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Oil coming from the air cleaner

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Old Dec 28, 2021 | 04:03 PM
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Default Oil coming from the air cleaner

2018 RGS. Bought it recently with 5600 miles on it. Took it on a about a 400 mile trip yesterday and found a lot of oil being blown down the side. My kid has the same bike with a lot more miles and a few mods. He doesn’t have this problem at all. He has a different air cleaner (Arlen Ness). Currently I have the SE (previous owner installed it or had it installed).

My only other M8 experience is a 2020 RKS that didn’t do this either. It had the stock air cleaner.

Checked the oil. It’s about half way on the checkered section, so I don’t think it’s over-filled.

I know a little oil is normal. This seems excessive.

See pics.

Thoughts?










 
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Old Dec 28, 2021 | 04:42 PM
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If it sat a while I would not be over concerned. When they set a while, oil caught up in tubing runs down. Obviously, you must have an open cover type for all that to get out. Did someone just oil filter?

Be sure oil is only at full mark when hot and set a few minutes.

I use to have the football cover over the open SE filter. I stuck a stick on light pad on the lower lip. Now I just have the Skull plate in the center. So occasionally whip the drool off the old girl's chin and keep getting up.
 

Last edited by Jackie Paper; Dec 28, 2021 at 04:55 PM.
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Old Dec 28, 2021 | 04:52 PM
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Originally Posted by RIPSAW
If it sat a while I would not be over concerned. When they set a while, oil caught up in tubing runs down. Obviously, you must have an open cover type for all that to get out. Did someone just oil filter?

Be sure oil is only at full mark when hot and set a few minutes.
Dealer had it a total of 18 days, and that includes service time. It did go out on test rides in that time.

This didn’t appear to happen when I took it on a test ride, or when I rode it around for the last week or so (put a couple hundred miles on it before yesterday’s 400ish mile trip).

When I checked the oil, I started it and let it idle for about 5-7 minutes or so, then let it sit for about a minute. The pic shows the oil level as tested on the jiffy stand.
 
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Old Dec 28, 2021 | 05:05 PM
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I believe they have updated breather hoses for that air cleaner that raises them higher in the intake which helps to prevent oil from dripping out
 
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Old Dec 28, 2021 | 05:10 PM
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Doc Harley has the answer.
 
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Old Dec 28, 2021 | 05:15 PM
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Originally Posted by dontdropit
I believe they have updated breather hoses for that air cleaner that raises them higher in the intake which helps to prevent oil from dripping out


yup, and they go further in as well..we went thru this on both our early SE Hi Flow ACs and when we upgraded to the new tubes it dramatically reduced this problem, which they obviously discovered and made an improvement to resolve
 
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Old Dec 28, 2021 | 05:22 PM
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Originally Posted by Harttoo
Doc Harley has the answer. https://youtu.be/LoVuOuhFvDs
this guy should win an OSCAR for best supporting actor....absolutely cracks me up how he has been around Harleys and working on them for decades and acts like this is a revolutionary discovery he just heard of for the first time ever on this 2019 ..my opinion is he is desperately trying to make folks believe he is not always 100% towing the company HD line as far as mods, warranty, etc and trying to act like a regular guy, but his feeble attempt is not convincing, he damn well has had to know about breather bypass solutions for many many years, he didn't need to try and oversell it..other than this I have enjoyed most of his stuff over the years
 
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Old Dec 28, 2021 | 06:05 PM
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Well it may very well have been over-filled previously and it just blew out all that it needed to while you were riding and then once the motor found it's sweet spot, it stopped spewing. Clean it all off and ride it around some more and see if you're good to go.
 
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Old Dec 28, 2021 | 06:17 PM
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Originally Posted by OldEnuf2NoBtr
Well it may very well have been over-filled previously and it just blew out all that it needed to while you were riding and then once the motor found it's sweet spot, it stopped spewing. Clean it all off and ride it around some more and see if you're good to go.
yup, and let the oil level drop to add level if it 'wants to' and maybe even settle there and most likely won't have oil on the side of your bike anymore..even running around 1 qy low at the add mark provides sufficient safe level for the engine to use..of course you would then need to keep a close eye on it from there on out
 
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Old Dec 28, 2021 | 06:34 PM
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Originally Posted by Eric Stanley
2018 RGS. Bought it recently with 5600 miles on it. Took it on a about a 400 mile trip yesterday and found a lot of oil being blown down the side. My kid has the same bike with a lot more miles and a few mods. He doesn’t have this problem at all. He has a different air cleaner (Arlen Ness). Currently I have the SE (previous owner installed it or had it installed).

My only other M8 experience is a 2020 RKS that didn’t do this either. It had the stock air cleaner.

Checked the oil. It’s about half way on the checkered section, so I don’t think it’s over-filled.

I know a little oil is normal. This seems excessive.

See pics.

Thoughts?






Did you get a warranty from the dealer? This oil all over should not be happening.
 
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