Mystik JT8 15W-50: 2013 HD Street Bob - Oct 2017

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Here is my UOA for Mystik 15W-50 JT8 semi synthetic oil on my 2013 96 CID Harley Street Bob. The oil was in my bike from Feb-Oct of 2017 in temperatures ranging from 40 to 90 degrees with the majority of the miles in the 60-70 degree range. My riding style is solo, interstate cruising at 65-75 mph.

I have a Jagg ten row oil cooler with thermostat that is side frame mounted. I installed it in February when I started using Mystik this year.

I purchased this oil in a 2 gallon jug for $24 at Fleet farm in Wisconsin. The Mystik was installed in the engine, primary and transmission combined with a Wix 57148 five micron oil filter making a complete three hole change with filter for $23 with 3.6 quarts left for future service. Because I was not sure of how it would perform with a 5,000 mile OCI, I replaced 1.5 quarts (50% of the engine oil capacity on a Street Bob) in July at the 2,196 mile point.

When changing the oil in October, all three drain plugs had only slight black dust particles on them, the primary and engine oil was amber/black in color and the transmission oil looked new. With the report stating it could go to 6,000 miles this is my oil going forward. My engine sounds excellent with no clicking, the six speed transmission shifts smooth and neutral is consistently easy to find. I also like the 15W weight for faster oil circulation at startup on those cool Wisconsin mornings.

 
Looks good. Mystic is good oil
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I just got 2 2-gal jugs of 15W-40 Mystic syn blend at TSC for $8.99 each on clearance
smile.gif
 
Wow, great price. I have years worth of a supply in the 20/50. Just over a year ago I ordered 2 - 2 gallon containers.

I cant remember the price but lets say for a guess it was a special from Rural King and maybe $35 delivered to my house for the 2 gallons = $70 for 4, heck it could have been half that, cant remember, anyway, they ran out of stock and had another location ship the order to me and then, also shipped me the original order when they got it back in stock, anyway, will never beat your price but I ended up with 4-2 gallon containers = 8 gallons, still have no idea what I will do with it all.
I dont want to use it once it gets past 3 or so years old, todays thoughts anyway...
 
Some additional information, the first oil sample on the report with 4,020 miles was with Mobil VTwin 20W-50 full synthetic oil.
 
Wow, your prior sample with the Mobil 1 V-Twin, viscosity at 23?? Is that correct? I wonder what was going on there. That seems crazy especially at 4k miles.
 
I’m not sure but it appears this thickening of M1 VTwin occurred on another Harley in our forum and at lower mileage. Check out DuckRyder’s posting on 4/5/17 titled “2014 Harley Davidson 103B-2165 mi-M1 VTwin”, it’s a good read. Blackstone was not able to assign a cause to it.

Here is the Blackstone write up from my M1 VTwin 20w-50 sample:
TOM: There's nothing cautionary to address in the first sample from your Harley. We thought there might be some residual wear-in hanging around at this mileage, but we were pleasantly surprised to see very normal amounts of metal in the sample. Typical wear for a Twin Cam 96 is shown in universal averages. You ran close to the average interval of about 4,100 miles and got very average amounts of wear, so nothing cautionary there. The only mark is for a thick viscosity, but solids are low so it doesn't appear to be from heat damage. The engine didn't mind it either.
 
Its common for Mobile 1 to thicken up in bike engines, Amsoil to some degree as well.

I cant help think that is built into the oil composition to help the bikes with shared sump design maintain viscosity, so when used in a non shared sump bike the viscosity increases, this increase in viscosity is well know and has showed up even in motorcycle test reports years ago. By typing this statement I am being fair to these well respected companies. :eek:)
If it was a cheap oil it would get trashed in here but if its expensive oil it wont.

No doubt they are good oils but for me, it would bother me, as if this was an automotive engine, these oils would get trashed for starting to break down and turn into sludge and why the increase in viscosity.
However I dont think that is the case at all with these two oils but whether or not that is a good or desirable thing to me is debatable.

I am very surprised you needed to add as much engine oil as you did (has nothing to do with the oil) but I do not know much about your engine.
There is quite a bit of fuel in the oil, it is always advisable to have the oil burning hot when you take an oil sample to make sure fuel and moisture are burned off. It also may mean your engine has an issue if the oil was already hot.

Anyway, wear numbers look really good.
 
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Doug, I really appreciate your feedback, I'm confident you found the root cause of the fuel in my report. It was a cool day in Wisconsin when I changed the oil and I had ridden the bike about 15 minutes. The oil was more warm than hot when I drained it.
The 1.5 quarts was not an add but a replace that I did at 2,196. I pumped out 1.5 quarts and put 1.5 new in. I did not burn any oil in the 5K. This is something I did on my own to ensure the oil would go 5,000 miles on this test. Based on your reports and mine on the Mystik I'm confident it can handle a 5K OCI. Thank you!
 
