I have been following my FSM and owners manual schedule for servicing the bike. (2013 883 Sportster) Which is after the 1K service change at 5K and every 5K after that, the primary gets changed every 10K. I just did the 10K service today.
Problem. I rode the bike around the neighborhood for about fifteen minutes to get it up to temp then drained the oil. The first 8oz that drained out was emulsified. Not good.
Admittedly, my commute is not long enough, at only 8.8 miles, to get the oil hot enough to burn off the condensation. I'm going to take the long way home at least once a week to get it good and hot and hopefully that is enough to burn off any condensation.
I'm also considering shortening the oil change intervals. If I do that I think I would switch back to the cheaper dino oil vs. the expensive synthetic. But, I don't know if it's going to be as much of an issue in the summer time and prefer the syn for the added benefits in the extreme heat.
Also the viscosity is an issue. The book says that if it below 40f to use 10w40 and to shorten the OCI to 1500 miles. Above that use 20w50. I have been using 20w50 and switched from HD syn3 to Mobil 1 this oil change. My problem is that here in central TX the winter time temps are never consistent. This week I have ridden in temps ranging from 29f to 83f. I don't know what to do as for viscosity.
Would it be a bad thing to switch back and forth from dino/syn in winter/summer? Also, would it be bad to drain and fill the oil every 2500 miles and change the filter every 5K?
Any advice?
Keep the oil the same (unless its cold enough that the bike is consistently having trouble turning over at start because the oil is so thick).
Take the long way every day and ride it like you stole it. That should get your oil up to temp.
Or you could do the "stereotypical" harley rider thing and keep twisting on the throttle at every stoplight/stop sign hahah j/k do not do that.
I just use Rotella T every 3000.
Is the bike parked inside? What I'm getting at is does the engine actually spend much time at "winter" temps? Personally I'd just increase the oil change frequency a bit, stick with the synthetic oil (because air cooled engine), and change the primary case oil again with the next oil change and see how it looks.
I know you use this bike for your main transportation, have you driven it in wet conditions a lot? The primary case has to breath somehow, is it possible that its been sucking moisture in? Is the place where you park it particularly damp? As the engine cools it will draw in outside air.
In reply to HappyAndy:
The bike is inside both at home and work. The crankcase breaths inside the air filter, they use one way umbrella valves in the heads to prevent anything going in, but they do fail frequently. However, I don't think that is the issue. The primary fluid looked good, it was just the engine oil that was grey.
In reply to Nick (LUCAS) Comstock:
OK, I misunderstood what you were saying then. FWIW, many years ago I worked at a Ducati dealership, and it was was perfectly normal for Duc oil to come out frothy from an engine that was just running, some customers freaked out about it. Ducati reps said it was because of the huge air pressure swings in the crankcase froth the oil up, they even said H-Ds do it to. Seems Plausible.
In reply to HappyAndy:
I wouldn't call it "frothy" per say, it was just oil mixed with water. After that drained it was just pure oil, looked a little dark but not too bad. If I hadn't ran it and drained it cold I'm sure I would have got a couple ounces of pure water out of it before any oil came out. I'm sure it's condensation, a result of my short tripping it.
I may pick up an oil temp gauge to monitor what it's doing.
I think that I would have my oil inspected ... http://www.blackstone-labs.com
or some place like that ... you'll learn a lot from what they tell you
In reply to wbjones:
I've done a bunch of reading about that. I would be surprised if there was anything out of the ordinary. Lots of reports about high copper content as well as generally high metal content until around 20k miles is not out of the ordinary.
I think what I'm going to do is get a thermometer so I can monitor oil temps. In the winter do a drain and fill every 2500 change the filter every 5K. And do a long ride at least once a week to hopefully burn off any water from the oil.
Personally, I wouldn't sweat it over minor changes in viscosity and such. Neither the world nor your engine will be destroyed by running off-spec oils.
The closes to a caution is getting way out of spec, and that's just a vague caution. Like running straight 40 in a modern gas engine designed for 0w-20.
Can't remember if your primary is separate or not. If it is, you've got a lot of riding to do in order to get that even vaguely warm. It's also not vented as I recall, so water in there is probably coming past a seal.
Condensate in the oil is due to running the motor too short of time for it to get fully warmed up and expel the condensate. Just getting the motor hot on a harley is not enough you have to get the oil hot. Hot enough to cook the condensate out of the oil and for the breather system to collect it from the tank and expel it from the motor.
Your start-stop cycle is too short. Extend your driving loop to fully warm the oil tank. I would also shorten the oil change interval, I would not bother with synthetic oil, since the duty it is seeing will not benefit from an extended interval and you will not see high temps in winter.
In reply to bentwrench:
By my math, even if I change at 2500 it will be May until the next change. Temps will likely be in the 90's by then.
Maybe do a monthly (or less) drain then? No real harm in switching oils, you could do biweekly drops of cheap 15w40 diesel oil in the winter and run whatever synthetic Xw50 you like in the summer.
foxtrapper wrote:
Personally, I wouldn't sweat it over minor changes in viscosity and such. Neither the world nor your engine will be destroyed by running off-spec oils.
The closes to a caution is getting way out of spec, and that's just a vague caution. Like running straight 40 in a modern gas engine designed for 0w-20.
Can't remember if your primary is separate or not. If it is, you've got a lot of riding to do in order to get that even vaguely warm. It's also not vented as I recall, so water in there is probably coming past a seal.
The primary is separate. I must have worded the OP poorly but I am only having the issue in the engine oil, not the primary.
I would use the 20W50. Mobil 1 if your bike likes it (mine don't), or HD dino. For the transmission, I have been using Walmart private label (Supertech) full synthetic gear oil in the Sportster. It is probably made by Mobil 1. I can't see that your Sportster is going to be much different than Dr.Linda's '87.
For filters, I use Genuine Toyota oil filters. The filter for a 22R motor is exactly what you need. I can get you a part number, but go to the Toyota dealer and ask for a filter for a 1986 4 cyl Truck and they'll hand you one. They are around five bucks.
In reply to Dr. Hess:
My bike loves it compared to HD's syn3. The thing is so much quieter with the Mobil 1 in it. It's like night and day.
Whats the capacity of the oil system? My bike takes a bit over 2 quarts and I change it every 1500-2000 miles. If the oil comes out really nasty change the oil more frequently its like a $20 oil change. I run a wix filter on my buell blast. I just changed the primary fluid to some redline D4 atf I had on the shelf, it seems to work fine. I change the primary fluid every 3-5k miles depending on if I feel guilty, it comes out nasty. You can run almost anything in the primary from 15w-40 to syn 20w50 just make sure it doesn't have sulphur in it.
Nick (LUCAS) Comstock wrote:
In reply to HappyAndy:
it was just oil mixed with water. After that drained it was just pure oil, looked a little dark but not too bad.
Super grassroots solution: every 2-4 weeks, drain just the skanky portion of the oil and top off with fresh oil.
In reply to benzbaronDaryn:
2.8 Quarts in the engine and 1 in the primary.
AngryCorvair wrote:
Nick (LUCAS) Comstock wrote:
In reply to HappyAndy:
it was just oil mixed with water. After that drained it was just pure oil, looked a little dark but not too bad.
Super grassroots solution: every 2-4 weeks, drain just the skanky portion of the oil and top off with fresh oil.
That may be worth looking into.
