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[prodrag1320]

What Lucas oil are you using and reccomend for hiway?

syn 20/50 90% of the time & 50 on long trips.like steve said,im not a chemist either,but I do put more strain on parts in one 1/4 pass than a street bike will see in its lifetime,i know what oils are good & what are not,was sponsored by ROYAL PURPLE and ended up giving their product back & had too many directly oil related probs to ever use redline again (we were sponsored by AMSOIL,and now by LUCAS)

[HD Street Performance]

Don't want to get down to a brand name level but really for those folks that are really interested in how long their oil lasts and which stands up better there are Scheduled Oil Sampling (SOS) labs that are accessible to the general public.
Important data you should look at if getting down (or up??) to to this level is what are the new oils specifications prior to use. These are published for most oils except HD brand LOL. A few of the important numbers are the VI and TBN. Higher VI is better and within reason so is a higher TBN. After a certain number of miles an oil sample can be taken to see what the TAN number is. Based on the miles and operating conditions you will be able to speculate when the oil will be spent.
I don't want to get into a whole tribology lecture, I am not qualified because I have just had a few classes. There is a ton of peer reviewed or other wise bona fide data on the net on oil chemistry.
Some SOS sources are Staveley, Blackstone, and even Caterpillar

By the way what is the API designation for the required engine oil in the HD motorcycle to meet warranty requirements? Automobile manufacturers are clearly publishing that as they should because the oil has a strong role in emission compliance. don't recall seeing that for the HD unless they have changed. 

[flhse]

The reason I bring this up is.....recently I installed a super charger on my LS7 Z06 bringing the power up to 716 RWHP and 638 RWTQ. My tuner suggested to get away from the GM recommended Mobil1 Synthetic oil and go with Royal Purple or Amsoil. After much research I found several internal engine failures running the OEM oil. I found less engine failures with an upgraded oil as described.

I've been around a lot of Corvette owners in the past and one thing that isn't shared by them is most engine failures is not necessarily from the brand of oil but the quantity.  You have a car capable of over 1G with stock tires, add some better track tires and raise that even more, run it a little low on oil, knock knock.  Easy to blame on the oil.  That oil doesn't drain back to the pan/tank as well as you may think at 1G plus (doesn't matter if your going in a straight line or cornering at that force).  Mfrs do hundreds of thousands of miles on durability testing (they know if it works or not from this testing) the product we buy, engine failures are big $$$ they will not risk a major failure on $5 worth of oil.  Running 716 RWHP is a bit more than the 505 the car came with, probably has more internal stress on a number of parts, probably is a good idea to use something the tuner suggested.  Did you ever look at what the C6R uses for oil?  Its not the 5w-30 Mobil product (bet there is a reason for that).  What are you going to do with the trans oil or rear axle lube?  I'd think those parts will be more at risk with the additional HP and torque?  I'd bet those components will stand up to 505 HP as tested, how well will they take 716?  Some of those components may have been tested up to 638 HP if shared with the ZR1 however, the ZR1 has a bigger diff, larger trans output shaft (just an example, probably more if you care to research) to compensate for that HP.  Once you modify your vehicle, you can throw out the mfr recommendations.  

Another issue that everyone overlooks is what the oil additives can do to the catalyst (if you still have one) down stream, phosphorous (higher amounts found in a number of oil options) is detrimental to the converter.  I believe 15w-50 has more phosphorous (Mobil 1 to Mobil 1) than the 5w-30 but is a much more capable oil at 1G plus on the track.    

Just some ramblings.  

Brad

Enjoy the car.

[LC110]

Some more to read: http://www.cvoharley.com/smf/index.php?topic=41093.0

[HD Street Performance]

Post #7 and #27 are important.
The sampled oil had 1% gas dilution
Also left out from the test is the TAN which when compared to the TBN that the oil started with would give a good indicator of life remaining. Viscosity is secondary in my opinion to TBN VS TAN. The viscosity will hold on decent oils unless they are diluted or severely overheated for a long time. Finding an oil the has a high VI to begin with assures they hold their viscosity when hot. All the metals etc well IMHO if you saw a high iron for example, the damage is probably already done. The idea of preemptive repairs based on oil samples is a stretch IME. I have managed a fleet of over 100 mobile equipment units including some severe duty units like Cats and Cans and mobile track drills with 1200cfm compressors (V12 Detroit). SOS was a normal maintenance step including oil changes at 200 hrs.

