| Author | Message | ||
     Blublak |
Thank you Blake.. Not having actually changed the oil, I don't know how many quarts are in it, but showing a good level with a 'vertical' oil check (a little over the half way point on the stick). I'm not going to worry about it for now.. Now, if it's OK, with everyone.. at least those that effect my riding.. this weekend we're back into the mid 40*s !!  I'm going to take a clean rag, spray some shiner stuff on it.. wipe the plastic down once.. as the engine warms up.. Then I'm going for a ride.. | ||
| Calidrew |
You guys with your shiny new motorcycles sure do have a lot to worry about. On my old tuber I just pull the tin pie plate out from under it every morning and pour that back in the oil bag.  . What's that clicking sound?  | ||
| Socoken |
You know what they used to say about those tubers, "if it aint clicking, it aint running right!" | ||
| Baggermike |
Hey guys, I emptyd the oil in a five gallon container, after riding fifty miles and the oil was dirty, I refilled it with three quarts and rode another 200 miles, I drew a line on the container were the old oil came up to, now I changed the oil again, and it did not look like it had the same amount of oil it had before, less difference in hieght on the container, it came with, it is a five gallon bucket and they do have a slight taper to them, maybe this is why, I am only putting 3 qt's in intell I know the truth on how much oil it takes, but find this interesting debate. Mike | ||
| Fresnobuell |
I am wondering why the "check engine" light is not going on due to either too much oil or not enough? I overfilled my XB once and the light came on. I would think it would have a similar reaction if I was too short oil also. I wish there was a definitive answer from Buell. I am not sure which way to go with it as of right now. | ||
| Sheridan_bueller |
The book I got says 3 quarts capacity, check it on the side stand. That's what I'm going to do. They wrote the book and if they got it wrong it's on them. That's my take on the oil crisis. JJ | ||
| Baggermike |
my ulysses oil pump went on it and no lights lit up, just started running real bad and then was loosing power, when I put on the stock exhaust the top end was making a racket so I knew something big happend I also felt something break but no lights came on? so figure that out? had the top end rebuilt by Manchester HD Buell in Manchester New Hampshire and took over two month and they still did not fix it right so when the new shop I bought the 1125 from droped it off and took the ulysses to fix it right this time, I would recomend staying away from that dealership, had some other problems to from them. Mike | ||
| Ratbuell |
The check engine light is wired to sensors, not hardware. If you bend a valve, snap a rod, hole a piston...a sensor won't pick it up. It *should* pick up an oil pressure sensor going out of range, but then again that's what we have oil lights for. I've holed pistons in my turbocars without any lights coming on. That's the trouble with boost - only a *little* too much timing at 24psi boost will hole a piston before you hear the rattle. Took one apart and got three pistons and one open bore. Car ran, dead miss on that cylinder(duh). No lights came on because Dodge hasn't developed the "missing piston sensor" yet, LOL. | ||
| Fresnobuell |
I guess my point is that if we we seriously out of range via either method of checking the oil, wouldn't we get some sort of warning light? | ||
| Blake |
Low oil, yes. Overfilled, not necessarilly unless it starts running into the intake and causes an O2 or other engine sensor to malfunction. | ||
| Fresnobuell |
Any official word from BMC yet? | ||
| Court |
>>>Any official word from BMC yet? You're asking us? No one will know faster than your dealer. Be sure to ask them to monitor HD net. I have a feeling that some of them only read the Buell updates when they have problems. If there is any news. . . it'll be there first. | ||
| Brad1445 |
not even then Court. I love my dealer service but I always have to alert them of recalls,. etc. | ||
| Donutclub |
I just got through changing my oil tonight. It was a PITA because I ended up having quite a mess when I pulled the left drain plug. Let's just say that sometimes it's good to have a cat (or cat litter) in the house. Anyway, back the the oil change.... I drained everything according to the user manual and changed out the filter as well. I put three quarts of Syn in the bike and then fired it up to ensure nothing was leaking. Once satisfied, I headed off to the gas station to top off the fuel. Back at home, I let the bike idle for three minutes on the side stand, shut it off and let is set for two minutes. When I checked the dipstick, it didn't register any oil on the dipstick. There was a little residual oil on the sides of the stick, but the middle front and back was completely dry. To be sure, I checked it three times with the same results. I then positioned the bike in a vertical position and then checked the dipstick. The oil level was registering on the max line. Again, to be sure, I checked it three times. This confirms that either the 3 quarts is incorrect, or the oil checking procedure is incorrect. Since the oil amount was changed on the webpage, I'm going to guess that it's correct. This means that the check procedure is incorrect. Buell customer service told me (last week) that the checking procedure was correct. I'll be giving them a call tomorrow to discuss. | ||
