Here is my problem, I changed my oil every 5000 miles no matter what. The problem I have now is that around the 3000 mile mark I checked the oil and it was below add quart mark. Added a quart and was slightly below the full mark. Fast forward 1500 miles and checked again and it was below the add a quart mark. No leaks as I park on carpet in my garage and the same place at work. A buddy has said he has notice some smoke when I get on it, but no visible smoke at idle. The plugs is not wet or covered with oil. But the back end of the bike has what I say is slight dirty maybe even oil film. I run Redline 2050. Bike is a 05 Ultra with 62,000 miles. Any ides?

 

The 05 models were known to have leaky valve guide seals. Have they been replaced? If not, that would be my first guess.

 

sounds like time for a freshen up.

ask your pal when he sees smoke:

smoke on acceleration is bad piston rings

smoke on decel is bad valve seals

both are easy fixes and the highest part of the cost is labor, not parts.

you may want to use this as opportunity for a 95" kit

62K is kinda soon, make sure your motor is well warmed up before hammering it
mike

 

Yes they have been replace. Made sure of that when I went gear drive cams at about 25000 miles. When I do get on it which is rare its only to get out in traffic or on the super slab. I have thought about going with the 95 kit I would have to weld and true up my crank.

 

Everything everyone else said plus open your derby cover and check your primary oil level to make sure it's not a blown seal leaking engine oil into the primary.

 

The only other thing that comes to mind besides what has already been mentioned is the umbrella valves. The crankshaft probably should have been addressed before installing gear drive cams, so if you go to a 95" I would recommend it.

 

Have a look at your air filter and see if it is wet with oil. That would be the umbrella valves/crank case breathers.

 

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Yup,i agree its getting a bit tired since its using some oil even after you installed new valve seals.

But since your running fully syn oil that can get by tired rings ect easier then std dino because when hot syn can thin more then std dino does under normal cond.

So before spending considerable $$$$ to rbld or upgrade to larger top end if you were to try going go from full syn 20-50 to for example spectros slightly heavier hvy dty 25w-60 std dino that specifically mfg'd & formulated for HD v-twins i bet that would reduce your motors oil use enough so that you could get considerably more miles out of it before requiring top end rbld or installing a larger bore top end kit.

Between the std dino not thinning as much as full syn can at times along with it also being a heavier 25w-60 viscosity those 2 things should reduce oil use & smoke hopefully enough to put off doing top end work at this time,never know till you try it.

I have done this in the past in same type situation as your dealing with thats a motor which is still running decent thats using some oil that happens to be full syn ,but when going back to std dino of little higher visc in fact reduced oil use some while also reducing smoke at the same time too vs the full syn of little lighter visc full syn oil they were running prior.

I will paste below the info & link to buy that oil to try out.

You have nothing to loose trying this little heavier 25w-60 std dino oil that i bet would not only reduce your bikes oil use along with also making the motor retain higher oil pressure when the motor hot (esp in summer heat) along with keeping the valvetrain quieter too.

Please dont forget to post the results in oil use reduction & general running of motor (oil pressure & valve noise etc) back in this thread if you decide to try the heavier 25w-60 std dino i rec below.

Scott

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Product Information

Heavy Duty
Spectro Heavy Duty Engine Oil is a superior motor lubricant designed specifically for use in American-made Harley® V-Twin engines. Crafted from superior petroleum stocks combined with the most advanced anti-wear, anti-carbon additive systems available, Spectro Heavy Duty extends component life, reduces wear, eliminates valve sticking. Meets all known OEM warranty requirements. Exceeds A.P.I. SF/SG – CD/CG - 4.
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