OK, now to get back on the subject of this thread. I was able to do some checking on my '17 Road Glide Special this evening. When I pulled the derby cover the fluid was right at the edge. It actually dribbled out just a little. This was with the bike upright. I drained the primary and measured the amount of fluid I got out of it, 38 oz. I had only put in 32 oz. when I did the service. Next I added 6 oz. of transmission oil to the tranny. This brought the transmission fluid up to full mark. So in my mind there is no doubt that the transmission oil migrated to the primary. This was 6 oz. in 1300 miles. By the way, it made no difference whether the bike was upright or on the side stand, it measured full on the dipstick, the same either way.
I am considering pulling the top cover to check the venting and to see if there is any difference in the gasket that is under the top cover and the one I purchased this weekend.

 

yup, I did some tests with both my wife's Freewheeler dipstick and my RK..identical dipsticks, swapped back and forth and readings were identical..so upright or on jiffy stand = no difference

 

I have a 17 RGU and have been following this thread from the beginning. I believe I have lost (migrated) a little fluid but not like some have experienced. I live in western NC so the bike is ridden in the mountains and usually between 2000 and 4000 rpms.
Just got back from a trip to MI. and Milwaukee (the museum) and made the usual tee shirt stops. When in the Battle Creek mi. store a fellow at the parts counter spoke to me. Nice guy.... So I ask him if in the 2017 SE catalog was there a oil pump for the M8 bikes. This was the case in earlier twin cam models. He said no but there was a new oil pump and called the service manager over. he told me there was a new style pump for the stage 4 bikes but thats the only one. Yes I know TRANNY THREAD.
I asked him if they had any success with the tranny fluid migration on the M8 bikes? He said " have not heard of that". " how is supposed to get from the tranny to the primary?" I said the only path was the clutch rod through through main shaft.
Aided by either pressure in the tranny (not likely) or vacuum from the primary. I was not really surprised by his response.....I could not tell if he was being truthful
or full of *****. Either way if you thats your dealer you,ll get no help there with this.
If my bike was moving more I would have already drilled,tapped and vented the primary... I bought a 2008 EGlide classic with the scissored flywheels .019 crankshaft runout and oil sumping and got no help with that. This may be a repeat.
Hope I,m wrong.
Would like to know if Steve Cole has also experienced any sumping while dynoing these bikes? If it highlights the migration what about the sumping? Curious. Max

 

THIS DOES NOT HAVE ANY EFFECT ON TRANSFER!!! If you think a few oz of extra trans fluid will cause transfer, you are mistaken. The trans is transfering oil either way, too full or when its low.

Eagle Out

 

Yeah this was just a question we entertained this weekend when a service manager told me to check the tranny with the bike upright. It actually doesn't matter, it checks accurately either way, upright or on the side stand. So the manual is also correct.

 

I have spent all my spare time in the last two days reading this thread from the beginning, admittedly omitting things that I thought didn't pertain to the subject. It appears that the best consensus is that something the MOCO has done to this 2017 transmission in an attempt to improve it has caused it to transfer oil from the transmission to the primary. So here is the question I have for Steve Cole and a few other that have done testing on this.
Will changing the guts of the transmission with Baker unit or an earlier model Harley unit fix this problem IYHO?
I have a unit that I pulled from my 2015 RGS that has about 4500 miles on it that if the MOCO doesn't come up with a cure I will more than likely stick in my 2017. This is my backup plan.

 

UPDATE: Got my bike back yesterday. Only got a list of notes from the dealership explaining the process and what was done. Paperwork was not complete as of yet. All MOCO suggested checks passed, new crank spacer and crank seal installed as well as top cover gasket. Instructed me to ride it for 500 miles and NOT TO ADD TRANS FLUID. Return to dealership for check after 500 miles. Dye was added again to the trans.

Will update after I put more miles on it, gonna continue to check trans fluid but not add any as stated in notes. Checked fluid after I got home from dealership, about a 15 mile ride. Checked it hot, (not what manual says to do) for the heck of it. Was half way in the middle of the X or half way between full and add. Rode to work today, will check level cold tomorrow as stated in manual, on side stand!

Eagle Out

 

Eagle,

My repair route was the same as yours. New seal and spacer. Service manager advised transmission and primary filled to spec with Formula plus. Invoice showed Syn3. Instructed to ride at least 500 miles and bring in. Took in last Friday. They drained and measured both. I had 620 miles. They noted there was still evidence of migration. Invoice advised email sent to MOCO for further instruction. I called yesterday and today. They have not heard back.

I am disappointed to say the least.

Thanks,

Bomtek44

 

Same thing they did to mine the last time, hope you get better luck from the changes than I did. Took the bike out for my test ride that I have found causes transfer to occur faster and brought it back to dealership. They drained and measured and in about 80 miles it had transferred 22 oz again. Now its at the dealership with a factory rep inspecting it again. Some new special part was ordered yesterday and is suppose to arrive today to be installed. I have no idea what it will be but the Tech told me he would let me know after he gets it installed.

 

Man, I KNOW you must have better things to do than deal with this cra*. It must be infuriating. Compounded by the fact that your extremely knowledgeable with HD's.