I want my FLHR to last, other than regular maintenance, what can i do?

I have a battery on the trickle charger, i use mobil 1 synthetic oil, i ride almost once or twice a week, freeway speeds on occasion, stop and go most of the time. i keep on top of all repairs and make adjustments when needed. aircooled vtwins take a beating dont they, in comparison to watercooled bikes?

It depends what year it is , i have a 2002 motorcycle and never used a trickle charger , but if its new get the extended warrenty , ride it hard , do check it over before you ride look at the tire pressure , brakes , use the fronts limited try yo use the rears more save the fronts for emergency stops , dont choke the bike too much it will foul the plugs use good clean fuel

Depending on where and how you ride V-Twins can take a beating during the warm months. The stop and go riding takes a toll on a motor. V-Twins without a cooling system requires air flow to keep the engine cool. Thus idleing at stop lights or heavy traffic in hot weather can take a toll on the engine.

Keep up the maintance, change the oil regulary, and don't let it idle for long periods of time in hot conditions. If the oil light comes on shut it down. Something ain't right somewhere. Investigate.

If you ride it correctly with out gunning it and let it warm up before taking off combined with good maintance your FLHR should last a very long time. Enjoy your time on the road.

An oil cooler and "Jims" oil pump.

Get some Scottoiler FS365 to protect the metal work from the effects of weather, atmosphere and so on. You seem to be doing the right things so far.

http://www.scottoiler.com/pc/Bicycle_Oil...

sounds like you have it covered..I prefer Royal Purple synthetic it's lowered the operating temp of my oil 15 degrees.. that's alot when it comes to summer riding... also red line shockproof for the trans... don't do burnouts ..eats up tires , strains suspension and bad on brakes!... keeping the bike clean helps to keep it cool ...ride safe

Drive safe and don't run it to hard when cool. Don't redline or overly accelerate.

ONLY USE OIL DESIGNED FOR BIKES!!!!

Mobil synthetic and all other automotive motor oils, natural or synthetic ,are designed for autos with water cooled motors.They do not get as hot as a Harley motor and the oil in a Harley motor moves a lot of heat .There are chemicals in bike motor oils designed to hold up under higher heat and help take heat off the motor.

There are other reasons why not to use a automobile oil in a Harley such as differences in the oil pressure a car motor produces versus a Harley motor.And the wider range of temperature a Harley motor goes thru versus a car motor.
In slow or stop and go traffic HD motors build up a lot of heat and when you're on the open road the temps are a lot cooler.Car motor temp do not vary as much since the are water cooled.

Use an oil cooler but use a thermostat with it.Lockhart makes the best. You'll have to cut into the return line and run some extra hoses but it's worth the effort.
I've been restoring/ building Harleys since the mid 60's and with the exception of the bikes with total loss oil systems I use a thermostatically controlled oil cooler.
Why a thermo? Oil has to reach it's operating temp to flow as designed and for all those chemicals to react as designed.
If the oil stays too cool the chemicals can't do what they are designed to do on a molecular level. The biggest problem is that you'll get more wear if the oil isn't up to temp!.
Don't worry about a different oil pump. The new stock pumps are more than adequate. If it was a Knuckle head or Pan head I'd think about a different pump but since the "cone" motor appeared with the larger volume aluminum pump the money you'd spend on an aftermarket pump would be better spent on some other aspect of the bike such as a cam.

Good luck
Bill

I use the "battery tender" during the winter storage .DO NOT USE A TRICKLE CHARGER!!! Use a battery tender if you want to save your battery. A word on Synthetic oils, ( I use it in all my cars and trucks) BUT, there have been reported cases of the synthetics being "too slick" and causing bearings to actually not turn in the race. This (according to HD) can result in bearing failure and possible voiding of your warranty. Bear in mind here that Harley now offers a synthetic oil as well, although the HD synthetic sucks ( in my opinion) Amsoil seems to be the prefferred synthetic but I like Mobli 1.
Adding an oil cooler makes a big difference in engine temps in the summer. Yes air cooled motors have heat issues, but they are designed to handle it. Rumors are that since the new HD's are running so lean and hot (thanks to the epa) that HD is working on more water cooled motors for the near future (like the VROD) and will be offering ceramic exhausts shortly as well. As far as making your motor last, sounds like you are on it. I add an oil and filter change, as well as a primary and tranny oil change just before parking it for the winter ( I also make sure to use "stabil" in the fuel tank and run it for 15 minutes to get it down into the carb.fuel injectors) Then, once every two weeks, I start and run the bike at idle for 15 minutes or so to get it hot enough to burn any moisture out of the exhausts etc. In the spring, I do another fluid and filter change just to make sure there is no moisture in the system from the winter storage. It may waste a little oil etc, but I have found over many years of experience, that my motors last longer than the average. Also, try to get in one good highwqy speed ride of at least an hour once a month to burn out the carbon and gunk that can form from all that stop and go riding. A good 2-4 hour ride works even better. Main thing is, follow the manual for maintenance, do a good visual inspection once a week, and a quick visual before every ride. keep it protected with a good wax, and enjoy.
Ride safe