Originally Posted By: Bellavita
Doug, I really appreciate your feedback, I'm confident you found the root cause of the fuel in my report. It was a cool day in Wisconsin when I changed the oil and I had ridden the bike about 15 minutes. The oil was more warm than hot when I drained it.
The 1.5 quarts was not an add but a replace that I did at 2,196. I pumped out 1.5 quarts and put 1.5 new in. I did not burn any oil in the 5K. This is something I did on my own to ensure the oil would go 5,000 miles on this test. Based on your reports and mine on the Mystik I'm confident it can handle a 5K OCI. Thank you!


Excellent and thanks for the input.

Regarding the fuel, its happened to me too, a few changes back, (cool weather) oil wasnt as hot as I thought it would be after a ride and when I went to change it, I thought to myself oh [censored] ...yup ....
Some fuel showed up.
Based on what you just said there is no question in my mind that was the cause of fuel. Yes, oil needs to be hot full operating temperature when a sample is taken. So you are good.

Ok, I got the 1.5 quart thing now.

Thanks for the UOAs they are a great help to me too, very valuable to see your wear numbers are better with the Mystik, not only that but the CH4+/CI4 oil itself is at least mentioned by HD as acceptable until changed back to HD oil, Mobile 1 is obsolete CF.

I only just thoroughly read through all this, if you look at my last post, it was 6:30AM and getting ready for work, sometimes that early I "miss" things and also notice later my typos *L*

I honestly and truly am completely amazed how good your UOA is compared to the Mobile 1, very impressive, so thank you!
 
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In addition to the lab test, I did a cold start test recently to see how well the engine cranks with Mystik 15W-50. My Harley manual recommends that at temps 40F or below to switch to 10W-40. I thought for those of us that live in the colder states if this oil starts the engine well, it could save us the hassle of switching oils for the late fall through early spring seasons.

We had an overnight temperature of 15 degrees F which made my garage temperature 29 degrees early in the morning. My bike is a stock 2013 Harley Street Bob 96CI Twin Cam and has the original HD battery.

I unplugged the trickle charger that was on overnight, turned on the ignition, waited for the fuel pump to silence then I hit the start button. The engine cranked twice, albeit a tad slower, then the engine fired but didn’t start. I took my finger off the start button, paused a second then hit it again and it started in one crank. Oil pressure climbed steady to 40 psi. I have this oil in all three compartments so it’s possible this is also helping to make cranking easier.

Now it would be nice to have a few 40 degree days this winter!
 
Originally Posted By: Bellavita
In addition to the lab test, I did a cold start test recently to see how well the engine cranks with Mystik 15W-50. My Harley manual recommends that at temps 40F or below to switch to 10W-40. I thought for those of us that live in the colder states if this oil starts the engine well, it could save us the hassle of switching oils for the late fall through early spring seasons.

We had an overnight temperature of 15 degrees F which made my garage temperature 29 degrees early in the morning. My bike is a stock 2013 Harley Street Bob 96CI Twin Cam and has the original HD battery.

I unplugged the trickle charger that was on overnight, turned on the ignition, waited for the fuel pump to silence then I hit the start button. The engine cranked twice, albeit a tad slower, then the engine fired but didn’t start. I took my finger off the start button, paused a second then hit it again and it started in one crank. Oil pressure climbed steady to 40 psi. I have this oil in all three compartments so it’s possible this is also helping to make cranking easier.

Now it would be nice to have a few 40 degree days this winter!



Wow, your wishing for 40 degree days. Im originally from Long Island NY, moved down here 11 years ago. I dont miss the super cold weather, but make no mistake we get some cold weather here in SC but at much warmer temps then you.
I do get out to ride during the winter months and look forward to it so much. It just depends how my days off fall, can be on the cold days and some years hit it just right and they fall on the warm days.

I dont ride much below 60 degrees, Ill go out in the upper 50s and sunshine if I know its going to continue to warm up. I get those days every week or two in the dead of winter, most times.

I noticed you use Mystik in all three holes, I figured it would work well, Im still using Formula+ in the Trans and Clutch.

I had to replace my battery at the end of 2016, it was never that strong as the Yuasa I have now, big difference. Never bothered with a trickle charger but bike never really sits for more then a couple weeks without getting out for a good long run.

... ok, off to my insanely busy workday...
 
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My temperature threshhold is 40F with sunshine so as long as there isn't any snow I'll be taking the bike out. My windshield, soft lowers and gauntlet gloves do a good job in cold weather.

