Well, many of us know how this is with the oil issue. I'm a bit upset at this point as I'm sure those of you that have this problem are too. I've clocked about 500 miles on my new 2012 Road Glide Custom. I've noticed a little spotting on my saddlebags before but thought it was oil kicked up off the road BUT NEVER like this. I've had the Ventilator and the Heavy Breather on past bikes and never had an issue. I went with the Ventilator due to it was the look I was going for but I have read this isn't an issue with the HB? Yesterday I rolled about 60 miles just to go out and enjoy the bike. Went through the gears a couple of times and brought the RPM's up to between 3500 and 4K for the first time. I'm very happy with the 103 and how she pulled. I also rolled on the highway at about 70mph for about 20 minutes. Not sure which made her puke that much oil out? the highway steady speed or the revs Either way, I'm NOT HAPPY! As you can see by the photo it was a mess! The photo is of the batterycover and I couldn't get the best shot of the saddlebag to show the mess but it was equally bad along with my jeans, and passenger backrest pad and seat. Gotta say, if I would have been riding two up they would have been quite unhappy with my bike. The oil seems to be coming from the underside of the Ventilator. I could track the oil when I got home. No dripping when the bike sat just the spray while riding. I do have the K&N HD filter instead of the paper filter so I'll be interested in how much oil is in the filter. I know the K&N is an oiled filter but will this oil effect my filter where I should have concern? Oh, and yes, due to my set up I have made sure my oil level is where it needs to be. It's not at the "full" mark it's right in-between add and full.

I'm calling the dealership first thing tomorrow due to them doing the install on everything and my new bike only having 500 miles on it. I'll let them deal with it. Problem is it's a great riding day here in Milwaukee and my cycle will now sit in the garage as I dont want to ruin another pair of jeans and ride with the risk of getting oil all over again. It was a bitch to clean it all off my denim paint. This just SUCKS!

T

 

I would think that was more of the piston rings not seating right. That is a lot of oil.

 

Clean it up, ride easy, and enjoy the day - let the dealer handle it later.

 

I'd say the 20 minutes at 70 MPH did you in. That is about the worst thing you could do to a bike with less than 500 miles on the clock. I don't know of any break-in procedure that would have you riding along at 70 MPH for 20 minutes during the first 500 miles.

I proposed a theory in another thread that oil blow-by through the air filter could be caused by improper break-in. Some bikes have it, some don't. Is that due to different break-in processes between different bikes?

Something to ponder.

 

what a mess....I wouldn't be happy either.

 

The first time it see's 3500-4000 rpm in 500 miles?
When they change the rings, put moderate load on it, after just a few miles, so the rings seal.

Just a guess.

 

http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

I used the MotoMan process to break in my 103 build on my 07, and on my 2011 103, no issues.

 

I completely agree with you..i broke it in using motomans guidlines and my rings are pretty well sealed judging by the numbers my bike is putting down...

EASY BREAK-INS ALLOW YOUR ENGINE TO BURN MORE OIL...BREAK THE ENGINE IN HARD!

 

Piston rings seat with the 1st 20-30 miles...riding at 70 mph for 20 minutes didn't do anything bad to his engine

 

And what if the guy before who test road it and pegged 5grand and 100mph. There is a lot of variables involved.