CEO of AMSOIL talks about Harley-Davidson and OEM Motor Oils

From the President's Desk

Al Amatuzio president and founder of AMSOIL A situation my daughter, Lyn, told me about recently got me to thinking about how good it is to be able to blend our own oils and have complete control of our own product quality.

Lyn loves to ride motorcycles. She recently purchased a Harley-Davidson bike and took it to the local Harley shop to have our new AMSOIL Motorcycle Oil installed. The mechanic took issue with her not using the oil Harley-Davidson sells, saying, "I'll use AMSOIL motor oil when AMSOIL starts making motorcycles!"

How would you answer a challenge like that? I was pleased to hear Lyn's response. She said, "I'll start using Harley-Davidson motor oil when Harley starts making oil!"

Perfect! The fact is that Harley-Davidson, like so many other "brands" of oil, contract with one or more oil companies to make their lubricants. Often, the decision as to who actually makes a private labeled product is based on low bid, and like almost everything manufactured by a low bidder, short cuts are taken in order to meet the low price.

I understand that Harley-Davidson has contracted with one company for a number of years to make their oil. That's good, but it doesn't change the fact that they make motorcycles, not oil. Now consider all the other private label oils out there. Every manufacturer that makes equipment with an engine has its own name on an oil bottle. That includes all the major auto manufacturers, the makers of motorcycles, ATV's, snowmobiles, lawnmowers, farm equipment, you name it, they all have oils. But none of these equipment manufacturers actually makes oil. They sell oil to make more money, and they often price these oils well above the going rate for competitive lubricants because, like Harley-Davidson, they can specify or create the impression that only their oil be used in their equipment.

Now there's nothing wrong in having a goal to make money, but let's get real here. Why would anyone want to use a product manufactured down to a price rather than a product manufactured up to high quality standards? We have tested a number of these private label motor oils and two-cycle oils and we found many are mediocre quality products. None of them even comes close to performing as well as AMSOIL lubricants, and that's a fact!

I'm not taking shots at Harley-Davidson. They make good motorcycles (although I liked my Goldwing better). And I understand their concern that normal automotive oils not meeting API C specs shouldn't be used in their bikes. But when they imply that AMSOIL Motorcycle Oil is not as good as their brand or I hear that one of their dealers recommended not using AMSOIL, I get a little hostile. Those kinds of statements are the very reason we introduced our motorcycle oils in the first place. And when we say use our 20W-50 motorcycle oil in V-Twin motorcycle engines, that definitely includes Harley-Davidson motorcycles!

Our Motorcycle Products Brochure, G-391, includes wear comparisons of AMSOIL Motorcycle Oils vs other oils, including H-D "Genuine." Both our oils demonstrate superior wear protection over all other tested brands. Interestingly enough, the highest wear scar in this test turned out to be Harley-Davidson's own "Genuine" oil!

There is good reason why AMSOIL Motorcycle Oils protect so well against wear. They are formulated with significantly higher levels of zinc and phosphorus, which when included in proper formulation with other high quality additives, provide superior wear protection at the high operating temperatures typical of motorcycles. In addition, synthetic oils inherently reduce sump temperatures so the engines actually run cooler.

The fact is, Harley would do well to have AMSOIL make their oils for them. Then they could be assured that their oil was indeed a superior product. As it is, there may be absolutely nothing wrong with their oil for use in average service, but I guarantee you that as the oil temperature gets hotter, like it does when sitting in traffic on asphalt on a hot summer day, the Harley-Davidson with AMSOIL in the crankcase is going to be far better protected and run far cooler than the bike with H-D "Genuine" oil in it. There's just no two ways about it!

So, my daughter Lyn will be going back to this mechanic armed with the facts about AMSOIL Motorcycle Oils and a few facts about H-D oil. Nobody's going to tell her that her dad's oils are not the very best. She knows better, and she's on a mission to prove her point. Who knows? Knowing Lyn, she might sign up another AMSOIL Dealer in the process!

A.J. "Al" Amatuzio
President and CEO, AMSOIL, INC.