Originally Posted By: nazareth
ok sorry im sure this has been asked before.
i am getting a 1996 sportster 1200 custom. wondering on the best oil to use. i would really like to use royal purple 20w50.
i have a local walmart that sells mobil vtwin20w50. or should i just use mobil delvac?
thanks
Yes it has been covered. You will need to make two choices on a Sportster. 1. Motor Oil 2. Transmission/clutch (HD SportTrans equivialent). A 96 is not exactly a spring chick and has been in someone else's hands suing what oil we do not know so that may be a consideration wrt how much to spend or what to use.
Sorry to repeat my 2 cents since it is so lengthy but here it is.
Dino, I’d change all these at 2500 miles in a Harley
Valvoline 20W50 Vtwin $3.95
Valvoline 20W50 VR-1 $3.95
Bardahl 20W50 Vtwin American Classic ($2.00 if bought by the case during Dennis Kirks clearance. Otherwise may be hard to find. A real steal and killer additive package)
Havoine DS 20W50 $3.00
Kendall GT-1 20W50 $3.00 (have not seen a Harley UOA on this yet but looks good on paper)
Rotella 15W40 $3.00 a little light in grade but people use it and like it. I use it the primary on big twin applications.
Syn GIII/IV go 5000 miles
M1 15W50 Silver cap. $4.20 if bought in the jug. Proven winner over the years even if it does have a lot of unknown, possibly GIII now. Good additive package (1200 ppm ZDDP and lots of calcium). It does shear to a 40 pretty fast but still has very good wear numbers on UOAs.
Brad Penn 20W50 v2 MC oil. $4.50 if bought by the case. Have to find a distributor for this in your area. Real popular with the air cooled Porsche crowd. Gaining popularity in V twins.
Top shelf true syns easily go 5000+ miles
M1 Vtwin 20W50 $10.00, about 1600 ppm ZDDP
Amsoil MCV 20W50 $??? depends
Red Line 20W50 or 20W60 ($9.00 / Qt. by the case mail order) Killer additive package, about equal to M1 Vtwin in ZDDP plus about 500 ppm Moly. A Group V base stock.
Others include Royal Purple Max Cycle 20W50 which has loyal users and bashers but is now readily available at auto parts stores, Motul, and Maxima which are hard to find.