Is this normal or do I have a BIG problem? Got a 2005 Road King Custom with 14000 miles on it.Went on a 250 mile trip yesterday and about 65 miles to get home the bike started ticking and the exhaust got noticeably louder. Slowed the speed down for a little bit and it helped, a bit, then started again. When I got home I checked the oil and sure enough....nothing???? Granted I haven't checked the oil lately (so it could have been low). I did have the local Harley shop fix an inner primary leak this summer, so it was full then. Am I looking at some kind if serious engine problem or should just do a better job of checking the oil? How often do other have to add oil?

 

Your doing fine. Continue to march.
Oh ya, do you have a newspaper in your town? If so, put an add in the paper to sell the used bike.

 

What does fixing the inner primary have to do with oil level? Absolutely nothing.

 

useful comments....THANKS!!

 

I think it is useful to let you know that just because the dealer worked on the inner primary does not mean that the engine was full of oil at that time. That pretty well indicates that you should check your oil more often.

 

add oil to the correct level and ride it!!!!! then watch it

 

You probably should get in the habit of checking your oil more often, it is not too hard to pop the stick and look.Oil is the lifeblood of the motor after all.

I notice more oil consumption on both 04 bikes I have when I run it fast on the freeway or run it hard. Maybe a half quart in 1000 miles.

Hope there is no damage done, it might have just got good and hot, as a precaution I would change the oil and filter in case you cooked the oil.

Time will tell if you hurt it but most likely not.

 

It's actually normal for an engine to consume SOME oil...some don't, and those are the exceptions, in my opinion, but there's no excuse for not checking your engine oil periodically. I agree that unless YOU personally checked the oil when the dealer worked on the primary, you don't know if it was full.


Given that many of us change our oil at three thousand miles, and given that a Harley holds about four quarts of oil, and given that you discovered this little issue before oil change time, I'd say you have a major problem...how major? I'd say do an oil change now, fill with maybe one grade thicker, and begin faithfully monitoring your oil level. Not time to panic yet...on the face of it I'd say probably no damage done, these are tough engines.


And OP...next time you do something that many of us would consider...how you say... not wise, I'll put it...don't expect all the responses to be positive, happy, helpful thoughts! I'll never understand why guys who do something like that get all tweaked when others point out the obvious!!!

 

You didn't say how low the oil was, but if it was a quart, that's enough to make it tick, but doubt you did any serious damage.

 

He actually said that there was "nothing" when he checked it.... Yikes!