I see Harley changed the oil pump for the 2020 models and after. And I see the warnings about sumping in the 2019 and earlier models.

And to make it odd, most of the warnings seem to be about touring models, not the softails. Which makes little sense, but ok.

So should I really sweat this if I find a nice 2018? And is an oil pump upgrade a worthwhile thing, if even possible?

 

Still haven’t heard of a softail sumping.

when I did my cam I went ahead and upgraded the pump to the 8 lobe anyway, at $108 through surdyke it was a no brainer, and it’s a part that is good enough for any build

 

The touring line has different cases than the softail. I believe that was the verdict why touring had the sumping problem. There were a couple claims of softail sumping but questionable. It is definitely a touring line problem.

 

No issues with my 2018. Engine oil level stays consistent between changes

 

In general a softail and a touring bike have a pretty good weight difference. Also Touring bikes and softails and ridden in different way most often.

Some of the sump problems were due to assembly mistakes on the line with the cyl oilers.
Lot come into play with issues like this.

 

Agreed. No reports I ever saw about Softails sumping. I never had any with my 2018 Road King either. I did eventually upgrade the oil pump just for s&g.

 

Cool.
Thanks for the help.

 

Haven’t had an issue with my ‘19 Heritage in 30,000 miles. Bike runs fine and doesn’t use a drop of oil.

All the same I’d likely change the oil pump if I was in the cam chest because why not?

 

I changed to the new pump when I changed the cam. Got rid of all the oil carry over into the crankcase vents. I was having more oil carry over than I was happy with

 

I had a pretty bad sumping problem with my 2018 softail. The bottom of the motor would run so hot on a long ride that I couldn't get my leg anywhere near the primary cover. It would also get so hot that it would only run on one cylinder. The good thing was that It was fixed under warranty. I was able to get a stage 2 upgrade for only the cost of parts when they upgraded the oil pump under warranty. I know the sumping was more prevalent on the touring models. But sumping definitely affected a lot of the early M8 softails as well. I don't know why but some of the early bikes that were built like mine just couldn't move enough oil to the top of the motor with the older style oil pump.