I changed out to red line in all three holes this winter. With the spring here and getting a mile or two on the bike this is what I have found. Fifth gear wine is as always, perhaps a little louder. Clunk going into gear is still there. Motor is still noisy as ever. I can tell no change over M-1, HD, Amsoil, and RLine. Maybe some more miles will help 
Ah well, reality rears it's ugly head. Kind of like back in college when you found out Bud wasn't really any better than PBR, just a little more expensive.
I'm not aware of any magical lubricant that will eliminate machining or design problems such as those experienced by Harley owners. I think many folks tend to talk themselves into believing a particular higher priced product made a difference, but I also think if those same folks were involved in a double blind comparison test they couldn't tell the difference with any more certainty than what would be explained by pure chance (wild azzed guess).
Changing to a real gear lube in the trans, instead of motor oil, will improve durability and in many cases has also improved shift "feel". As for eliminating the spur gear whine, real gear oil never eliminated it on my old 5 speeds with spur gears, so I have been unconvinced when folks have claimed the 5th gear whine was miraculously "fixed" on the Cruise Drive trans just by changing brands of oil. The fix is proper machining and clearancing of the gears, or replacing that gear set with a helical gear set like H-D finally did for 2010. Folks with earlier models could contact Bert Baker for his fix, but for that kind of money I think a little whine is just fine.
Eliminating the clunk going into gear has a lot more to do with eliminating clutch drag, so trans fluid isn't going to help that. I have found, after trying many different types and brands of primary oil, that automatic trans fluid works better than all the other oils I've tried, Harley or other brands. It also helps if you get full travel of the clutch release mechanism, which is not the way they come from H-D.
Assuming you don't change the viscosity of the motor oil, it's not likely that changing brands is going to quiet down a mechanically noisy engine. Air cooled Harley V-Twins are noisy, and the CVO version is even noisier. Why do you suppose folks started putting those loud pipes on Harley's all those years ago? To drown out the clatter so the bike didn't sound like a Chevy Vega in dire need of an overhaul is my guess.
Seriously, Redline makes highly rated products that have earned a good reputation over the years. You can't go wrong running their products, just don't expect miracles. And take all the hype from all the folks on all the various web sites, including the stuff spouted by yours truly, with a large grain of salt.
Jerry
Author
Topic: complete oil change to redline prod. (Read 15266 times)