You'll find the Mystik works very well in the primary and transmission. The oil was absolutely pristine that came out of the transmission after 5,015 miles that I'm considering transferring it to the primary when I do my oil change at this time next year.

You may have made my decision to replace my HD battery with a Yuasa because my HD battery has been adequate at best. Not a very fast cranking speed and it has to work to crank it over the compression stroke. I know this is an oil blog but I need to ask you if your Yuasa replacement battery is the same CCA as the OEM battery that came with your Road King? I appreciate your feedback.
 
Originally Posted By: Bellavita
...

You may have made my decision to replace my HD battery with a Yuasa because my HD battery has been adequate at best. Not a very fast cranking speed and it has to work to crank it over the compression stroke. I know this is an oil blog but I need to ask you if your Yuasa replacement battery is the same CCA as the OEM battery that came with your Road King? I appreciate your feedback.


Oops, see you posted this some months back, sorry I missed it.
My Yuasa replacement battery was the better 500 CCA battery, Yuasa also has a cheaper one.
The Harley battery is around 400 CCA and my bike never cranked super great as it does now with the Yuasa 500.
It was a PERFECT fit. though the site says to 2014 I am sure it is also to 2016.
But you can confirm if its for your bike at countless resellers sell this battery.

This is what I put in .. click

Besides many resellers sites, you can confirm what battery here for your Street Bob ... Click

I would be careful to only buy a 500 CCA not the cheaper one. I think I got it on Amazon, at the time, delivered was around $140.

When comparing batteries, dont get confused with some lessor batteries that quote CC = Cranking Amps.
Its easier to make a battery look better then it is by listing CC = Cranking Amps.

ALWAYS look for the CCA = COLD CRANK AMPS (this is the industry standard way of correctly comparing batteries)
 
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Thank you for providing the guidance on the battery! I'm glad you called out the GYZ model of Yuasa battery because they have a number of different types. You made it easy for me and it will get ordered in the spring.

We just finished getting six inches of snow so the mood is not quite right for a motorcycle battery purchase!
 
Sure thing,

Its been brutally cold here in South Carolina, coldest in the 11 years we lived here, from Long Island NY originally.

We have had single digit temps a few nights this year, first ever, and very cold days, only to warm up for a few days and now as I type this, experiencing 20 degree nights again.

EXACTLY one year ago today, I had a photo on my Facebook account of my wife and I on our Road King and we didnt need our jackets, just long sleeve shirt.
Its also the longest ever since 2008 that I have not been on my bike, bike has been in the garage since Thanksgiving.
Normally every winter I get out for a while in 60 degree weather.

Good news is, maybe this weekend, will be in the 60s.
We do get to the 60s now and then but I need to be off work! *L* Looks like this weekend, will see.

Being "almost" down south does spoil you a little, I know the northern group will go out on 50 degree days but to me, I only enjoy it if we are in the 60s + and strong sun..
 
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FYI 5 gal pails of Mystick 15W40 and 15W50 (CJ-4) are on sale at Mill's Fleet Farm PLUS they have a $25 mail in rebate so it's $27.99 total after rebate... that amounts to 71 cents a quart for semi-synth diesel oil. Not bad!
 
What a truly great value Mystic oil is when one considers how superb it performs in Harley engines. As my oil analysis showed, it is far superior over the Mobil V-Twin (this oil thickens over time) that is 10x the cost for what you purchased it for! Nice job shopping. An extra plus is it works well in the transmission and primary.
 
Yes, it goes to show the true cost of refined oil and amount of money that other companies spend on marketing for much higher profits.
Granted those companies also spend money on research but Im not even sure of that as the research very well may fall on the handful of companies that sell the additive packages to the name brand oil companies.

or we can look at companies like Citgo/Mystik, Warren as copycat/generic versions much like generic drugs. Either way, they all equal the ratings on the bottle.

I havent got up the nerve yet to put it in my primary or transmission but that in my mind goes for any oil, I have thought about it and have no problem with it but I am still using the Harley Formula+ for those since it is supposed to be specific for that application and certainly less costly then Amsoils specific. I have nothing at all against Amsoil or more expensive oils IF they show me the proof that I am much better off for it, which I never see.
 
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I've been using Mystik J8 15w50 in my 2009 H-D FLHT motor/primary for the last (3) changes with nice results. Starts easier in 30/40*s and the motor is quieter than with straight syn oil. Shifting action is also smooth. Haven't had the nerve to try it in the transmission though. I also used it in my Yamaha FZ09 with nice results. It will also be used in my Triumph 800 Tiger. Not sure of the shear factor but I do oil/filter changes every 3k miles on shared sump bikes anyways..
 
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