For most of us, we know oil as that stuff that causes us to be inconvenienced by having to go get it changed in our vehicles. If only I didn't have to do that. Besides every time I take my vehicle in for an "oil change," I end up spending money for "stuff" I didn't know I needed. Sound familiar? This is a fairly long article so you may want to hit the print button and clip the pages together and read it at your leisure, but do read it. Remember there is a lot more to oil than I have the knowledge or ability to put into words but I can give you some basics that everyone should know and understand about the life blood of our engines be they liquid-cooled or air-cooled or a combination of air/oil or any of the above.

Well first things first, if your engine runs out of oil, whether it's your Harley-Davidson® motorcycle or your RV or the family car, you will be the first to know how important oil is to an engine. You will also shortly realize how much of a bargain those inconvenient oil changes really are compared to the expense you now face with the repair or purchase of a new motor. This is to say nothing of the lost use of your vehicle while waiting for parts, etc. to repair it.

So we have an idea that oil must be really important. Good, this is the first thing we need to understand. Now what difference does it make if it is synthetic or petroleum, whose name is on the can, what weight it is, or how long can we go without changing it? It makes a lot of difference in each of the above categories. We need to know a little about oil so the following is a layperson's "Oil for Those of Us Who Are Not Engineers" explanation of what oil is.

Oil comes from decayed dragons (called Dinosaurs since the mid 1800s), among other life forms that were covered with the mud that now forms the upper part of our earth's crust, sometime in our earth's past. As oil is pumped from the ground, it is in the form of what is called "Crude." In other words, it is not much good to us until it is broken down and refined into the various parts that become products we know as motor oil, gasoline, kerosene, and many other products. Crude oil has basically three groups of hydrocarbon compounds that make it up. They are paraffins, aromatics, and naphthenes. These are made up of hydrocarbon molecules, which are made up of carbon atoms. This molecule thing can be very confusing so let's just say that oil is made up of different size molecules. If we understand that, even after refining, normal oil still has many different sizes of molecules from tiny specks to larger chunks as molecules go. There is more to this, like molecular chains of atoms that vary in lengths and determine whether we have a gas, a liquid, or a solid. These can be blended to obtain a desired molecular structure.

What does this have to do with anything you ask? Ever wonder why your oil turns black shortly after you change it? You say that it must be really cleaning. Not all the black is dirt. What happens is that as oil is subjected to different and higher temps one day more than another, the tiniest molecules reach their flash point first and burn turning to carbon and so on up the size scale depending on the highest temperature reached during the life of the oil in our engine. They become tiny black specks, and unless caught by the filter, they float around in the oil until you change it again, adding to the blackness of the oil.

As you run the engine, the molecules break down and the oil picks up contaminates from the incoming air and from combustion and water from condensation. In Alaska, we are blessed with cooler air than most which makes summer riding very pleasant, but this also makes it less likely that we get our engines hot enough long enough to evaporate all the moisture out of the oil each time we ride. It takes an engine oil temperature of between 200*F to 240*F to evaporate the moisture from our oil. The short rides we take as a rule make it very hard for this to happen. Alaska is considered to be extreme climate. The glacial dust, volcanic ash, and generally cool temperatures make this a tough place for our engines to operate. This is the reason for the oil and filter change every 2500 miles instead of 5000 or 7500 miles as in other places.

Another thing that is interesting to know is that the "W" in 20W50 means winter. This means that the oil is blended to allow you to start the engine in cold weather. Another thing that is little known is that there is no such thing as multi-grade oil. That's right, all oil is straight weight. How can this be you ask? So what does it mean when the can of oil you pick says 5W30 or 10W40? It means that the oil in the can is actually the weight of the lowest number and it contains viscosity improvers that, when they get hot, spread the molecules apart to make the oil perform as the higher number, or in this example, 30 weight. You need thinner oil to start a cold engine or an engine in cold temperatures. But when that same engine is up to its operating temperatures, you need a thicker or heavier oil to protect the moving parts from each other, dissipate heat, pickup contaminates and metal particles, and carry them to the filter for entrapment and so on. The oil is called multi-grade so it can be used over a wide range of temperatures. This works quite well, especially if you change it and the filter at proper and recommended intervals.

