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Heat and Oil

pgcris

pgcris

Member
I live in Florida where in the summer it can be brutal. Last year I went to 60 weight oil Harley oil. When summer was over I changed every thing out and went to Spectro which I'm real happy with. Does anyone use 60 weight or do you keep the 20-50 through the summer.

Also, What should the oil temp range be.'

Thanks,
Geno
 
Stay with the 20/50. The 60 weight is for a different application. oil temps should be in the 200*-250* range. Synthetic oil can stand a bit more temp before breaking down and should run a bit cooler too.
 
I've been running Spectro 20W50 semi-synthetic in both my '02 Sporty and '07 Ultra for the past few years.
Last year, I did an Iowa-California r/t during July. Temps in the desert were 115.
Bike ran fine.
Oil temps were higher (I have an oil temp gauge on the dash) in the desert and mountains but always stayed stable.
 
Hi,
I always used 20/50 amsoil and never had any problem gets hot here in south middle tn. oil stays around 200 degrees.:rider
 
hmmmm All my bikes I own run 60wt...but they are Pre-EVO motors that were designed to run the 60 weight oil!

If your riding a new Harley only run 20-50....Spectro full syn, Redline is good also!

I run Amsoil 60 race oil in my daily rider now if I put 20-50 in my old PanHead Engine it would be leaking out eveywhere it can...to thin...the thicker oil sounds like a quick fix for hot summers...but at every cold start up...it cant be doing your motor any good

For the hot days...run a very good full synthetic oil like Amsoil 20-50 V-Twin and look into a ULTRA-COOL Oil Cooler....look @ there website....they work! I tested a few units on a few bikes last summer in Arizona and Nevada at over 100 f Now you might ask and look @ other oil coolers.that are less $$$$$ but oil coolers only work...WHEN YOUR MOVING! Price out a new Harley motor VS. the oil cooler!
UltraCool will work even @ 5 MPH stop & go traffic besides them building a "better mouse trap" The cover that comes with every unit can be painted to match your OEM paint! and most people dont even see the unit on the bike! Check them out and quit using all my 60wt oil! Peace !
 
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If high heat/humidity is a concern, using a simple oil cooler will do the deed, as modern ones have internal spiral fins that provide oil movement so all the hot oil contacts the cooling fins....and even in desert 130-150*F heat, the delta temperature is still very much cooler than the oil, so even at a standstill the air cooler is "sweating" off the heat into the ambient air.

Sure a fan should help, but the reliability of fans brings it's own level of probems into the equation, given the price of high reliability ball bearing fans typically are in $200 price range already to work in a high heat, environment with plenty of vibration (only mil grade fans in the $1000 price range are actually spec'd for that environ, commercial...you would be hard pressed to find ANY that have all those features for less.
 
i've used Mobil 1 20w-50 v-twin oil in my old bike it never let me down.....i agree with the above posts ditch the 60w go with fully synthetic 20w-50
 
You may also want to consider Redline 20/60 synthetic - I use it all year round -I let it warm up a little longer in the winter,but am very happy with it
 
I have read all over these forums about different oils to use etc etc. It seems like it's 50/50 with syn and reg oil usage, synhead us synthetica and regheads use OTC anywhere oil.
I live in Az where the ground temps can reach 150 degrees on a 110 degree air temp day. My idiot light keeps going off on these hot days (yea I know guages are the way to go) so I'm sure the light is heat related.
I'm running Castrol 20-50 as engine and primary oil......Lucas 75-90 for tranny. Now.....my question is............IS there a difference in the way certain oils cool......i.e...will 50w cool better than 20-50w ? Money is tight and I know I should buy an oil cooler but right now it just isn't feasible unfortunately.
Thanks in advance, this is a great place and has save me many a gray hair from getting informative answers.

oh, and check out my magazine....quickthrotte.com
 
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