2014 HD ROAD KING - HARLEY SYN3 20W/50

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Hey Rev, don't sweat it, your UOA is fine, even in a perfect world it cant be much better. Remember these words on your next UOA and you will see all the metals come down much further.
Wont need to remap with a CAT removal and dont worry about the EPA, they are YOUR employees and should not be making you sweat, never mind the fire danger should you spill some gas.
Removing the CAT will not require a remap. or let me say, countless people who removed the CAT did not do a FMS or Remap.
and ... last but not least if you want to see pages of UOAs on Harleys here you go, in fact one recent one, the guy would only wish he had one as good as yours!
HD Forums UOA

Note the link takes you to the last page 8, you can go backwards from there.
BTW, this wasnt a "worthless" report, you will be glad you got it, once you can compare it to your next one and see how the metals drop.
 
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Originally Posted By: RevRider
Good Morning Steve and Rossn2 & To All Who Replied,
...

When I changed oil the other day, the bike had 4,010 miles, I put in Valvoline Motorcycle Syn, 20/50 as I agree there are better oils than HD's product.

I am going to change again in about 2,500 to 3,000 miles to see how things are going.

I have a couple of questions:

1. As a general rule, is it a truth the all engines experience initial break in wear and as the engine matures with mileage, the wear metals drop?

2. If I took this report to the dealer, specifically on the Copper, what would they say? Is there something I need to address right now about the engine?

RevRider



1. Its not a "general rule" IT IS A rule for all engines, break-in wear and your numbers are pretty good.
2. If you took this to a dealer he would be clueless what to say, if he was smart, he would say, those numbers will come down with every oil change and level out by 12,000 miles or so.
3. AS far as oils go, its WAY unfair to say you agree there are better oils out there then HD labeled oils. It kind of implies they are inferior and in no way are they, its just fun for some to bash Harley products. I would say it is fair that without question you can find a better oil at the same or lower price but that goes for any oil, including oils like Mobile 1. You just need to see what works best for you in your climate.

Ill be posting on my Harley 360 oil, I cant wait, just trying to get some more miles on it, will be fun to compare as I changed it exactly at the first 1000 miles, so will be fun, and fun only to compare to the syn 3 you switched to. Just keep in mind, riding style and now, all the cold weather start ups will increase wear numbers, maybe.

But no matter the results, riding style and temperature will influence results just as much and more then different oils and why its good to keep a record for yourself..
With that said, there are some oils out there, like Valvoline that always seem to have lower wear numbers across a spectrum of riders.
Im new to this bike to, so still researching.
 
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Originally Posted By: rossn2





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You won't have to have it remapped just because you remove the cat!! Only when the air cleaner is removed and replaced with a free-flowing type will a remap become necessary. That being said, the factory leans the mixture pretty good so a tuner sure wouldn't hirt, but is not required unless the intake is changed.


Not true! By removing the CAT you just increased the free-flow of exhaust and no back pressure! The bike will be running too lean. The bike is under warranty and I wouldn't want to not have it remapped, even with a simple Stage 1 download from Harley.


The cats are free flow type. The only reason people have them removed is heat and noise. You can only get more exhaust out of you increase the amount of intake... Removing the cat will NOT increase the intake amount, and therefore will not lean it. You Will have already have back pressure anyhow with mufflers. Stock bikes run for years with stock settings, and again, while I personally would have it remapped just for it being too lean for my taste, it's not a requirement for his mods.
 
Good Morning Alarmguy,

Thanks for your additional posts.

I have 2 bikes, the other one is a 2001 Honda Valkyrie. I did an initial UOA on the Valkyrie at 10,733 miles and when I compared my RK's UOA at 4k to the Valkyrie's at nearly 11k, the Valkyrie had 25 on Iron, the RK 12; the Valkyrie had 12 on Copper to the RK 83. So I am thinking this is initial break-in and beginning to feel comfortable with the opening report.
smile.gif


I stand corrected and think your comments on the HD oil is valid, the oil stayed in grade, had 5.2 of TBN left, the Flashpoint was good at 435; which I think would probably allow for a 5,000 mile change interval. The add pack seems decent to me.

My oil change interval will always be no more than 3,000 miles, regardless of the oil, it's a comfort level I have, my dad always said, it's cheaper to change oil than engines, and at 58 years old, I can still hear his voice.
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The weather was so nice yesterday, I used a day of vacation and did a 100+ mile ride to nowhere, it was great.

I am doing my research now on an aftermarket exhaust, will probably only do the slip-ons, and will leave everything stock as is. California is the exhaust, EPA, environmental Nazi's.

