Before anyone beats me to death hear me out. Been reading can't find straight answer so I'm asking.my dipstick has one mark about 3/8 of an inch up from bottom. No words, no other marks. So I thought it was high when I checked it hot, upright, the oil was almost to rubber. I drained some out to where it's just over the mark. Am I checking it right? Warmed up, upright, dipstick all the way in? Before I drained any I noticed hot vapor coming out of the crank case vents. Now I don't see any. So as long as it's right over the bottom mark?

 

What bike are we talking about here?

 

normally, anything with a horseshoe tank is checked on the jiffy stand with the motor warm. Judging by the pics in your previous post (new baby) your dipstick looks like an aftermarket with a temp gauge, so who knows what the mark on the dipstick means. Probably full and anything below-add. Positive crankcase pressure will cause SOME oil mist but excessive oil output might indicate oil level is too high. Someone far smarter than me will be a long shortly to tell me where I am wrong, so be patient.

 

1997 Fatboy. The stick says Harley Davidson on the face.

 

For whatever reason Harley decided to only put a low oil mark on their dipstick for the softails.

To fill a softail you stand the bike upright and add oil until the level is just below the filler neck.
Stock softail oil tanks only hold 2.5 quarts when full.

 

Awesome. That's what I believe I'll go by. Mines just below the filler neck. Slightly above the bottom mark (only mark on dipstick). Checked hot, upright. Thanks guys

 

For future reference you always need to tell which bike you are talking about when asking a question.
Either that or put your bike in your signature line so that we know which bike you are talking about.

You always know which bike you are asking about but the rest of us can't always remember which bike you have.

 

I would figure where it needs to be on the stick on the side stand so you don't have to stand it up every time.

 

You may be able to download a copy of your owners manual from the H-D website, go to the Owners tab. They initially put just a few years of them on-line, but there are many more now, so worth a look. There's no substitute for having decent info to hand for routine stuff!

 

see, I told ya. just have to be patient.