to noise, you must remember, we ride when no one else dares in our other home for 15 years. Midlands of SC, we primarily rode summertime trips to the beach 2 hours each way and mountain trips to the smoky mountains. Our new location will be slightly cooler. But the past location we routinely rode in 90+ degree weather and if you see some of my many UOA's posted in here you will see oil temperatures that I have recorded as high as the upper 260's to 270 at times stuck in traffic. 80 MPH highway speeds oil also runs very warm 235 to 255 degrees depending on weather. Im just saying this to explain why I may hear some noise on hot days as the oil thins out, yet, always had great wear numbers.

I mean if you're that worried, I think the Mobil 1 20/50 Motorcycle oil many use would be quiet, maybe the Valvoline 20/50 syn too. They are all good.
 
I’ve used Valvoline Vr1 20w50 dino in three Harley’s. The dino Vr1 stacks up very well against even the boutique brands of PAO synthetics in uoa’s here but might take some digging to find them. All have ran great and used no oil when I sold them. In 100 degree temps all ran quiet with no top end noise. My 2009 96 inch Superglide is at 49,850 miles and I’m planning on rolling over 50,000 miles in the next few days. I have used the K&N oil filter with zero problems. Personally, I wouldn’t run a K&N air filter on my lawnmower, though YMMV.
 
I've run mostly Mobil 1 Vtwin 20-50 and Valvoline Syn motorcycle 20-50 in my several Twin Cams. I found the Valvoline produced a slightly quieter top end. With these engines, if they are running right, the top end should sound like a well lubed sewing machine. If you must use mineral, I would use the Valvoline Vr1. My oil analysis at 5k miles are very boring as in there is nothing to see. Stick with the Harley filters or motorcycle aftermarket that meets Harley specs. They have a specific micron rating for the Harley engines.
 
So you can run VR1 for 5,000? I was led to believe that being racing oil it couldn't go very long without being changed. Also, this bike has a CAT....any problems with that?
 
Vern31 said:
Doesn't look like I can get the Mystik around here.
Click to expand...
Yeah, me either, I always bought it online, most times 2 jugs (4 gallons) at a time.
The photo is OLD, the label is new now.

Mystik Synthetic Blend Engine Oil, 2 Gallon - 10001227 | Rural King

Mystik Synthetic Blend Engine Oil, 2 Gallon - 10001227
www.ruralking.com www.ruralking.com

I always bought from above but the site below is the real photo

The oil is well known in the agriculture community.
 
Vern31 said:
So you can run VR1 for 5,000? I was led to believe that being racing oil it couldn't go very long without being changed. Also, this bike has a CAT....any problems with that?
Click to expand...
Yes. I've known guys that have run VR1 in all their bikes.
 
No sense running conventional oils in a new, expensive motor. There’s no benefit, and it won’t handle the heat as well as a synthetic will, either.

When I got my Electra, I put in the Amsoil oil 20w50 that’s listed for Harley’s in sump, primary, and trans. I’m not super thrilled with how it shifts compared to whatever was in previously, and if I were to want something available at every WM I’d follow Cujet’s advice on the Mobil 1 V-Twin.

However, I’ve since gotten on the HPL train that’s treated me very well, and I run HPL in everything I’ve got, because I’m willing to run the oil to condemnation via sampling rather than picking some short OCI that makes HPL financially unfeasible. Right now my bike is the only vehicle I have that’s not fully HPL (oil, trans, diffs, etc), even my zero turn is HPL. That’s because the Amsoil has about 1400 miles on it. Next spring at the latest, I’ll be switching to the VTwin kit from HPL to see if it restores the buttery shifting.

That’s me; but like I said you can’t go wrong at all with the Mobil 1 VTwin 20w50.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

P
Difficult shifting and finding neutral. Oil (or other) recommendations?
Replies
18
Views
4K
T120
RevRider
K&N 171 - Forum Article in Response To Their Oil Filter Performance For Harley’s
2
Replies
35
Views
2K
johnmyster
john_pifer
We Bought a 2024 Odyssey
2 3 4
Replies
73
Views
2K
john_pifer
A
Harley Scores a Home Run with the Pan America
2
Replies
25
Views
3K
dgunay
W
Is there a "best" oil for timing parts longevity in Ford's 2nd Gen Coyote?
2
Replies
23
Views
4K
zray1
Back
Top