new guy here and a new rider/Harley owner. I have a 2011 48 with 5,000 miles on it. Did the 1,000 mile service myself (i'm a car technician, have been for the last 15 years, so i know my way around a motor). I was riding home yesterday and when i stopped at a red light i start to hear a knock from the motor, so i get home and check the oil, it was 1.5 quarts low on oil. Now I know its not leaking it, my garage floor is spotless, and i know its not burning it. Question is, what should I do? Has anybody else had this issue?

thanks,
worried first time Harley owner

 

I think you should trade it in on a Dyna.....

 

Hmmm......my 48 didn't burn any oil between 1k and 5k. Several more k since the 5k service and the oil is still in the middle of the stick. Probably fill it and check after a few hundred miles to see if it's going down or blowing out the exhaust or??? Let us know what you discover.

 

Felon,

I had a similar situation with my Street Bob. However, I had the 1k service done at the dealership ("for free") and then I did my 5k service at home and it was also 1.5 quarts low. My garage is spotless so there was no leak. I imagined the oil just got burned. Now, I check my oil every 1k miles just in case.

 

If it isn't leaking and isn't burning, then check your primary fluid level.

 

thanks for the reply fellas. I called my local dealership and talked to a Harley tech and he told me losing some oil on an air cooled motor is pretty common, said to check fluid level every 250 miles. So i guess I'll just do that from now on. That mentality makes sense to me but also it doesn't at the same time. I do ride it almost everyday and a lot of my weekday travel is stop and go, so maybe its that. The oil is full now and just gonna keep an eye on it.

 

You'll get different readings on a hot vs. cold engine... Hard to imagine burning through 1.5 quarts of oil. I do a lot of highway riding and always have some spill out my AC but not very much.