The Importance Of Assembly Lube During Harley-Davidson Stage II Torque Kit

Assembly lube: To use or not to use, that is the question. Well, before I bark at you to do something or not bother with it, let's look at what assembly lube is designed to do.

Assembly lube is meant to be used when you are doing internal engine work. In our case, we are installing a new cam in our 2018 Harley-Davidson Street Bob. The primary goal of said lube is to prevent metal-on-metal contact during initial startup after engine work.

Personally, I have always used Screamin' Eagle's Assembly Lube when doing motor work on Harleys, but my local dealership persuaded me to try a lube from Maxima. Both are about the same price: Screamin' Eagle's comes in at $11 and Maxima's at $10. The only difference I noticed between the two was that the Screamin' Eagle lube has a much higher viscosity. That being said, I noticed no difference in application or performance.

The main point here is that you should absolutely use some type of assembly lube on bearings, cam lobes, bearing surfaces, tappet wheels, as well as pushrod ends when performing a cam swap. Another piece of advice when doing this type of upgrade: Once everything is back together, run the starter (with spark-plug wires disconnected) half a dozen times or so to build up oil pressure. (Be sure to take breaks so you don’t overheat the starter.)