many decades ago, when oil tech was in it's infancy, big auto set these "3k mile" terms....and they followed through till today. ignorance is bliss.....and they count on it to make money.......oil technology is light years ahead of what it was just 25 years ago. if it's been "tested and pproved" you can't really buy a "bad" oil today.
lots of good advice on this thread......there's a wrench for every nut and everyone has a different nut.
i've written one or two posts on here regarding oil, as it was "hobby" of mine....a few years back, some friends and i did major studies on "oil" and oiling systems on Harleys.....we actually had some big companies change their products based on our findings and what we were talking about....this information was all put on Shovelhead.us, the premier Harley shovelhead forum. we did lots of experiments and made lots of changes to the engines, put together hybrid systems and improved many parameters......it's all out there, we did it over a couple years.......many brilliant minds involved.......and these forums are monitored by companies to learn their customer base and for marketing strategies.
there's a LOT of things that maintenance intervals depend on....off the top-o-my-head are type of engine(ie; air cooled v. water v. air/oil/water), operating environment, use or abuse(getting groceries v. drag racing), machining/fitment tolerances, ambient temperature, operating temperature, fuel contamination, "additives", type of lifters, capacity, short or long trips, start-ups, COLD start-ups, filtration(microns/media), synthetic/semi-syn/petroleum based, state of tune, wear parameters, does the engine sit? is condensation "burned off"?....you get the drift.
HEAT and viscosity are the biggest factors in my opinion......at least as far as how i perform MY schedules on the various engines i have to service.
there's lots of text book must do's, but in reality there's always an exception to the rule.
it seems i average around 4K on my daily rider......i've gone 7K miles too. oil is cheap so you really can't go wrong with recommended service intervals, but i'm just stubborn.
it's good you changed the engine oil Diego0123005, but i would also change the coolant, the transmission and both differentials.....that way i'd have a KNOWN starting point to base my thoughts on.
i now like semi-synthetic or full syn fluids....became "aware" of them about 10 years ago and was skeptical like everyone else in the beginning.....for various reasons.
there's nothing wrong with every 3K, but why change it that often if you can safely go 5K? when i was selling parts in NY Harley i know folks that will ONLY use Harley Screamin Eagle 20/50....a synthetic(very expensive packaging and it's not actually a full syn) every 2,500.....and i've asked WHY.......and the answer i've mostly got was "it's better for the motor and i want it to last a long time"....pure bullshit and misnomer.....i've tried educating folks, bu people will only believe what they WANT to believe.
personally i like Brad-Penn products....the semi syn variety lately....and Wix filters.
on my brand new HT383E engine i put in Mobil 1 (was on sale)after i broke it in......i changed all my fluids to synthetic when i got this truck, saw no reason NOT to......
the brad Penn is GREEN......and most importantly, it comes out of the ground in Pennsylvania from the oldest longest running plant in the USA......and it's cost effective, imo. i have nothing to with the company either. back in '95 or so it was the Kendall oil plant.
here's a link to start the search............
http://www.hdmworld.com/lube-brad_penn.htm ....fu@ck ceaser chavez!
