Yup. That’s a dipstick 🕵️‍♂️

 

You must be a detective in real life....smartass. lol

 

I may be wrong but I think it would more likely be 3 dots down if it was on the sidestand.

 

This was cold so it should expand a bit. I would agree though about the vertical part though.

 

FWIW I usually go with 3 quarts after a change, and then adjust as needed after a day or so. My old Road King didn't like anymore than 3 quarts anyway.

 

I put 4 litres in mine, full when hot. Doesn’t blow any excess oil out my breather by pass.

 

3l = 3.17q Run it around the block and let it sit on the kickstand for an hour or so and see where it's at. There may be an empty pocket where oil normally is, which will drop the level some. Adding as needed will bring you up to the amount oil your used to using.

 

Something I learned this summer. Hot oil fill is a moving target. I had oil at the halfway mark and when it was really hot outside and I went on an Hour or so ride the oil was at the top hot fill. Next day if it was 10degrees cooler oil wasn’t as high.

When I got my bike back from HD after a cam job and 500mi break in oil change, it was over filled by atleast 20oz. I decided to start cold checking the oil on the kickstand. I have yielded better results tracking what consumption I may have on the bike. I got a fluid extraction tool and sucked out the oil to be 2dots above the add line on the kickstand. 500mi and lost a dot.

 

I like this conversation. I have noticed 3 to 4 quarts refill and anywhere in between on oil changes across different M8 bikes. It pisses me off that it never seems to be the same refill amount on any of these bikes. I drain them hot and refill them after they cool down quite a bit. I typically refill the oil to the midway point of the hashes or a tick under on the dipstick and under heat it should expand and still stay under full.

Stating this is gonna bite me next time I do an oil change. Next one is gonna take 5 quarts and not even show up in the hashes. 🤣

 

If it’s hot on the top dot I guarantee it’s too much going down the road…

 

I prefer to keep my oil level hot on the bottom 1 or 2 dots. After riding yesterday with engine temps at 210 degrees (about 25 minutes of riding) the above picture translated to right below the bottom dot on the "Hot Sidestand" mark. Just a hair below where I would normally want it. If I hadn't been dropping the bike off, I probably would have added about a quarter of one of the liter bottles I have and ran with that. It may have put me above where I would want it but it would have been fine to not cause any issues.

 

The HD dipsticks with the LED readout make this effort fairly seamless

 

Oil is one of the main cooling agents for your engine, the more oil you can hold the better the cooling effect. I run my bike with the oil at about the second set of dots from the top when hot. The level hardly changes between oil changes, generally 5000 to 6000km (3-4 thousand miles). My oil change is 4quarts plus 10oz every time.I use Lucas 20/50 mineral oil.

 

Setting the proper oil level on the Pan America Rev Max motor is a hot topic and H-D has even sent out supppements to the owners manual to address it. If your PA is a Special like mine it comes with a center stand, but your NOT suppose to use it to drain the oil because it will leave oil trapped in the motor. So your suppose to put it on the side stand because the drain hole is also on the right side of the motor and the lean will get all the oil out………. Early on when the PA’s first came out the manuals called for 3.5 QTs with a new filer, but it’s now been changed to 4 qts……. But when you dump in 3 qts and check the dipstick it will show overfilled, however your now suppose to start the bike and let it get up to 150 degrees (about 3 minutes at idle) then turn it off, put it on the center stand and let it sit for 5 minutes, then check it again. It should now show very low on the dipstick and it will take the entire 4th Qt. They say this is because the Rev Max motor has multiple oil pumps and sumps so each one needs to fill which is why initially it shows overfilled at 3 qts……. When I got my bike with 2,400 miles I changed the oil and only drained out 3 qts total. I called the previous owner and he confirmed the last oil change was by the dealership at the 1,000 mile service….. Wow……. There’s a couple engineers on the PA website who say that true oil capacity will vary depending on if you’re using a blend, or a straight dyno, or a full synthetic oil, because of the characteristics of the oil are different and expansion and contraction etc occurs differently with each type of oil….. I don’t know what I think about that, but I’m not an engineer so what do I know…… 🤷🏼‍♂️

The PA’s are One Holers like metric bikes and the same oil is shared by the motor, trans, and clutch. The MoCo calls for a synthetic/dino blend that they recently changed to a 15w-50 recommendation (vs 20w-50 originally)…….. But I drank the cool aide for the first time in my life and am running Amsoil 20w-50 full synthetic that they engineered specifically for metric bikes who share the same hole. It’s what the OG PA guys are running so figured WTF. Haven’t had any issues with clutch slip or anything and Amsoil says there’s additives they put in the metric blend specifically to prevent that…. 150 HP and 3,000 miles so far so good. I’ll probably change it soon just because it’s had a hard life up until my ownership lol, but then I’ll goto 5,000 mile intervals. Amsoil says tests show it’s good for up to 10,000 mile intervals but I ain’t going there…..

Sorry about the novel as yall don’t care about Pan America’s lol……

 

Honestly, again my opinion. Do the oil change, fill it to a known level and fire her up. Take it around the block to warm her up. Pull up into the garage, let it idle for about 15-30 seconds upright. Kill the fuel, put it on the kickstand and wait til the next morning. I really think “cold setting” the oil on a low level in the kickstand will yield better results …since with heat it is a moving target.

 

much ado about nuthin.
a dry sump engine doesn't require a "total fill."
an overflow causes blowby
and an underfill might cause the engine to run hotter due to less "fresh" oil.

 

@Little Wing is correct ..

