Did an oil change at home today. First time. All the others have been at the dealership since they do them free. I bought an oil change kit from Amsoil, same as what I've had the dealer using. 5 qts and a filter with an O ring for the drain plug. Anyway, I followed the procedure in the book. Fill with 4 quarts, then do a cold check. If good, bring it up to full temp and do a hot check. Both were right on the money. So why does the kit come with 5 qts?? I'll do another cold check in the morning just to be sure, but seems odd.

 

Recently changed mine (2021 FLHTK) after getting the engine hot and let drain for 30 minutes. With a new filter I added 4 quarts and got the engine up to temp. After it cooled down I did a cold check and added 4 ounces and its now exactly where it should be according to the manual. Same result as with my previous bike which was a 2018 FLHTK but with the 107 M8. Seemed to always need an extra 4 to 5 ounces of the 5th quart.

 

You can buy oil change kits from Harley with either four quarts or five.

Having owned three M-8’s since late 2020, and done the majority of the oil changes myself, I can safely say that it’s because Harley is still not sure how much oil an M-8 holds, or how far up the dipstick you should fill it so it doesn’t puke it into your breather, or which bikes are going to use one quart every 1500 miles, which according to them is within spec. I had one that used close to that.

 

Put 8-10 more ounces in it and you'll be good to go. That's why 5 quarts.

 

You forget to add /sarc,

because that will WAY overfill an M-8

 

Just changed oil yesterday on my M8 114. Changed when it was hot as usual, drained for about 1/2 hour, removed the filter, replaced the filter, put the drain plug back in and added the same amount of Mobil 1 that I always do. 4 3/4 QTS. then I run it for a few miles and check it, sometimes it needs some sometimes not. Been doing this for years.


1 MAKE SURE YOU DRAIN ALL OF THE OIL OUT FIRST
2 Drain when hot and let it sit a few minutes to get it all out. Sometimes just rocking the bike will bring out.

 

Amsoil has kits with both 4 and 5 quarts.

 

@Black Ultra , if the dealership gives you free oil changes why are you doing it yourself?

 

I change mine when very hot after a good long ride. I let it drain for a bit then I rock the bike to the right and hold it there for about a minute. Then I put it back left on the jiffy stand and a bunch more old oil comes pouring out. I then repeat this about an hour later and more old oil comes out. I often let it drain overnight.

I do the same with all my bikes and I always get more old oil when I rock the bike as mentioned above.

 

This seems like a lot of effort for a tiny amount of oil. On a FLH the oil plug is pointing down when one kickstand and is lowest spot. I will sometimes sit my bike up for tranny changes. But again small amount.

Unless you got bad oil, 2-3 ounces is literally less than 2-3% of your oil. 32x3.5 is 112 32x4 is 128


What is the price kit vs just buying a filter? I have reused orings many times, but you can also get them cheap on amazon for a pack people seem to like them. I run my bikes half quart low cold.