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What is normal oil cunsumption between changes. H-D says you can burn a quart and that is acceptable. If I switch to synthetic, does that help??????? THX

 

Bet you have an 05??? They have been burning much oil because of a valve seal problem with the new valves being used. 1/2 to 1 quart is not uncommon , but it should taper off and changing to synthetic will not stop the usage of oil.

Take a look here for some break in ideas
http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

 

Is that a problem with all 05's? 04's aren't affected? Are 05 Sportsters affected as well? If the valve seal is the problem and it's under warranty, then shouldn't they fix it? What do you mean by tapering off? The more miles you put on it the more the seals will break in and use less oil? Will they ever get to a point where oil consumption stops?

 

As far as excessive oil consumption is concerned, the 05 bikes that have the new heads with the smaller valves seem to be having a problem with the valve seals which causes excessive oil to bypass them and get burnt in the cylinder. Think the 04's are OK from what I hear.

 

The reason why I ask is I have an 05 XL1200C and it has new heads stock (a change since 04 on the sportsters). They are buell heads from what I heard. The last time I was checking my oil it seemed to be lower than when I checked it before (both times it was checked cold). This bike is still breaking in so I thought maybe it should use some oil. I called my local service department and they said they could check it out, but when you check the oil cold (as I did) then there's the possbility some of it may be stuck in the crankcase (? not sure if they said crankcase specifically, but that it could be stuck somewhere). Either way it wasn't a reliable measure of oil. There's some kind of mechanical noise in the engine. Some have told me it is valve train noise. But, it could be that air horn cover vibrating around or the rubber engine mounts. Either way my friends 04 1200R doesn't seem to have the same noise. However, his bike also idles higher than mine and his stock pipes sound different than my stock pipes. Either way oil consumption is unacceptable. Will they fix it under warranty? Should I be worried about this?

 

Wait till you get some miles , say around 2-3 K and if it still burns oil , then take it in. You should always run the engine at idle on sporties ans softails before checking oil so it purges the oil from the sump to give you an acurate reading. Just idle it for a minute or two is all it needs standing straight up.

 

I must have an exception - have not added any oil since the 1K change - 4300 now. ('05 RK - TC88)

 

Are the valves smaller, I was thinking they had gone to different valve springs without the inner spring, or did they do both?

John TN

 

I'm with Ted. I haven't added any extra oil at all and I'm at 4,000 miles as well. 2005 RKC.

 

John

Not quite clear on this issue yet, but the valve STEMS are the problem here being smaller and causing the problem with the seals leaking. I have to get into this more, will repost when I find out for sure.
I do know that the 04 heads will bolt up to the 05's with no problem and cure this issue so I guess the MoCo will be in for some dollars spent on this one

They have it!