[LC110]

When TAN is plotted on a graph with the TBN, the point at which the two lines cross is the optimal point to change your oil and indicates nearing additive depletion.
I would guess most people here change oil every 3000 to 5000 miles and are using one of the many top name brand oils.
Use the oil that you feel confident in and you will be fine. I know of plenty of Harleys (even 110's) w/ 10's of thousands of miles on them using good old 15w40 diesel rated oil. If your lifters start to de-laminate sending shards of chrome through your engine. No oil is going to help you. If want to find out how your oil is holding up in your bike get an Oil Analysis done.
I have this sickness called Tribology so I will try harder to stay out of these discussion.

[HD Street Performance]

Nope you don't get off that easy, that is unless you are an AMSOIL dealer, 
We need some educated analysis and data to make informed decisions.
Diesel oil well now even that has become more complex with the latest revised API standard.
I don't think we can pin the lifter failures to oil at all, JMHO.
Truly on a street ridden Harley there are many oils that fit the bill
My recent choice based on Redline going through the roof and becoming hard to get here is Mobil 1 V-Twin. The ability to go into any Walmart across the country and buy some oil is a big plus in my book. It works, simple as that. I don't expect anything out of the oil other than protection and cooling for a reasonable life span. It works as do many others.

[LC110]

No, I am not dealer for anyone and don't want to be.
I enjoy doing independent research.
I don't think any of the lifter failures we have been reading here of late are oil related either.
Just saying if your lifter starts failing, It won't matter what oil you have in your engine those little pieces will most likely ruin your engine.
It is hard to beat Mobil 1 for quality and availability.

[HD Street Performance]

 
Totally agree and like you research is something I can get into.

[huntnjim]

I've been around a lot of Corvette owners in the past and one thing that isn't shared by them is most engine failures is not necessarily from the brand of oil but the quantity.  You have a car capable of over 1G with stock tires, add some better track tires and raise that even more, run it a little low on oil, knock knock.  Easy to blame on the oil.  That oil doesn't drain back to the pan/tank as well as you may think at 1G plus (doesn't matter if your going in a straight line or cornering at that force).  Mfrs do hundreds of thousands of miles on durability testing (they know if it works or not from this testing) the product we buy, engine failures are big $$$ they will not risk a major failure on $5 worth of oil.  Running 716 RWHP is a bit more than the 505 the car came with, probably has more internal stress on a number of parts, probably is a good idea to use something the tuner suggested.  Did you ever look at what the C6R uses for oil?  Its not the 5w-30 Mobil product (bet there is a reason for that).  What are you going to do with the trans oil or rear axle lube?  I'd think those parts will be more at risk with the additional HP and torque?  I'd bet those components will stand up to 505 HP as tested, how well will they take 716?  Some of those components may have been tested up to 638 HP if shared with the ZR1 however, the ZR1 has a bigger diff, larger trans output shaft (just an example, probably more if you care to research) to compensate for that HP.  Once you modify your vehicle, you can throw out the mfr recommendations.  

Another issue that everyone overlooks is what the oil additives can do to the catalyst (if you still have one) down stream, phosphorous (higher amounts found in a number of oil options) is detrimental to the converter.  I believe 15w-50 has more phosphorous (Mobil 1 to Mobil 1) than the 5w-30 but is a much more capable oil at 1G plus on the track.    

Just some ramblings.  

Brad

Enjoy the car.




We changed all fluids to Royal Purple, RMCR is a know performance shop with many cars at over 1000 RWHP and running RP. That said I may go to Amsoil the next change which want be long due to tracking the car.

[bmcgc]

I would guess that these numbers are accurate for bikes that are riden on the road.

Less than 1% of the Harleys are running high compression. (>10.5:1)

Less than 0.5% are running forced induction.

Less than 5% are running bigger cams.

Syn3, Mobile 1, or V-twin is just fine for 99% of us, yet oil threads seem to show up on every board several times a year.

[LC110]

I would love to see a (UOA) used oil analysis on your run of Royal Purple.
I am sure it will work just fine in your bike.