The SAE 60 is made in the States and packaged in quarts. The SAE 50 and 20W50 are also made in the US this way. In Canada the 60 is imported and the 50 and 20W50 are made and packaged here in litres. Sunoco makes it these days, at least for Canada. They might even make all of it. They also used to have a 10W40 but I don't know if they do anymore(at least they don't send any north). The oil was always available in quart or gallon size but now the SAE 60 is only in quarts in Canada. Some crazy guys still think they need a 70 but what is it gonna do that a 50 or 60 cannot in a street bike? I would imagine these are group 2 oils they are definately not 3,4,5. It is really hard to find a dealer who will sell anything but OEM, I'm not sure if this is in there contract or if it is just their choice I will have to ask my friend who owns a dealership (all he has ever used is OEM or Kendall and he uses Torco 50 in his top fuel Harley). Custom shops usually carry Rev Tech or Kendall or other off brands and rarely (anyplace i have seen) synthetics. I might just use one of my bottles for a VOA of Harley 20W50 from Canada and the other for AMSOIL 20W50 then do my trucks oil another time.
Also some may notice a price difference between Canadian dealers for OEM oil. This should not exist. They are charged the same price per litre/quart for a specific grade whether they buy a 55 gal drum or a cases of quarts. So lets say a quart of 20W50 costs $2 and sells for $4 then a gallon of 20W50 would cost $8 and sell for $16 or less. I have seen a bid difference in the price of oil and filters between dealers nearby and thousands of miles away. One guy has his 20W50 at 4.05 a litre, the other at 4.95 and another in the middle around 4.50. The oil filter that is made in the USA for the new 88CI engine can cost 23-28 dollars and there is a cheaper import version of this same filter in a Harley pack with different # that is 3-45 bucks less. Then all the old EVO-back filters run 22-24 dollar range. I have yet to price out K&N or AMSOIL filters but when I do I will post prices. Compare this to a filter for your GM small block. 3-6 cheap 16 for AMSOIL, 18 for K&N. The closest dealer to me was 4.35 a litre 20W50 and I was complaining because if you bought a gallon it was over $1 more than buying for quarts seperately. The new guy on the till said "It costs more because the gallon bottle is more convienient". The next time I was in I gave my speech about it cost you guys the same so a gallon should be equal or less in price to four seperate quarts.This time it was one of the more seasoned workers and they didn't know anything about what I said and when I left and checked my bill it was 4.95 a quart for 20W50. I have not been back there in a while so when I do I will check again on prices. I don't know if they went up or it was a result of me whining. After that ?I bought some a bout 80 miles away and it was 4.05 a quart. The 50 usually close to the same and the 60 is a few diems more a quart.
I also know of a dealership that has had almost a dozen new bikes with the crank out and they are trying to say it was the oil. I don't buy it. I think it was bad parts or assembly. most were Mobil 1 probably 15W50 but possibly some were 20W50 V Twin. One or 2 were Quaker Stae but I do not know what type or grade of oil. They said it made roller bearings slide. Not any syn, but just Mobil 1 syn was too slick. I didn't want to argue about it with friends so I let it go. This is just more cases of "Concrete Proof" to make people not use synthetic or blends in there bikes. The dealership warrantied all these engines but told owners if it blew again and they were using Mobil 1 still they would class that as the oil wrecked it so no warranty. They didn't think AMSOIL or other syn oils would do this just the Mobil 1.
[ December 29, 2002, 01:08 AM: Message edited by: hk33ka1 ]
