I had the bike up on the jack and I let the oil drain out of the drain plug for a good while as I performed the rest of the service. By the time I removed the oil filter, there was hardly anything left in the filter (maybe 1 oz.). I had a small run of oil down the front of the engine, caused after the filter was removed - there was a small amount of oil that was seeping out of the engine after I removed the filter drain funnel and I didn't notice until I saw the oil stain on the floor.

 

Let the oil run where it may when replacing oil filter.Thats what they make Brake Clean for.Just remember to keep the drain pan under area till done spraying off oil.

 

I thought brake cleaner was for cleaning brakes?

It really was painless to use the funnel. It was after removing the funnel when the oil began seeping out of the filter port and down the front of the engine. Just a couple paper towels will do the trick next time (or changing the fluid with the bike on the jiffy stand)

 

Something I'm not too excited about it tire wear... I'm more than halfway through the tread on both front and rear and I'm just now approaching 6k miles - I'll be lucky to get 10k miles. This wouldn't bother me if I was hot-rodding around town every day, but I ride 60-70 mph highways everywhere I go, take corners easy, and don't accelerate very hard.

I check tire pressures weekly: front at 36 psi, rear at 40 psi. I've only had to put air in the front tire once when it was at 34 psi. There are not unusual signs of tire wear.

Any suggestions on what to do to extend tire life? I already ride like a geezer - nice and easy. The only thing I can think of is that the roads are much hotter here than a lot of other places, making the tire softer, leading to excessive wear.

 

Do you spend any significant time on dirt/gravel roads? If so, I'm betting that is what's doing it.....

YMMV

Lon

 

good job on checking and keeping tire pressure to specs, could be very much related to "The only thing I can think of is that the roads are much hotter here than a lot of other places, making the tire softer, leading to excessive wear."

when the time comes I suggest replacing with Dunlop American Elite Harley Certified OEM replacements..not only do they have more tread depth they perform better from my experience with them..did this on my 2015 RK and will be doing so on my 17 RK..good luck

 

Loving this thread. I have the exact same bike color and all. Liking some of the mods you did for the wind buffeting. I bought mine in Austin and had to make the trip back home to Dallas and my ears didn't work right for week after I got home. First thing I did was order a KlockWerks 8.5" shield and that helped some. After reading this thread I think I'm gonna order some of the JES deflectors and see if that helps.

Good stuff man keep it coming.

 

I don't have quite the mileage you do, but living/riding in Arizona, I don't think your roads are any hotter than ours. At 2500 miles, I can still just barely see the base of the **** on my tires..........

YMMV

Lon

 

Just a suggestion, but maybe you stand on your brake pedal more than you realize. Also, the M8's do make more low down torque than the twin cam engines do, so maybe you are twisting the right handle grip more than you realize. I find that all that torque goes to waste if you don't crank it on from time to time. Hey man, it is only money. You can probably put a new set of skins on for around $500-600. This is an expensive hobby, isn't it?

 

just checked mine..9300 miles..3/32nd rear and 4/32nd front..will replace with American Elites when I return from Glacier 1st week of August..should have over 12K miles at that point..which is identical to my 2015 RK OEM's and AE replacements