| Author | Message | ||
     Timan |
I know most of you are already rolling your eyes, but need a little guidance here. I just got this '09 Uly and the previous owner said oil had recently been changed. I replaced the exhaust yesterday and when I removed oil line to remove the rear mount I noticed oil was a little dark for my liking. Today I got the bike hot and pulled the drain plug. At most I got a little over a quart out. Now, there is no evidence of leaks and it don't smoke. Bike only has 10K miles, if it truly was 1-1 1/2 quarts low wouldn't the idiot light come on? The idiot being me. What would you guys do; put in the 2 1/2 quarts; put in 1 1/2 quarts, or burn it? I had tried checking the level when I first got it and it was touching the stick when hot; barely. I'm beginning to think EBR never has to deal with his bikes. For my 1125 CR, checking the oil takes 2 pages to describe. Help and advice will be appreciated. | ||
| Schwara |
Glad to have you in the group. I'm going to take a wild guess that you did the same thing I did did the first time around ... if not, please excuse my following comments. The drain for the primary looks exactly the same as the one for the oil and when you drain it you will only get one quart because that is all it holds ... at the maximum. The drain for the oil is further back on the bottom of the bike. If I can pull some picks out of my manual I'll attach them in a few minutes. For checking the oil level, some people do it with the engine running but I'm not that adventurous. I'll get her good and warmed up (at least 10 mins) and then take her to a flat surface, shut her down, lean it over over on the side stand, get off, and then check it. It is actually much easier than checking on my wife's 450 Rebel. That is almost a two person job if you want to be exact. | ||
| Schwara |
As a side note, I am skeptical about anything that a PO (previous owner) tells me. I will believe some of what they say if it something I can see on paper or with a visual inspection, but changing out the fluids is the very 1st thing that I did. To me it is careful/safe, it puts you at a starting place that you know, and it gives you some initial insights seeing the fluid that comes out. Just my $0.02 | ||
| Froggy |
http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/327 77/467975.html | ||
| Schwara |
primary drain plug  oil drain plug  Per Froggy's link, do not overtighten the drain plug. The reason we say this is because the manual is wrong. My 09 service manual says 26-29 ft-lbs which can strip the aluminum threads. Just put on some thread sealant, not thread lock, and then get it good and snug. If you search out here you find a few posts from people who have stripped these out. | ||
| Schwara |
It just occurred to me that you said you had to remove an oil line when messing with the rear muffler clamp. There is an easier way to do this as well. I have never messed with the oil line and have changed out the muff twice. You can get to the rear muffler clamps by removing the pulley cover and then getting a deep well socket. It might require a little maneuvering the first time, but when you bolt it all back up you can position them so that it will be a little easier the next time around. I either read about that out here or on the other XB website ... or maybe both. I used to go back and forth a lot in the beginning, but find less and less reason to venture from this site now. | ||
| Buewulf |
I would expect the light would come on with just one quart, if not standing upright then at least while banking or under hard decel/accel. Which leads me to believe that perhaps you did as Schwara suggested and drained your transmission oil. Hell, I KNOW it is there, but I still almost put my wrench on the primary drain plug when I changed the oil recently. It is an easy mistake to make. | ||
| Romanrider |
I just accidentally had to change my primary lube last weekend. Finished changing the oil & filter on my wife's bonneville, warmed up my Uly, pulled the drain plug... hmm, not much oil came out and it looked pretty clean. DOH! I've owned XB's since 2003! Oh well. So, I'm trying Amsoil 20w50 for primary lube. I also took a few minutes to smear some of the used oil on my muffler which is starting to rust. (Message edited by romanrider on June 13, 2012) | ||
| Motorbike |
Timan, if you did mistakenly drain the primary, don't forget to refill it with 1 quart. I know this sounds stupid but that would be an easy mistake to make. | ||
| Timan |
I thought I responded earlier, but evidently it didn't go through. Nope, I drained motor oil, I did the primary last week. Today with the motor oil I put in 2 quarts and let it idle on sidestand; level came up to bottom of crosshatch. I then added enough to make 2 1/2 quarts total and level was in middle of the crosshatch. I find it hard to believe oil had been changed within 1000 or so miles before I got it, and really can't believe oil light did not come on. I'll check it again tomorrow. Thanks for all the help. | ||
| Uly_dude |
You're a wise man Timan to change both these fluids yourself, no matter what the PO said. I wish I had done that when I bought my 06 a couple yrs. ago. It would've saved me $600 and a new clutch. The PO of my bike said he had just changed the oil, and I did check the dipstick, looked good n clean. However I assumed he had done the primary also and was lazy and didn't check it. When the clutch blew up and I took the maint cover off the primary, the gear lube had the consistency and look of mud. My bad. Lesson learned. | ||
| Mark_weiss |
A nice feature of a dry sump oil system is that it is able to maintain pressure until you are practically out of oil. I would guess that the system would need to be down to about 1/2 quart before the pump began to pick up air. | ||
| Etennuly |
I did that one time with my former City-X. I did a hot summer oil change with 20-50 and it disappeared in less that 700 miles without leaking. Every day was above 90F. It took over two quarts to get it back on the stick. So I would dare say, it was damn near completely empty when the oil light came on. The light came on within 500 feet of my driveway. I coasted it in and added the proper weight oil for the temperature. It never lost any again. | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
Woah! I thought 20-50 was the correct weight for pretty much all survivable temps. What did you end up running? My ironhead preferred straight 60 in the summers. | ||
| Razz |
I have an 09 also and find the oil drains back if you dont check it right away after shutting down.When I do an oil change I leave the bike running and start loosening the drain plug, then shut her down and remove plug all the way.With 2-1/2 qts in and warmed up a bit the level is at the bottom of the crosshatch marks.I also find on a hot day riding the oil level shows a little low.If I add oil to bring it up the next day if I check the level is too high the amount I added. | ||
| Nobuell |
My 08XT has always been hard to get an oil read constantly. I have found that after changing the oil with 2.5 quarts and warming up the bike, I get consistent 3X from the bottom if checking while the motor is idling. If I shut the motor down, the oil level quickly drops to the bottom of the stick. Maybe it is an 08 issue but it has been that way since new. | ||
| Hughlysses |
There have been several threads here on this subject since the improved 08-up engine was introduced, although I'm sure it's been at least a couple of years since the last one. The general consensus is that the best way to check the oil on an 08-up XB is hot, idling, and on the side stand. This is NOT what the owner's manual says, but it has proven to give consistent, accurate oil level readings. (Message edited by Hughlysses on June 15, 2012) | ||
| Etennuly |
Nate, I was running HD's dino oil. That HD20-50 was oil that I had in stock, so I figured what the heck and put it in. I normally ran that bike by the book using HD non syn oils. That time I violated the "should have had 60W in there" rule. There is a chart in the owners manual and in the service manual that will point out what should be in it. On my '06 Uly I have tested various oils over the 58,000 miles that is on it. I have settled on Rotella 20-50 for the last several changes. It is running quiet and smooth with no more than a half pint of oil loss between changes. And it is affordable. | ||
| Brucen |
I haven't seen Rotella 20-50 around here. Is this a new weight? All I have seen is 15-40 & 5-40 Synthetic. I used to use 15-40 in another bike that called for 20-40 and was really happy with it. | ||
| Imaposer |
Hey Froggy...Followed the link to the oil change thread, thanks. Did you ever post the other one for the primary? Did some looking around and didn't see it. Road trip this weekend, then I'll service the bike next week. |
