I've been reading the forums for awhile now and just joined. Recently purchased an 08 Rocker with around 6k miles. Runs great, but I took it for a ride the other night and noticed an issue.

As I was pulling back up to my garage, my oil light came on. I rolled the throttle some and the light didn't go off so I shut it down immediately. Since it was plenty warm to do a hot check, I did. Has plenty of oil...right between fill and max. Didn't smell gas in it or anything like that.

I don't know if it has anything to do with it, but I do live down 1.5 miles of gravel, so I of course lug the bike once I get on the gravel, only going around 15-20 mph.

The next night, I went out and started it up and the light went off like it should after turning the motor over. I did this a few times and it never came on again...until I turned the ignition off, of course. But each time I started it again, the light goes right back off like normal. I didn't take it for another ride until I got some opinions from y'all.

Would lugging it down the 1.5 miles of gravel have anything to do with it? Any pointers are highly appreciated!

 

What gear are you running in when you're going down the dirt/gravel road at 15-20 mph?

 

Mostly 2nd gear

 

In second gear at 15-20 mph you're not lugging the engine. If you were in third or fourth yes but not second.

 

Any ideas of what it could be? It just surprises me that it happened that once but it's not doing it again.

 

Nope. Strange things occasionally happen on a Harley.

 

Could be as simple as a loose wire on the sending unit.

 

Oil pressure senders die all the time, real pressure you'll know when you remove it and install pressure gauge (about $30 from autoparts store). You'll also need tachometer.(pressure check at 2000rpm or so, read specs)
Make sure you have right oil, if manual says straight 60, use it!
If you really have slightly lower pressure (pressure gauge) with straight 60 oil, I would use half bottle of "stop smoke"
Keep in mind that viscosity drops after 1-2k miles. If you use 20/50, it can become 10/40 after 2000 miles.

 

Great info, 13RoadKing. I'll do an oil change and make sure I know what goes into it, then do the gauge and tach...thanks!

 

Pay no attention to this guy. All he puts out is pure BS bad advice. If you follow his advice you're more than likely to damage to your bike. You can't read an oil pressure gauge while you're riding unless it's mounted on your bars. You can usually sense what rpm you're running in by the sound of the motor. I don't know why you would even put "Stop Smoke" in your motor. And lastly oil doesn't change it's viscosity in a couple of thousand miles even under severe conditions.