ILLIAM WRIGHT SR. OF MARRERO, LA tested the quality claims of AMSOIL lubricants on a trip of almost 2000 miles aboard his Harley this spring. The hard ride included a run on the Tail of the Dragon and turned him into a life-long AMSOIL customer.

The Tail of the Dragon is part of US 129 on the state line between Tennessee and North Carolina. The 11-mile stretch with 318 curves draws thrill-seekers in all types of vehicles from across the country.

“I was a skeptic of AMSOIL products,” Wright said. “I want to emphasize, WAS.”

Wright owns a 1997 Harley-Davidson Electra Glide. “It had 17,000 miles on it,” he said. “It was a repo, so who knows the history of the bike. There were signs of slight oil leakage around the rocker arms, heads and gaskets.”

Nonetheless, he bought the bike and looked for the best oil for it. “I had settled on Mobil 1 20W-50 synthetic oil,” Wright said. He had no real complaints about it, except that his bike burned a little oil during an earlier 900-mile trip. “That unsettled me,” Wright said. “I wanted my bike to run. Really I wanted it to purr for me, if you know what I mean.”

He learned about AMSOIL in online forums and on the AMSOIL website and decided “it was either great oil or a lot of hype,” he said.

Wright, his brother and a friend planned a road trip to Maggie Valley, N.C. “Before the trip I put four quarts of AMSOIL 20W-50 Advanced Synthetic Motorcycle Oil in my engine, AMSOIL 10W-40 Advanced Synthetic Motorcycle Oil in my primary and the Severe Gear 75W-90 in the transmission.”

In six days they drove through fi ve states and traveled all over Maggie Valley and the surrounding areas. “We even went to Deals Gap and rode the Tail of the Dragon,” Wright said.

The Dragon is famous for testing the mettle of machine and man. “I have a dent in my almost-brandnew, paid-to-have-painted fender from the engine guard,” he said. “Yep, I must have braked so hard going into a curve that the front end of my motorcycle dove downward with such force the engine guard put a crease in my fender about four or fi ve inches long.”

The rest of their trip also tested the bikes. They drove the Interstate averaging 70 to 75 miles per hour. “It was a lot of hard mileage on my 12-year-old bike,” Wright said. “We traveled up and down mountains, and when I rode the Dragon, I don’t think I got out of third gear.”

Then they were on to New Orleans. “We hit the road and started the drive home in the rain,” Wright said. “Outside of Chattanooga, we hit traffi c that was piled up for miles because of an accident. It was slow-going for at least 40 minutes. I was worried about my bike; it was not too hot out, but with no wind cooling my motor, I worried.”

When the group stopped to rest, Wright’s brother checked the oil in his 1998 Harley-Davidson Road King that was running Harley-Davidson Syn3 motor oil. “He had to add oil and this was only halfway home,” Wright said. “I was shocked. He was upset that he had to add oil. He checked my bike, and I had not burned any oil. He was mad to say the least, as he fusses over his bike worse than me sometimes.”

They continued their ride, running at 75 to 80 mph. “I drove a total of 1,988.3 miles,” Wright said. “Hard miles if you ask me, and I did not burn any oil at all. NONE.

“My brother said, ‘That’s it,’ and he dumped the Harley Syn3 and put in AMSOIL motorcycle oil. It felt like my engine never strained to keep up with the other bikes. Even driving in the mountains I had power to spare. My bike would get hot, but if we parked for 30 minutes, which I timed, I could put my hand on the rocker box because it cooled down that fast. I averaged 46 miles to the gallon with me on the bike, and I weigh 229 pounds, plus all the gear. We had headwinds so strong it felt as if someone was holding the bike by the rear and pulling. During that time I thought my mileage would really go down. I also thought my engine would really get a workout with the load on her.