What oil to use?
 

I just bought an 89 sportster 883 and it's the first Harley I've owned . I don't know what the previous owner used for his oil prefrence, what should I use ? Any help would be great, Thanks...........

Any synthetic 20-50w.....don't get hung up on brand, just change it every 3-5 thousand...

FBR :cool:

I agree. Synthetic for sure.

So I can go to any auto parts store and pick up say castrol full synthetic and thats cool? Or do I have to buy special synthetic from a bike shop? Just making sure before I screw up..................

As long as it says its for motorcycles.

It doesn't matter if it says "for motorcycles" or not......there's nothing magical about any 20-50w synthetic oil...over any others.

I have a couple of friends that run the red cap 15-50w Mobile 1 (for autos) in their Harleys for several years, and when we tore them down for 95 builds they looked great.....

People are waaaaay too anal about oil....the single most important thing is to change it, and the filter frequently.

FBR :cool:

Well thats cool to know, what about the trans and primary, do they take the same oil or what ? Is one or the other or both shared with engine ? And another dumb question, I looked for the drain plug on my bike and can't seem to find it, the only one I seen looked to be mabe trans, any ideas on that ?

You'll need a different type of oil for the gearbox/primary. HD or Rev Tech makes an oil I believe is called "sportrans" for the gearbox/primary drive. Sportsers, unlike big V twins use a single oil for the trans and primary drive, and it is different than regular engine oil. No oil is shared between the engine, trans, or primary. Your engine is a dry sump engine. There is no crankcase drain plug. The drain for the engine oil is a hose coming from the bottom of your oil tank. Look on the bottom of the tank for a hose that goes rearward to a bracket under the battery tray, and is secured with a hose clamp. Welded on that bracket is the plug for the oil drain hose. Loosen the hose clamp, pull the hose off the bracket/plug, and stick it into a suitable container to catch the dirty oil. Simple as that. I'd suggest buying a shop manual if you plan to do your own maintenance. Well worth the investment. Good luck and ride safe. :cool:

I agree synthetics and some brands are better than others. some tests were done on some of the major brands and each one performed better in some areas and worse in others a lot of the if any one would like to read it over go to this link study of motorcycle oils

It's hard to beat Amsoil!

http://www.amsoil.com/amsoillookupap...p.aspx?group=1

Stay safe!