| Author | Message | ||
     Evaddave |
I got to do the first fill-up of my XB9S today, and that means I get to check the oil. Since I wasn't too far from home when I filled up, I just waited until I got home to check the oil. I pulled out the dipstick, wiped it off, replaced it and checked it again. Dry! I checked it a couple more times to be sure, but I can't see any oil on the thing. I added a little bit of oil a couple times, but I still can't see the level. (I overfilled my Blast once, so I'm a little leery of doing that again.) By now, the bike is cold, so I'm stuck with a dilemma. Do I add more oil until I can at least see it on the dipstick when cold, or do I warm the bike up again and run the risk of seizing the engine? The only times during my ride today that the oil pressure light was on was when starting the bike, like I'd expect. What's the typical oil level on a cold check? Thanks for any help... -Dave | ||
| Bigbird |
When the engine is cold and the bike is parked on the side stand the oil level should be just about at the bottom of the safe zone on the dipstick. Underfilling it slightly and then going out and warming up the engine won't hurt anything, just make sure you do the final oil level adjustment when it is hot. | ||
| Evaddave |
Thanks, Bigbird! It looks like I've got to add more oil. Luckily, tomorrow looks like a great day to get out and warm the bike up... | ||
| Freyke |
Make sure you fill the oil filter to about 1/2 way when installing the filter.... if you did not do this that would explain the shortfall... kk//kef | ||
| Brucelee |
Yes on the oil filter. If you dont do this, the gasket usually ruptures. | ||
| Richieg150 |
Another good thing about the TUBERS,if you check the bikes oil cold,then fill it to full,and THEN go riding,the bike will self level it oil by blowing the excess out thru the fill hole!Ive seen this happen a couple of times,went riding with another Bueller and 4 Jap bikes,stopped for lunch,and the other Buell had oil all over the back end.We checked it out and told the other guys it wasnt a problem..........the Buell was SELF LEVELING it oil level..........what else could we say!  | ||
| Evaddave |
Good info. I'll remember that for my first oil change. My bike has 160 miles on it, so any missing oil either - was left out by the dealer or - leaked out of somewhere (but I don't see oil on the floor anywhere). I'm guessing it's the first one, so I plan on keeping track of how much oil I have to add and then calling the dealer. | ||
| Kevinfromwebb |
Dave, I've had to add around 4 ozs to mine about every 800 miles or so... I've only got around 3700 miles on it now (changed the oil twice so far) so I'm hoping it's just burning a bit while it's getting seated in... Who knows, it might just sip a bit of oil... I don't worry about it but keep an eye on it... Kevin | ||
| Bradj |
I also was a bit concerned when I checked the oil the first time on my new XB9S. I had ridden it briefly on two occasions before I checked it...no more than 100 miles. I had to add approximately half a quart to get the level to normal. I just ASSUMED the level had been checked when I got the bike from the dealer?...perhaps it had been. I've had a couple of folks tell me that new Buells will burn some oil in the first few hours of operation, but that it will stop. In my case it did... I've only had to add a minimal amount since then and the bike now has 2300 miles on it. | ||
| Mightymouse |
Dave, YOUR OIL LIGHT WON'T COME ON IF YOU RUN IT OUT OF OIL. The oil pump is a gerotor style "positive displacement pump", and will happily pump air just as readily as it will pump oil. Should you run without oil, the resulting air pressure coming out of the oil pump will be high enough to turn off the light. The following scenarios would, however, turn ON the light: - A rupture in the oil feed line any where between the pump and the pressure sensor. - Loss of pump rotation during operation. - Significant blockage of feed oil to the inlet of the pump. | ||
| Wyckedflesh |
When I bought my 12, the dealer did a full walk through on the bike, showed me all the controls, checked the oil right in front of me, showed me the fill procedure and stuff. As he put it, he knew I was aware of all of it, but this way it was documented that all fluids were like they were suppossed to be, and the controls were adjusted to my liking. | ||
| Lovematt |