| Blake |
Thank you Jeff (DonutClub) very much for sharing that information! Based upon your very careful and systematic investigation and analyses--what are you some kind of engineer <grin>--I think that we can darn near put this issue to bed. | ||
| Court |
Thank you Jeff (DonutClub) very much for sharing that information! Now we are getting somewhere. I would **guess** we'll be hearing something from Buell. If I owned an 1125R I'd do precisely what you have done to assure myself the bike had the proper amount of oil in it. Then. . . knowing how to determine the oil level was precisely correct. . I'd ride the heck out of it and never look back. I confess . . you guys have me looking at one! | ||
| Smoke |
go ahead and get one Court. you'll never look back. tim | ||
| Sgthigg |
I am having bad thoughts in my head of these beautiful bikes falling over now when people check their oil. | ||
| Bearly |
I can't say tip overs didn't cross my mind. Standing on the Right side of the bike I'm hoping the kick stand catches the bike when I tip mine over.  | ||
| Jlnance |
Do these bikes use any oil? | ||
| Court |
>>>>Do these bikes use any oil? Ahhhh . . . a tricky question. Everything that has oil in it consumes some. They may. "Using" and "Loosing" are two completely different concepts. But if I had a new one, had checked the oil and found it to be okay, I'd not bother messing with it till the next oil change or several weeks down the road absent some reason to. I check my oil once maybe twice a month . . . I suppose the trick is to become familiar with the bike. In addition, and this'll get them arguing, but motors today and less subject to any problem from running a bit low. I've got a 2006 Mercedes that's been telling me to check the oil for two weeks. It'll get checked at the dealers when it gets serviced next week. If the engine self destructs before then, I'll advise. Much ado about little. | ||
| Fresnobuell |
OKay if too little oil is less of a hazard, what about too much oil? | ||
| Blake |
Jason (SgtHigg), "I am having bad thoughts in my head of these beautiful bikes falling over now when people check their oil." Come on Serg, all tube frame Buells required the same exact scenario. It ain't nothin'. Are the supremely considerate and proactive Japanese causing you to go all soft on us?  HTFU?  | ||
| Sgthigg |
"HTFU" HAHA!  | ||
| Doerman |
Went over to my dealer this morning on a separate errand. I asked if they had updated procedures on checking oil and capacities. They had received official bulletins from HD and the Service Writer confirmed that oil level is to be checked as described in the owner's manual except for being upright rather than on the sidestand. He also verified the 3 quarts. | ||
| Bigblock |
I changed the oil(3quarts) and filter, rode, idled a couple minutes on the stand, letter set fer a couple, stooder up and checked, showed at, but not over the overfull line. Setter back on the stand, recheck, showed just touching the stick. | ||
| Ratbuell |
"I am having bad thoughts in my head of these beautiful bikes falling over now when people check their oil." So...we're assuming folks who can pilot motorcycles can't balance them in a garage? | ||
| Baggermike |
I think you can sit on the bike and stand it upright then set it back on the kickstand and then unscrew the dip stick and check it if you think you will have a problem, but I find the kickstand really good and do not think this would happen. Mike | ||
| Blake |
Thank you Asbjorn for relaying the official confirmation of what our brave anonymous contributor advised us just over two weeks ago. And again, THANK YOU Anonymous! Your integrity stands tall. (Message edited by blake on January 12, 2008) | ||
| Spectrum |
Ok guess I'm going to muddy this up again. I only have 265 miles on the bike at this point and haven't messed with the oil at all. Based on this thread, I decided to check my oil level to see where the factory fill line is at. Boy was I surprised at what I found: Bike on the side stand..  Bike standing up right...  As you can see from the photos it's definitely over filled either way you look at it. Notice with the bike standing up right the oil level is almost 3/4 of the way up the dip stick. So this raises some questions. Keep in mind my bike is #105 and may have left the factory before BMC discovered the discrepancy. So my questions are. Is it possible the factory overfills on purpose? Or is this accidental and a possible problem that occurred in the factory and when they caught it lead to issuing the service bulletin and updated procedure? The bike has been running fine and I haven't had any problems. Obviously though, I'll be calling the dealer and possible customer service bright and early Monday morning. |
