Welll, noticed my oil fluctuating a little on my dipstick in my 128 so I pulled the CPS and dropped about 11 ounces out, I really hated to see this! No signs of sumping or anything just the oil level moving some. This 128 build was done in December and during break in with Kendal conventional oil that FM put in there was no change on the dipstick for 1k miles. After break in I put Redline full synthetic oil in and noticed with in a few hundred miles some movement on the stick. I was told after my bike sumped bad when it was stage 2 to not run synthetic in it again and I didn’t until after the 128 build which I figured was good at that point. We put the newest HD 8 lobe pump in when they did the 128 also. Long story short, I’m going back to conventional oil and see how that plays out. I change my oil at 3k so conventional should be fine. I’m running Bel ray conventional primary oil in the primary now at the recommendation of FM so I’m just gonna go with bel ray mineral in the engine and belray 85/140 tranny oil. Bike is still running great, was just a little disappointed to see 11 ounces in the crank. Hopefully the mineral oil takes care of it, we’ll see.

 

Just an interesting FYI.....

BelRay makes a transmission oil called BelRay GearSaver (80W) and they make BelRay V-Twin Primary Chaincase Lubricant... they are the same oil...

BelRay GearSaver was recommended to me by a tech I know several years ago for my primary.... When the primary fluid came out, he told me it was the same as the GearSaver oil, but more expensive. I wrote an email to BelRay telling them that I heard their V-Twin Primary Chaincase lubricant was the same as their GearSaver 80W trans oil, and asking if it was true... I however made a typo, and accidentally typed "Big Twin Trans oil" instead of "GearSaver trans oil"

This was their reply (circa 2017):

"What you heard was partially correct, but not entirely. The Big Twin Transmission Oil is the same as our Gear Saver Hypoid Gear oil 85W-140 and the Primary Chaincase Lubricant is the same as the Gear Saver Transmission oil 80W. So the Big Twin Transmission Oil is correct for a Harley-Davidson transmission case, but not for the primary. In the primary, a product like that would cause clutch slippage and poor shifting performance. So for the primary you want either the Gear Saver Transmission Oil 80W or the Primary Chaincase Lubricant, which is a formula that excels in wet clutch applications and performs very well at keeping the heat down in the primary. If you have any additional questions please do not hesitate to ask."

I used to be able to get the GearSaver trans oil cheaper than the Primary Chaincase Lubricant... I stocked up on the GearsSaver trans oil at like $9.99/liter a few years ago... back then the Primary Chaincase Lubricant was $2 to $3/liter more expensive.... I haven't priced them lately..


Just thought I would share that info for your future reference...

 

 

I sumped over 60 ounces when it was stage 2 so I know all about it, lol. Spoke with FM and the guy I talked to said 8-10 ounces was normal, I know HD says 6 so not sure

 

I don’t have enough knowledge to make an argument either way on oil but can relay what was told to me by the experts at Feuling and S+S. When my bike initially sumped I reached out to those guys about their oil pumps. Both companies said the exact same thing on oil, which was if the bike sumps do not use synthetic oil in it going forward. How much of a part that plays I have no clue but according to them it does play a role or they would not recommend conventional after sumping. I’m gonna put conventional back in going forward and monitor what it’s doing and hope for the best. And I also know sumping has nothing to do with the tranny or primary, I just brought those up because I’m running belray in the primary and I just like to stick with one brand.

 

Check out Kevin Baxter on youtube to see his latest series on sumping. Great vids with great info.
Also on youtube, traveling tall had a sumping issue but not as much in depth info from zippers and Kevin's.

 

Back when my bike sumped I read and watched so many videos it was nauseating! I’m gonna change the oil and ride like I always do and just monitor it. I have not experienced any excess heat or power loss or anything like that with this 128 so I hope it stays that way!

 

Kevin Baxter is doing a tear down series of a sumping 128. It is very interesting and Kevin is a great teacher.

This video is part 3 of the series and was just posted 4/23/2021

 

Ugh. I wonder if we'll ever know why some do this and most don't.

 

Interesting video, guess the 8 lobe pump in his 2020 didn’t solve the problem either huh? I don’t want to get all crazy again worrying about it but it does kinda suck after spending a lot of money on the 128 build and now feel like I need to walk on egg shells.