My really good friend, fellow US Army retiree and combat veteran and I left last Saturday from NC to Jacksonville, FL, to Miami to Key West; back to Miami, Jacksonville, and made it home yesterday. I wanted to share my experience. So, I got my 5,000 mile service early last week. Actually had about 4800 miles on the odometer when I did. I decided to share two pictures of my oil levels. One at that 5,000 mile service and one I took yesterday after my 1,900 mile trip. Oil definitely could have been higher on the stick originally but nonetheless, I wanted to show the levels before/after. I also could have checked the oil while on the road, but didn't. But I did have a qt of oil in the bag. My transmission level was perfect yesterday ....no changes. BTW, my buddy's 15 Road Glide Special burned some oil too. He didn't send me pictures yet, but he said his level dropped some. Not that it matters, but I have SYN3 in engine and Formula + in trans and primary. Before that service, I had SYN3 in all holes. I'm going to check the oil again once I rest up .....get it up to temp and check it just to see where it is today or tomorrow.

I thought my M8 was going to explode for most of the trip. The forum had me thinking and imagining the worse possible things about my bike because this was the first long trip I've taken on it . Previously, my 13 Street Glide took me over 25,000 miles of long distance trips. Well, it didn't explode and I'm going to stop worrying about it so much. I had a blast. The 9" LRS Shield was perfect (I have other LRS shields too). It let just the right amount of air into the vents of my Shoei Neotec and gave me just the right amount of rain protection in Key West. My butt finally broke in to my Mustang Summit. Many of you know that sometimes it's not the seat that has to be broken in, it's our butts. I only had 400 miles on it before the trip. I opted to purchase the sheep skin pad from Alaska Leather. It was a tough purchase because I have the HD circulator pad which is PERFECT.....but I needed some cushioning for this firm seat and I also wasn't sure about the claims of keeping you cool and dry. Well.......I'm a believer and could care less about looks. Crazy thing is....looking cool goes out the window when you're touring. I never had swamp butt the entire time and it will stay on my bike.

Removing the CAT was the best thing I could have ever done. I never got too hot. Those Baker Ultimate Windblockers that are above my lowers were GREAT. I bet you can barely see them in the pics. But I did post close ups in another thread weeks ago. They kept the wind calm at 70+ when wearing the Shoei. Right side got warm quite a bit, so I reached down and cracked that side open and WONDERFUL!!! I really benefited from them when it rained!! Those were about the only additions I made right before the trip to make things comfortable and they were all great.

Stage 1 is plenty!!!!! Cruise control on 80 from NC to Miami. We did hit 85-90 a time or two. Seems to have been touring right around 3K RPM I believe. As we entered Miami, it got busy and no more cruise control. Of course Key West ....well you know....slow!!! I was able to leave the bike in 6th gear on the interstate and pass any and every big truck or car I needed to. I never had to downshift to 5th for passing. Plenty of torque and power. My buddy has stage 1 on his 15 RG with V&H power duals, V&H high output mufflers and the old HD tuner that could be modified more. He also has had it dyno'd. He admitted he could feel/see the power of my bike because I led most of the way. I'm not saying we raced or anything or saying one is better than the other .....just the fact that he could see/feel me pulling and that's great considering I'm stage 1 with that limited HD tuner, stock headers, and Street Cannons all dynod to my liking.

Anyway....just wanted to drop a line to say how happy I was with the performance on my first longride. I feel like I have everything dialed in nicely. Add me to the crowd of oil burners is all. I'll keep my eye on that. I shared some pics below with short captions. Oh .....one other minor issue. I lost the bolt that holds down the rear of the seat. I had about 80 miles left and no HD shops.......so I just sucked it up and stopped a couple of times to push the seat back forward.



Above, this is my hot oil level at my 5,000 mile service early last week. I admit it could/should be higher on the stick (upright hot check)


Above, This is my oil level 1900 miles later. I checked it yesterday when I returned from my trip. (upright hot check)


Above, Me (left) and my buddy.....just two US Army retirees and fellow combat veterans. We've served together in peace and war and have become great friends as well as our families


Above, Cool painting I had to get a pic in front of. Wynwood Art District, Miami


Above, Another cool painting I had to get a pic in front of in Wynwood Art District, Miami


Above, Made it to Key West of Course!!! The trip back to Miami was horrible. The wind was so bad and we both had an issue keeping things steady. Those bridges were scary with the wind and then it started raining. Amazingly, neither of us stopped to put on rain gear and neither of us got wet. It wasn't raining hard, but still. We were amazed at how our setup pushed that rain up/around us.

 

great share and glad you're riding and enjoying your bike instead of reading and fretting..and of course, thank you for your service!
"I thought my M8 was going to explode for most of the trip. The forum had me thinking and imagining the worse possible things about my bike because this was the first long trip I've taken on it"

 

Awesome write up and congrats on a great trip!!

 

Good trip, good friends, good scooter.........don't get no better!!

 

I bet by the time you hit 10,000 it's not losing any oil at all. As time goes on the M8 will prove to be a really good engine.

 

 

So awesome. I'm hoping for great things as well, despite my well documented challenges.

Does anyone else wonder why they don't make the dipsticks white so you can actually see the oil level clearly?

 

Yeah, that trans dipstick is next to useless......

 

Took the wire wheel to mine and blew the chrome off it, not great but now you can at least see the oil mark.

 

Sounds like you had a great trip. And keep in mind that if the forums were correct all of the Twin Cams would be in the junk yards by now.