As oil is subjected to the rigors of driving and the changes in temperatures, it breaks down. In an Indy race car, the oil is 50% of the original weight after just 500 miles of racing. This is because of the breakdown of the molecules and the shearing of the viscosity improvers. Now all oil has many additives blended in that extend its life, reduce wear, inhibit rust and corrosion, improve its film strength, and a lot of other things that make our modern-day engine oil as good as it is.

How is oil graded? How do they come up with the weights of oil? For the sake of simplicity I will put it this way... A tube-like device was developed that has a long funnel placed in the center of it, extending through the end of it, and has water surrounding the part of the funnel that does not extend past the end of the tube. The water is heated to 100*C and a specific amount of the refined oil is poured into the funnel. The time it takes this oil to run through the funnel is charted on a graph. Oil that flows through the funnel between a specified time is one weight and another sample that takes longer to pass through the funnel is a heavier weight oil and so on. This defines the base weight of the oil. This is oversimplified but pretty close to how it is done. Additive packages make up the second weight number like in 10W40. The 10 is the base weight, W means that it will flow in colder temps and the 40 indicates it will act like a straight 40 weight when it is hot under load.

So perhaps you can start to see why you need to change the oil as it breaks down during daily use in our engines. The purpose of all oil is to put a film of lubrication on all moving parts to separate those parts, one from the other. When the oil is clean and fresh, it does a pretty good job of just that. Starting an engine is the hardest time for that engine. You hit the starter and the parts start turning, being driven by the starter and power from the battery, until combustion takes over and the starter drops out of the process. Until the engine is turning over at a greater speed, the oil is not being pumped under much pressure which keeps the metal moving parts away from each other. This, along with the breakdown of the oil and the contaminates created from combustion and foreign particles entering from the air intake, fuel, etc., causes the metal parts to wear over time as they come into contact with each other. The normal oils we use also thicken when cold. This is why the engine turns over slower when it is cold out than in the summer when the ambient temperatures are warmer.

Another thing that is very important to know is that oil is made for specific uses. Air-cooled engines need different additive packages from liquid-cooled engines. This means that you should not be using oil blended for liquid-cooled engines in your air-cooled engines and vise-versa. Yes Virginia, there is a difference!

Oil change takes on new meaning when we know a little more about its purpose and what causes it to break down. So what is this synthetic all about and how is it different from the oil we have been using all along? The synthetic oils of today that most of us hear about are actually petroleum-based in that they come from the ground as crude and are made of molecules that have been modified beyond that of so-called regular oil. The technology for this has just become available to the general industry as patents have run out that were owned by the original developers of the man-altered, synthesized molecule.

In this new generation of oil, each and every molecule is exactly the same size and shape creating the effect of ball bearings. This new oil is also straight weight oil, however, when poured into our grading device, we find that the heavier oils flow much more rapidly. Now when graphed out on the same scale, we find that 40 weight of the new oil flows like 10 weight of the non-synthesized molecule oil. In the case of Screamin' Eagle® 20W50 SYN3® oil, it is 50 weight oil but flows like 20 weight of our non-synthesized molecule oil or what we know as regular oil. Another plus to this new design oil is that it does not thicken as it gets colder to the same degree that our previous oils do. This is a big plus here in the colder climates of the North. The other end of the scale is a big plus for hot weather use in that the thicker oil does a better job of protecting and lubricating in extremes of heat and load. It is a win-win situation for the engine and for our peace of mind, knowing that we are giving our engine the best available. Additive packages are blended for this oil that help extend life, improve film strength, inhibit rust and corrosion, and so on. These oils cling to the parts of our engines better than the normal oils we are used to so starting the engine is easier and less wear is produced. Because of the sameness of each molecule, we do not get the same degree of breakdown of the molecules and the oil stays brighter and cleaner while in our engine, allowing it to pick up more undesirable particulates and carry them to the oil filter or hold them in suspension until the oil is changed.

