AMSOIL Quality Impresses Harley Riders

Although Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Company routinely tells its customers they must use “Harley-specific” motor oils and lubes, some riders are realizing AMSOIL keeps the popular bikes running cooler and smoother.

Jim Murphy and Jim White, partners at a Lehman Trike Conversion business in Martinsburg, W. Va., spread the word that AMSOIL makes the best products — even for Harleys.

“Trikes are a huge business,” White said. “Our business increased 200 percent last year.” He attributes that to older riders and those with disabilities that require modifications to allow them to continue riding. The shop specializes in those modifications needed for handicapped riders. (View the website at www.mjtrikes.com.)

Partner Jim Murphy summed up his feelings about AMSOIL products recently while talking with a group of customers at the parts counter of the local Harley dealership.

“If there is any single way to significantly improve the Harley-Davidson motorcycle, put AMSOIL in the engine and transmission,” Murphy said.

The partners recommend AMSOIL 20W-50 Synthetic Motorcycle Oil for the bikes and 75W-90 Gear Lube for the gear box. They’re also selling a lot of the AMSOIL Shock Therapy Light Suspension Fluid for the front forks.

White uses those products in his 1993 Heritage Softail Nostalgia, one of only 2,700 manufactured as a special edition Harley. The bike is attached to a fullsized sidecar. That’s a lot of pull on the machine, he said, but AMSOIL makes his bike run cooler and perform better than other oils or lubricants ever have.

“My Harley, with a sidecar, is getting 40 miles per gallon. I think AMSOIL makes a huge difference,” he said.

He’s heard increased mileage claims from some of his Gold Wing customers too.

Murphy and White opened their shop in 1998. While their specialties are trike conversions and custom builds for riders with handicaps, they also service and maintain cruisers and street bikes of every brand and model.

Harley owners are hard sells, White acknowledged. In fact, he said, most motorcycle riders tend to stick with products they’ve used and believed in for years.

He and Murphy are of the same ilk, so they understand. “The first two customers you had to convince were us,” White said. “The products that we sell are the result of satisfactory testing on our own motorcycles. We do not sell
products that we do not totally believe in.”

White first used AMSOIL motor oil in the 1970s when he was a semi-professional go-kart racer. In January 2002, he met Direct Dealer Ralph Graul at a bike show and remembered how well the AMSOIL product performed in the karts.

He installed AMSOIL motor oil in his 1993 Harley-Davidson FLST Cowglide that was running hot, 220 to 230 degrees in the summer, and had a “klunky” transmission. “I changed the engine oil, primary and transmission oils to AMSOIL and immediately noticed a smoother shift in the transmission and a temperature drop of 20 to 30 degrees,” White said. “I was impressed, but I still hadn’t done my own testing. For the next 2,500 miles the shifting got better and better.”

Murphy tested AMSOIL lubricants in his 1994 Harley-Davidson FXLR, with 60,000 plus miles on the engine.

“This motorcycle has been meticulously maintained throughout its entire life,” Murphy said. “The transmission was making some gear noise and was getting harder to shift, and the engine had a whining noise in the updated cam and breather gears.

“Immediately, the transmission shifted like butter and no more gear noise . . . and the persistent gear whine in the engine also miraculously disappeared.”

They stock other brands of motor oils in the shop, for the hard-to-convince. “But AMSOIL outsells it all,” White said.

Educating customers, according to White, is one of their most important jobs.

AMSOIL literature available in the shop often gives his customers the information they need to make informed choices.

“I’ve never had one customer come back and claim that AMSOIL lubricants don’t do what the company says they will do,” White said.