I have a 2003 XB9R with about 1900 miles on it. The first 300 miles or so I would smell oil burning when it got a bit warm in traffic. I also had to add about 6 ounces of oil during the first 300 miles. After about 500 miles it quit doing this since everything seated and sealed up good and have had to add only about 3-4 ounces in the 1400 miles since. I had a 1994 FatBoy and it was exactly the same thing... | ||
| Blake |
"YOUR OIL LIGHT WON'T COME ON IF YOU RUN IT OUT OF OIL. The oil pump is a gerotor style "positive displacement pump", and will happily pump air just as readily as it will pump oil. Should you run without oil, the resulting air pressure coming out of the oil pump will be high enough to turn off the light." That is freaking INSANE! But I believe you may be correct. Upon a quick review one finds that the pressure sensor is located BEFORE/UPSTREAM of the check valve. To be safe it should be located AFTER/DOWNSTREAM of the check valve. DANG! | ||
| Hootowl |
Wow. No warning. Boom. Lets hope we notice the oil spewing from the bike before the bag runs dry. I really hope this is not the case. | ||
| Evaddave |
Excerpts from the manual: "The red OIL pressure signal light (6), when lit, signals that oil is not circulating through the engine." "If the oil pressure signal light does not go off at speeds above idle, it is usually because of an empty oil tank or diluted oil." It would be nice if the manual matched reality. For anyone following the saga, my XB gulped down 24 ounces of dino juice to get to the safe zone today. I can't imagine that much oil being burned off in 160 miles, especially when it didn't smell like it was burning oil. Thanks again for all the help! | ||
| Blake |
Do you recall ever hearing a loud burping noise after you shut off the engine? ![: ]](http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/clipart/proud.gif) | ||
| Mikej |
"Upon a quick review one finds that the pressure sensor is located BEFORE/UPSTREAM of the check valve. " Oh man, first oil wars, then this. If it is true that the oil pressure light won't or might not come on when the bike runs out of oil then I'd say we'll be seeing a service bulletin in very short order to remedy the situation. I can just see it now: Factory/Warranty:"Claim denied", Customer:"Oil light never came on", Factory/Warranty:"It isn't supposed to under running conditions", Customer's Attorney:"Shall we have a little talk?". Anonypeeps, care to make any comments on this issue? If I were to get an XB12/9/whatever and am riding down the road and kick up a small fragment of metal with the front tire that then cleanly severs an oil line or filter causing total loss of oil and if I didn't hear the impact because the metal bit was so sharp that it barely make a noise and because I was riding in a HOG Run and the straight pipes and megaphones of the bikes in front of me were deafening, is the above discussion correct in that the oil light might not come on at all, leading to catastrophic failure of the engine? Just curious. | ||
| Wyckedflesh |
MikeJ in that case they are counting on your sliding out on the oil as it spills onto the road and then tracks your rear tire through it...  See its H-D's way of getting rid of us Buell riders. I am sure Erik designed it before the pump but H-D snuck in and changed the blueprints and moved it after the pump  disclaimer: the above statement is ment in pure jest and in no way shape or form is an actual fact that I am aware of. edited by wyckedflesh on March 01, 2004 | ||
| Nevco1 |
Concerning the oil light on the X1 (which may not be applicable here) I was told that the oil light will go on in the event the oil pump begins to fail or seizes. In essence, the oil light is the key component to diagnosing the oil pump drive gear issue. As the discussion was prefaced with "check your oil frequently" the subject of the oil light going on as the oil level dropped was not discussed. This info came from a very credible source so you may want use it in your analysis of the issues. | ||
| Nevco1 |
Wycked...Buell may spec what they want from an engine, but rest assured, it is HD Engineers that design them. | ||
| Nevco1 |
Reflecting back to the oil light issue, the rule of thumb my source gave me was... "If the oil light goes on, pull over immediately and check the oil level. If you have oil don't run the bike, tow it to your dealer/garage because the oil pump/system is malfunctioning." |