Which oil would you rather have in your engine? Oil that is thinner but has viscosity improvers to make it think it is heavier when it gets hot or oil that is heavy enough to do the job at speed while under heat and work loads, yet slippery enough to allow us to start the engine at colder temperatures? This offers us a new way of thinking and a new option we have not had in the past. This is why the vehicles used on the North slope and in cold climates are filled with synthetic or man-altered, synthesized molecule oil and motors used in extreme heat and load conditions use this type of oil. Another big plus in using these new oils is that they can be mixed with the older oils. You wouldn't want to do this because it degrades the quality and properties, but in an emergency this is a good thing to be able to do.

There are pure synthetics that cannot be mixed with this type of oil without serious problems. If you are going to use this non-petroleum type of synthetic, make sure you know all about the one you choose and what needs to be done to your engine prior to installing it. This also creates a problem if you are away from your source of these oils and need to add oil.

There is another advantage to the new synthetic oil and that is that your engine will be somewhat quieter because you are using much heavier oil. If your engine uses oil, it will use less because of the heavier base weight of the new type oil. The negative to this is if you have any small oil leak now, you will have a serious leak with the new oils. This is because, even though the base is heavier, it flows like thinner oil and is extremely slippery so it finds the cracks and runs out quickly. Not a big problem in modern engines but it may be a problem in high mileage or older engines.

Does Harley-Davidson have a new type of synthetic oil that I can use in my Harley® or Buell® bike? Glad you asked! YES, they do! It is called Screamin' Eagle® SYN3®. It comes in a nice orange bottle. What else but orange? This new SYN3® has been in the development and testing stage for over five years between Harley-Davidson engineers and the oil manufacturer. What I am going to say now may shock you, but get ready for this! The Screamin' Eagle SYN3 oil has been custom-designed to replace the engine oil in your engine, the primary oil in your primary case, and the transmission oil in your gearbox! No you didn't read wrong. This is a fantastic new lubricant for your Twin Cam 88®, Sportster®, Buell® or V-Rod® motorcycle. This is not recommended for pre-Evolution® engines and four-speed big twin gearboxes. If you thought your gearbox shifted smoothly before, try this new oil and you will be amazed at the difference!

Do I need to change this new oil as often as the other oil? Remember that oil is contaminated by impurities entering through the air filter, gasoline, and from byproducts of combustion and moisture from condensation. This doesn't change just because we changed the type of oil we use. So in reality the answer is yes, we need to continue to follow the recommended fluid changes of the manufacturer of our engines. We loose a little in the pocketbook area as these oils are more costly to produce and to purchase, but what we gain in quality and performance more than makes up for the additional cost of an oil change.

For what it is worth, I use Screamin' Eagle® SYN3® oil in both my Softail® and my new Buell® XB9R Firebolt®. Stop by the shop if you have any questions. And the next time your bike is in for services, tell your Service Advisor you want the new Screamin' Eagle SYN3 oil. If you have purchased a Priority Maintenance Plan, you will get SYN3 throughout the bike automatically regardless of when you purchased your maintenance plan at no additional cost to you. If you have a new Harley or Buell motorcycle and didn't purchase the Priority Maintenance Plan, you may still be able to do so. Ask us about it.

I hope this made oil a little less confusing for you. If all this accomplished was to inform you of how much there is to an oil change, then you are much better off than before. When you drop your bike off and we call and inform you of additional needed repairs, you can know that our techs are doing their part in keeping you informed as to the condition of your Harley or Buell motorcycle. Together we deliver dreams to our customers. And those of us in Parts and Service strive to keep your dream a dream by keeping you informed of your bikes needs and providing Harley-Davidson certified quality maintenance and repair, each time your bike comes in for servicing. Feel free to contact any of your House of Harley-Davidson & Buell team by phone, e-mail or a personal visit and we will do everything in our power to answer, clear up, correct, or satisfy any concern or questions. We love what we do and love doing it for you!

Service Manager