Now the way I use his lingo , in my much antiquated , soon to be 15 model years old Twin Cam with 100,000 miles on it is this :

I dump it HOT and when I fill , the oil in the filter plus 13 dots up the side stand reference ( there's nineteen dots on the side stand reference ) is three qts and a half .. That's my fill without blowby .. If ya wanna know what your fill is , keep adding a little until you get some blowby , then back off a smidge .. I write down on an index card how much oil and how many dots and the mileage , and if I add , I write down on the card how many ounces and what dot it was on before I added it .. When it had two thousand on the change , added 12 oz and it moved from eight dots to thirteen dots .. After two high speed run 400 mile runs to and from Patti's and a bit of riding there , it's still at thirteen dots ..

No I'm not anal about my oil ..

Them high falootin M8's maybe different

JtB

 

That oil level in your pic OP is about the exact spot ( 3 dots under full I run mine EXCEPT when HOT, Not Cold like YOU OP ) 3 dots down is when the OIL IS HOT is my normal oil fill level.
Lots of post on the forums about running oil level a bit low to keep oil out of the air intake / air filter.
I think you may have too much oil when you check it hot IMO.

Yea, the Bel-Ray 1.05 quart and 1.05 Gallon size.
I'm convinced this odd sizing has caused some improper levels and I wonder if some Harley mechanics have a very hard time with this?

My dealer did my 1K and my 5K with my supplied Bel-Ray fluids.
I supplied the 1.05 Gallon this last time and during the service that Service manager walked out and said his tech said I was short a quart with my supplied oil and I needed to bring him another quart.

I told him to use what I had and if it needed more I would top it off when I got home, He kinda pushed back and then so did I.

His fill was perfect, 3 dots below full HOT on jiffy stand. I have see someplace you are to make sure you turn the bike off while upright only leaning over on a jiffy stand AFTER youn turn it off for a proper oil level reading...
Im not sure if thats correct advice or what the reason but thats what I do, turn the bike off then tilt it on the stand.

On anything and everything be it car, truck, bike to lawn mower, I would rather have my oil be under that full mark in that "safe zone" than over the full mark!

For whatever reason many or most of auto and bike dealer techs LOVE overfilling fluids!

 

That oil level in your pic OP is about the exact spot ( 3 dots under full I run mine EXCEPT when HOT, Not Cold like YOU OP ) 3 dots down is when the OIL IS HOT is my normal oil fill level.
Lots of post on the forums about running oil level a bit low to keep oil out of the air intake / air filter.
I think you may have too much oil when you check it hot IMO.

Yea, the Bel-Ray 1.05 quart and 1.05 Gallon size.
I'm convinced this odd sizing has caused some improper levels and I wonder if some Harley mechanics have a very hard time with this?

My dealer did my 1K and my 5K with my supplied Bel-Ray fluids.
I supplied the 1.05 Gallon this last time and during the service that Service manager walked out and said his tech said I was short a quart with my supplied oil and I needed to bring him another quart.

I told him to use what I had and if it needed more I would top it off when I got home, He kinda pushed back and then so did I.

His fill was perfect, 3 dots below full HOT on jiffy stand. I have see someplace you are to make sure you turn the bike off while upright only leaning over on a jiffy stand AFTER youn turn it off for a proper oil level reading...
Im not sure if thats correct advice or what the reason but thats what I do, turn the bike off then tilt it on the stand.

On anything and everything be it car, truck, bike to lawn mower, I would rather have my oil be under that full mark in that "safe zone" than over the full mark!

For whatever reason many or most of auto and bike dealer techs LOVE overfilling fluids!

I always check the oil level hot because that was what I was told when I was a wee man driving a car at 16. Just stuck with me. Now when I change the oil in the bikes I always add an amount that I know will be short of my desired level when the oil is hot (in case of my RG that is 3 bottles and the wife's FXLRST that is 2.75 bottles). I check to see if it is registering on the dipstick (vertical while on the lift and then park until the next ride). During the next ride once up to temp, I will stop and check the level and I like to be on the bottom 1-3 dots on the "Hot Sidestand" level. If I need to add, I always have a bottle in the saddlebags to bring it up to that but I add very little and run for some more before checking again.

So for all those still listening, this "cold vertical" fill ended up being right on the arrow of my dipstick for the "Full Hot On Kickstand" when the engine temp was reading 210 degrees (25 minutes of riding in some traffic). I normally would have added about 1/4 of the 4th bottle at this point and felt that would have been golden, but since I was dropping the bike off for something I didn't add anything. Again that 3.25 liters comes out to be 3.43 quarts so still wayyyy less than the MoCo says you need.

Just food for thought.

 

If your PA is a Special like mine it comes with a center stand, but your NOT suppose to use it to drain the oil because it will leave oil trapped in the motor. So your suppose to put it on the side stand because the drain hole is also on the right side of the motor and the lean will get all the oil out

Very valid point here that I haven't thought about. Vertical draining versus draining on the sidestand. I know most DIYer's down have access to a lift table so I'm lucky. That being the case, I have only done one engine oil dump where it was on the sidestand versus vertical. I'm sure that makes some difference but not enough on this bike to change anything.

much ado about nuthin.
a dry sump engine doesn't require a "total fill."
an overflow causes blowby
and an underfill might cause the engine to run hotter due to less "fresh" oil.

Agreed completely. My whole point on this conversation though was how little oil I actually have to put in compared to what all these other fellas on here end up having to put in their bikes on a swap. 3 liters equals 3.17 quarts and that is really low compared to all the people I hear saying "I always dump in 4 to 4.5 quarts". I have yet to have a M8 that takes that much oil. Even my '05 Softail Deluxe only takes about 2.5 to 2.75 liters.

And damnit Bel-Ray I know I prefer metric system over SAE, but why don't you sell in quarts instead?

 

And damnit Bel-Ray I know I prefer metric system over SAE, but why don't you sell in quarts instead?

Just look at it like you're getting value added