Longtime lurker, first time poster.

Picked up my first ever Harley 3 weeks ago. 2009 Fatbob with 7400 miles. Did a engine oil change, using HD synthetic oil, and HD filter.

cold check of oil, was at the top of the 3rd X, or pretty much right in the middle of the stick.

Rode with a friend who was behind me and mentioned he could smell oil burning every now and then.

Got 500 smiles on so far, and cold check of oil is down about a 1/2 an X.

Seems like you read posts where people say its normal for oil consumption and some say the never add between changes.

My factory extended warranty is up in July, so want to make sure I get it in before the time is up.

Anyone have a similar situation or comments?
Thanks for the great site!!

Kev

 

maybe the smell wasnt coming from your bike? down only half an X could be a variation in the ground level. Ride it to operating temp, idle a minute of two and shut it down and check it. use that for a starting point for future checks. Take a peek at your spark plugs

 

Sounds good. Thanks for the response.
Perhaps I am just being overly critical.

any other thoughts?
Thanks

 

Like ynots said, ride it to operating temperature. Park on level surface (Mr. Obvious). And check it. I would also get it warmed up and rev it up a bit. Wind it up and see if you see or smell any hints of oil.

 

If you have a 96,you overfilled it. These bikes(mine anyway) needs to be filled to the full cold mark when hot or oil gets sucked in to the intake,dripping out the breather and burning in the cylinders.
Try a bit less oil. Jmo

 

The oil he smelled was from doing the filter change.

 

The smell from the oil change very well may be the answer, but I still wonder about the oil consumption. I park in the same spot so that should rule out one variable. I am also checking it the same way every time, so that should also rule out another variable. Is it normal to add oil between changes?

 

my '09 fat bob did burn a little oil.I assumed it may have been because I went syn 3 at the 1000mi service.On my '11 I did dino oil at the 1000 service and now with almost 3000 miles she dosent burn any oil.You might also try another brand of oil and see what happens.