RevRider
 
Originally Posted By: alarmguy
Hey Rev, don't sweat it, your UOA is fine, even in a perfect world it cant be much better. Remember these words on your next UOA and you will see all the metals come down much further.
Wont need to remap with a CAT removal and dont worry about the EPA, they are YOUR employees and should not be making you sweat, never mind the fire danger should you spill some gas.
Removing the CAT will not require a remap. or let me say, countless people who removed the CAT did not do a FMS or Remap.
and ... last but not least if you want to see pages of UOAs on Harleys here you go, in fact one recent one, the guy would only wish he had one as good as yours!
HD Forums UOA

Note the link takes you to the last page 8, you can go backwards from there.
BTW, this wasnt a "worthless" report, you will be glad you got it, once you can compare it to your next one and see how the metals drop.




I think in 2012 Harleys went from speed density injection to mass air so those particular bikes don't need to be tuned for any intake or exhaust mod. You'd have to actually increase the airflow by swapping cams to require tuning.

And from experience building my bike I can tell you that the bikes don't run lean. In fact they still run too rich as evidenced by the massive carbon bud up on my bike at 5000 miles.
When I got my bike dynotuned I got them to lean it out even more at cruise. 107hp/115tq and gets over 50mpg.
And I've put 25000 on the bike in its current state of tune and when I inspect inside the plug hole every season there is less carbon build up then when it was built so my tuner definitely got something right.
And let's get serious here. An air cleaner and exhaust doesn't improve airflow in any meaningful way so even with a speed density system a tune isn't required.
 
Hi Clevy,

From your note it sounds like I am good to go with an aftermarket, either HD or other brand of muffler, without messing with the EFI.

I've had a couple of HD Service Advisors give different opinions, very confusing.
 
Originally Posted By: RevRider
Hi Clevy,

From your note it sounds like I am good to go with an aftermarket, either HD or other brand of muffler, without messing with the EFI.

I've had a couple of HD Service Advisors give different opinions, very confusing.


If you want to notice a HUGE difference in acceleration on your bike, install the aftermarket mufflers of your choice. I have Rush which sounds like a Harley should when you are on the gas but you can hear you valve train at cruising. Then change the air intake with a "Big Sucker" air cleaner (about $150). You will use the same cover so it will look the same. You won't need any special tuning. Your bike will scare you the first time you ride it. I just did all this on my 14 Ultra Ltd. When I bought the bike new, I had the dealer put my Rush pipes on the new bike so I ran the first 1000 miles with Rush mufflers and the stock air cleaner. Once I tried to pass a car on a long straight stretch going up a steep mtn. I opened the throttle up and not much happened. It was obvious that it was starved for air. I had my indie mechanic install the Big Sucker air cleaner and went up the same mtn and it was a huge difference. Throttle response was much quicker. I really had to adjust my riding because the bike runs like a bat out of [censored]. The O2 sensors and ECM will adjust the fuel flow. You won't need any special tuning. Then if you want to hot rod it more, you can get a HD Race tuner which will dump even more gas into it. Of course your mileage will suffer.
I will try to upload an oil report from my 11 Ultra Ltd with 3k miles on some Mobil 1 and 1 year of age on it.
 
Originally Posted By: RevRider
Good Morning Alarmguy,
...

I am doing my research now on an aftermarket exhaust, will probably only do the slip-ons, and will leave everything stock as is. California is the exhaust, EPA, environmental Nazi's.

RevRider



Ah, yes, I understand, most likely they also have car, truck and bike inspections AND emissions testing in CA like they do in NY and the northeast. (born raised and lived there till finding the land of the free here in SC)
We have non of that nonsense here, its kind of weird, no inspections and no emissions testing and why I remind people, "they" work for you!
 
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Originally Posted By: RevRider
Hi Clevy,

From your note it sounds like I am good to go with an aftermarket, either HD or other brand of muffler, without messing with the EFI.

I've had a couple of HD Service Advisors give different opinions, very confusing.



That's because they want you to buy something. Take what they say with a grain of salt.
When I went big bore,cams,heads and everything else on my bike I got to know the twin cam intimately,and the fuel injection system. It used to be speed density and yes if you increase airflow significantly they do require a re-working of the fuel trims however to increase the airflow to the point the engine is running way lean you need a cam swap. Simple air cleaner and exhaust simply doesn't improve the velocity for it to matter.
The Harley's of today aren't spoed density anymore. They are a mass air variant which means the ecu compensates for any and all air that enters the engine. So no need for any tuning because it adjusts on its own.
Spend 1000 on a tuner and a dyno tune if you want but I assure you it's money out the window.
 
Revrider. If your wanting slip ons I've got V&H that I took off my bike,for the propipe. They aren't the cannon type,they are streamlined and the same size.

So if you want slip ons I'll sell these cheap. Make me some room in my garage.
I can email you pics. Pm your email addy and I'll get you puds tomorrow. Shipping shouldn't be expensive either.
 
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