Areeither of these methods (hot or cold) better for accuracy when checking oil levels? Reason I ask is my dealer did the 1000 service and whenI checked my oil levels cold on my '08 FLHR, I noticed that the dealer put too much oil in the bike (on jiffy stand with stick screwed in, oil level cold is at the full mark on dipstick for hot level). Do I need to remove some? I checked the air cleaner and don't see any signs yet of blow by.

 

Check it hot and wait a few minutes after you shut the bike off to allow the oil to return to the tank. If it's still high...suck some out with a turkey baster or fluid extractor and check again. Not uncommon for the oil tech at some dealers to overfill. There has to be 20+ posts here about the same issue. That said...there are also several posts where the oil tech forgot to re-fill the oil and toasted the guys motor.......so consider yourself warned.

My best advice is to get a SM and do your own oil service.

 

Thanks KB, yes I do plan on doing my own fluid changes in the future, but Ithought it would be good to have the dealer look her over at the 1000 mile mark. I did also read some of the other posts on this subject but didn't see any regarding cold vs. hot method, thus the reason I asked. Thanks for the quick response.

 

i check mine cold. manual says it should be halfway between the lines when cold. i do it before i go riding everytime. hasn't used a drop since last oil change 3,000 miles ago.