1994 HD Ultra Classic

[rcijr]

I got a bottle of the Rotella 5w-40 for a 1994 Ultra Classic with the 80CI, 1340CC engine. Will this be ok even though it's asking for 20w-50? I wanted to research before dumping it in. It will be for use in the summer in north central Wisconsin. I've searched this forum and can't find anything specific to answer my question for this bike.

Thanks

 

[kballowe]

Try here
V-Twin Forum

or here

HD Forums

........to see what the Harley guys are using.

I don't know what temperature range you're in up there in the summer, but I ran that 5W-40 from about September to April, and 20W-50 from May thru the end of August each year in a TC88 Road King (East Central Missouri). Sold it at 52,xxx and it seemed to be happy.

You might try to get in touch with fuel tanker man as he has some amount of experience with EVO motors and what works. Here is one of his used oil analysis postings.

UOA - Havoline 20W50 - EVO

My personal opinion is that the EVOs are a little harder on oil than the twin cam motors and I always use 20W-50 in them - but that's not saying that the 5W-40 wouldn't work.

 

[1WildPig]

I would recommend their 15w40 for summer use and maybe winter as well...as kaballowe said, it depends on the temps. If it were cold enough for me to need a 5w oil, then I wouldn't be riding my RoadKing! kaballowe is the first I've heard of to use the 5w40 Rotella in a Harley V-Twin, especially a twin cam - glad it worked for ya...Shell's Rotella is some good stuff.

I generally put 15w40 in around December and when it warms back up enough to ride, I run it til it hits about 2,000 miles or so and then change to 20w50 for the hotter months. Harley recommends "their" 10w40 when the temps will dip below 50*F but also recommends to use 15w40 diesel engine oil if you need oil and can't get "their" oil...but just until you can get "their" oil.

So, for all the reading I've done on the subject it appears that a good HDEO 15w40 is just fine for our Evo big twins ... as is any good 20w50 you can find. I keep my oil change intervals from 2k to 3k using regular oil as compared to a "real" synthetic (Amsoil) that I would run 5k + ... I switched back to regular oil because I hardly ever get to put more than 5k on my bike a year and two changes using regular oil are as economical as one Amsoil synthetic oil change, plus my Evo doesn't run that hot - such as a twin cam engine does. If I ran a twin cam, I'd definetly run Amsoil. I sure do like my Evolution engine...

OH, and Welcome to BITOG !

 

[kballowe]

...that 5W-40 works well also in the primary chaincase in winter... You can start in "in gear" with the clutch in and it won't take you for a ride..... We ride down to 25 degrees or so, as long as it's good and dry...

 

[1WildPig]

25* ... Wow ... you must have heated riding gear ...

I remember riding on purpose one time when it was 28*F

... I was a lot younger then !

 

[02zx9r]

I routinely take my bike out in winters here in the 30's on the highway. As long as it not super windy i go out

 

[kballowe]

Originally Posted By: 1WildPig
25* ... Wow ... you must have heated riding gear ...

I remember riding on purpose one time when it was 28*F

... I was a lot younger then !


No heated gear. Heavyweight fleece, then jeans, and leather chaps and leather jacket and heavy gloves and a full faced helmet. That helmet really, really, helps.

Mind you - that's on days that promise 40 and sunny for an afternoon high. If it's not going to get up to, say, 40, - then we don't ride.

 

[seldont]

I ride my ElectraGlide to work routinely when the temp is above 25 degrees. That big fairing and the soft lowers help a lot. No heated gear yet but will eventually get some. It is a 28 mile ride to work with about 20 of it on the interstate. By the way, Mobil 1 15w50 seems to work great for me in the winter. Actually I use it all year now and just change at 4,000 miles. I use Rotella 5w40 in the primary in the winter.