Nothing negative.

 

Just to clarify: Nothing negative about OP, but to me it is not wise to be adding minor amounts of oil at regular intervals, it borders on ****. Just my opinion. Yes I add oil when I check my oil and it's down a 1/2qt or more, I then top it off. I have found most motors, including my TC, will use oil down to a certain point and the usage levels off/stops. I leave it there. I don't keep adding to full mark. I have also found several major brands of syn oil are thin and noisy and will add to consumption. Some syn oils actual feel like oil, not "watery" and lowers the usage, consumption, and noise at high rpm's and hot.

 

Just turning 50,000 on my 05 RK. Has never used any oil between oil changes. Long trips or short commutes.

 

That's the difference, we are not talking about minor amounts of oil. 4 ticks on the dip stick is somewhere around 1/2 quart of oil, right where you say you would add?!?

It is nice to have the discussion as I think you see it one way without understanding where I am, or maybe my post wasn't clear. I am glad that you have posted your thoughts as other people learn something when we discuss it. When I change the oil on the bikes, it is placed at the half point on the stick using the side stand measurement on the stick. I think this is a generally accepted forum consensus of where the oil level should be. When it is down 4 ticks, it is low and not too much further and the engine will start rattling due to lack of oil. I know this because this is exactly what happened too me on my 13 Limited that I did a 1520 mile IBA Bun Burner on back last summer. At the end of that 22 hour ride when we pulled in to the final gas stop, the engine was making all kids of noise. It was indicating just less than 1 tick on the dip stick.

At this level, it is below the recommendation of anyone here on the forums or any HD manual I have ever read. I know you are not advocating not servicing an engine this low and if you do it being ****. This goes to my point that you didn't understand from my post where my oil levels were when I chose to add oil.

Regards to being ****, that is me. I am a corporate aviation technician by trade and being **** is a hiring quality in people that I hire. I am also a pilot but only for fun. When it comes to aircraft, **** is what keeps you alive. I fully understand the happy oil level and see this with turbine engines all the time. But, even turbine engines have min and max levels and if an engine is at the min level, it will get serviced.

I don't know if you still have a touring bike or not but I remember reading some of your posts and had to research a little first..... I have put almost as many miles on my 2015 in 5 months than you have with your 5 year old Heritage and I had 32,500 miles on my 14 month old 13 Ultra when I traded it in. If I need to add a little oil here or there, then fine if it keeps my bike going as I don't have time for the downtime as I put a lot of miles on my bikes and have for years with many different bikes. During the peak riding months, it is not uncommon to see me at the dealer a couple times a month getting oil. Yes, I buy my Syn 3 oil, and BelRay from the dealer. It doesn't really cost me any more and it is a great paper trail if anything oil related happened to go wrong.

Thanks for posting your point of view. I hope I have explained mine a little better.

 

I don't consider this "****" but rather "proactive" in my opinion. Catch a problem before it manifests itself into a bigger problem.
Hey FinalShot...pilot's think alike! Yes we do!

 

3300 on my Ultra. Changed at 875.
Broke it in per reading the suggestions (don't recall site) 2ond & 3rd gear hand full let off first 200 miles. Even bumped rev limiter few times during that time.
The above is just suggesting brake in.
I put 3 quarts Mobil 1 when changed, left it at half way mark.
890 miles this past Saturday running 80 ish..still half way mark.
not a hint in the stock AC either

 

I have no idea what is going on , ticks, squares, dots????? How much does it use in how many miles? Also I find it odd that your bike loses oil pressure with the oil above the minimum mark on the dip stick. That seems very odd. I'd be trailering it to the dealer if mine did that.

 

Wait, isn't your dip stick the same as the ones I have seen? They have squares for measuring on the center stand and circles or dots for the side stand measurement. Anyways, that doesn't matter as I think you understood, and where just poking a little fun.....

I appreciate your response but you didn't comprehend my posts because if you did, you would have read that it's kind of hard to tell exactly how much oil it consumes based on the type of ride but in another response, I equate it to about 1/2 quart of oil per 1500 miles if riding at 80+ for that entire distance.

Also, who said anything about a bike that I own losing oil pressure? If you are talking about the 13 that I traded in more than 5 months ago, I never said it loses oil pressure, I said it was making all kinds of noise and was below the first indicator/dot/tick/mark/circle on the dip stick. IIRC, I was still showing somewhere around the 10 psi on the gauge at idle and no low pressure idiot light.....

 

I don't burn any oil at all and haven't on any of my last three HD's. Perhaps it wasn't broke in hard and the rings never fully seated.

http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

 

This is pretty common. The engine produces more oil vapor at high RPM. Your engine is literally eating the oil through the intake.

If you look around you'll see posts and discussions where owners keep the oil level about a quart low to reduce oil blow by (and dripping oil out of the air cleaner).
Not saying that's right. Just sayin.