Hey guy's I am pretty torqued as I just did a ride to Savannah GA from upstate NY and had my engine start knocking in SC. I had the 1000 mile service done by my dealer and had 3000mi on my bike when I headed on my trip. I am a jet mechanic by trade and a good wrench on anything mechanical so I know right from wrong and you can't tell me that brand new CVO fat bob is gonna drink 2.5qts of oil in 3-4000 miles. I took it to a dealer in SC and they confirmed the bike was not leaking oil in any way and was improperly serviced. After adding oil the knock in the motor went away and they said they were very confident that the motor was not compromised and therefore did a full oil/filter change. I rode back to NY with no further issue's as far as I can tell. That being said the mechanic in me say's that even if minor there had to be some damage or wear on the top end. I contacted HD customer service and they only recommended a compression test as further check and that they feel the engine is fine based on what I told them. I would like to get some feed back from any of you that have experience with HD engines and maintenance issues. Also I would be curious on how you may handle the issue. I bought the bike new last year, it's a 2009 CVO Fat Bob and I now have 5000 miles on the bike. Thank you for any and all feed back. And yeah you can save the comments on I should have checked the oil sooner as I obviously should not have trusted my dealer but as it was brand new and I have cleaned and inspected the bike several times with no evidence of leakage I truly never thought the oil could be low. Dumb on my part but does not excuse the dealer for screwing up!

Nick

 

sorry for your rip off (possibly)

If you had noticed it upon bike pick up, they would have said
"It's supposed to be that way"

I stay away from dealerships

maybe you too in the future

FYI - my bike uses zip oil in the last 4000 miles ...

your results may vary

 

I`m having a tough time with this kind of dealer bashing...

You went 3-4 thousand miles before you checked the oil on a new bike...

Then the dealer in SC checks the oil and looks for leaks, and says the other dealer did something wrong, about 3-4 thousand miles ago, man he must be psychic.

You are blaming the dealer for something that may not be his fault.

You see, a new bike could certainly use oil, maybe blew it out the breather or burned it, maybe you have a defective engine, but you don`t know because you haven`t been checking the oil.

Before you start pointing a finger at some mechanic, do an oil consumption check to be sure you are blaming the right person.

 

I do all my own service for just this reason. I also check my oil every fuel stop on a trip. It is a Harley after all and they tend to blow oil once in a while. Especially on long trips. Do a compression check and if all is Ok ride it.

 

Hold on, you went on a 3-4000 mile trip without checking the oil before you left?

 

Sorry, but you really blew it. You have failed to do the very most basic of required owner maintenance: check oil.

 

you had the 1K service done, and then you rode the bike for another 3K before hearing the knocking, and then and only then did you check the oil level = fail. if you had checked the oil each day before riding, per your pre ride inspection, you would surely have noticed the low oil level and refilled it and been looking for why it was low, if you had checked it right before leaving the dealer and it was low you would have known instantly the tech made a mistake. They are human, double check their work, hell i double check my own work.

 

No doubt this was a screw up on the dealer's part...but like most everyone else has said...ultimately it's on you. I can't imagine taking off on that long of a road trip without checking the oil...and all 3 levels...not just the engine. I am on a paid maintenance plan I got as a part of buying the bike...and the first thing that happens when they are done working on it is me checking fluid levels...before I leave the dealership.

 

No doubt? I think there is room for quite a bit of doubt on this one...

The guy rode 4,000 miles before checking the oil, and the reason he checked it is because he heard it knocking, and then he says the dealer is at fault...

Ridiculous.

 

Yeah guys I stated in my post that I messed up not checking the oil so the posts hammering me on it you can save next time. I rode the bike 2700 miles before hearing some engine noise and checking the oil from the time of the last service. After having an oil change in SC I rode the bike to Savannah and home to NY and the oil is full! So my engine isn't eating oil and I am the last person that would hammer a tech or dealer for my **** up. They didn't service my engine properly and thats the bottom line, hard lesson learned on my part but I truly was under the impression that Harley dealers took great pride in there product and servicing of them. Guess this is why most of us do our own servicing..