i added a little less than a quart to my bike (03 nighttrain) and it registers to the Top line of the dipstick. is this correct?

 

If you over fill you might start blowing gaskets or worse in the extreme. If you have a low and high line on your dip stick and it is on the high or "full" line your ok. Just make sure you are checking it while the bike is sitting the right way, On the kick stand or straight up while you are sitting on it. Bikes will vary on how you check it and I don't know on yours which way it should be.

 

Yeah you can overfill but it usually pukes out the breathers, the guy who helped me checked my oil on his lift and my dipstick is set up to be checked on the side stand and that caused my oil to be overfilled by 1/2 qt over full .....made a real mess on the dyno.

 

Was the engine cold or hot?

 

when hot, the oil should be checked using the top line on the dipstick and ON THE JIFFY STAND

when cold, the oil should be checked using the half way mark on the dipstick and ON THE JIFFY STAND

 

Yes, you can. Let me tell you my story....Monday I decided the Ironhead needed an oil change since it had been 19 months since it was done. It only had 400 miles on it, but it was time. I was lazy and did not start the bike, muchless ride it. I just drained the oil tank. I just dumped in 3 quarts like I have done for the past 18 years. Then, I decide to ride it. The bike felt like something was holding it back, almost like riding in a strong headwind. After a few miles, I noticed the oil tank very hot. The bike was running poorer and poorer. I eased home and check the oil temp. It flew to 230 and then some. The bike normally runs about 190. I was certain the problem was in the primary. If you started the bike, it acted like you were sitting there slipping the clutch with it in gear. The engine was having a hard time just idling. I had just adjusted the clutch right before I parked it 2 months ago. While trying to figure out the problem, I adjusted the clutch several more times, adjusted the primary chain, checked the brakes for drag, and even pulled the primary to see if something was binding it. After spending two days fooling with it, I thought maybe it was sumping like a Twin Cam is known to do....I found well over 1/2 a quart too much oil in the tank. I guess when the bike had sat for 2 months a good amount of oil had drained past the check valve and into the bottom of the engine. With the tank nearly full, it couldn't empty out fast enough and had not where to go. This was causing the flywheels to drag....I drained out some oil and all was back to normal.

 

At the least, overfilling can have messy results. If you're **** about checking it, think of "full" as meaning "too much". You goal should be to keep the oil level in that big zone between "add" and "full", not all the way up to the line. With such a big target to shoot at on the dipstick, it also makes it less critical to remember whether it should be hot or cold, kickstand or vertical, etc.