I was at my neighbour'syesterday and he is frustrated. When he starts his bike the oil light stays on and continues to stay on until the motor gets very hot then it goes out. He uses HD 20W50 oil and had an oil cooler which he removed thinking that this was starving the motor of oil. The oil light still stays on.

Any opinions on what he should do? I told him to go to the dealer but he is a stubborn person who thinks he can "figure it out". A couple of "backyard" mechanics have told him that its a big job!

 

If I had a idiot light that comes on and it means low oil pressure when its on. I would not run the bike till I know whats wrong. I would add a gauge so I could quantify the judges ruling.

 

Let the hard head figure it out on his own. Clue---open the service manual up!

 

I wouldn't have thought the oil cooler would be the cause of the problem unless it was rigged wrongly. If the oil light is coming on the cause is because a lack of pressure is detected. If the light is going off whenthe bike gets very hot it could have something to do with theoil becoming less viscous and being able to circulate more easily.

So what to do..........I guess I firstchange the oil filter and oil and put a pressure gauge on the syetem and if the reading is within spec I guess it's due to a faulty pressure sensor whichcould thenbe changed. If the guage indicates low pressure I would check all the oil ways are free and then at a last resort look to the oil pump.

 

If the light goes out when it warms up , it could be the pressure relief plunger in the cam plate sticking. First thing I'd do is change the oil pressure switch or better still fit a pressure gauge as already suggested. Look at the simple things first.