Oil On The Road Harley Oil & Lubrication Discuss Oil On The Road in the Harley Tech & Harley How-to forums; When I am on the road with a bagger I try to carry with me at least a quart of the oil I use. When on a bagless bike I ...

[Buzz Kanter]

When I am on the road with a bagger I try to carry with me at least a quart of the oil I use. When on a bagless bike I have to scrounge.

The trouble with this is most gas stations don't carry synthetic in my weight, so I try to find a Harley shop when I need it.

How do others handle your oil needs when on the road?

[Tbone]

No leaks or worries yet. I never thought about it. If I needed it, I guess I would throw any old diesel oil in to get me where I'm going and change it when I got there. I worry more about flats on spoked rims. That's going to stop me cold. NO way to lift the bike and remove a spoked wheel on these beasts on the side of the road. I really wish I had gotten the solid tubeless wheels in stead of what was on the bike.

[48panshovel]

Throw some bags on whatever you ride. Even a small fork bag should hold a quart of oil.

[BlueBob]

Originally Posted by 48panshovel

Throw some bags on whatever you ride. Even a small fork bag should hold a quart of oil.

And not much else...

[botzman]

Usually throw a quart in the bags on a road trip. Thats about it. Botz

[HarleyCruiser]

Originally Posted by Buzz Kanter

When I am on the road with a bagger I try to carry with me at least a quart of the oil I use. When on a bagless bike I have to scrounge.

The trouble with this is most gas stations don't carry synthetic in my weight, so I try to find a Harley shop when I need it.

How do others handle your oil needs when on the road?

Buzz I don’t worry about being a quart low, unless it is real hot or my bike is running hot.
Think about it we run dry stump the oil feeds from the bottom of the tank, we run three and a half quarts maybe four dry, maybe a quart or so in the motor and oil filter, so unless you are two+ quarts low you are still pumping oil.
When it gets low I pay more attention to it, but not a fanatic.
The oil is more for cooling on a air cooled motor, so just watch your temp, and check it to make sure you have not lost so much that you are pumping air.
Now granted I like to keep it at least to the add mark, especially here in FL where it does get hot.
A car is much different, it is wet stump, let it run low, slam on the brakes and you are pumping air.
And I will tell you, I don’t worry about mixing oil, you think my bearings know you have two different kinds of oil. Yea I know chemical interaction, blab blab blab.
Merchandising, hype in my opinion, I have never seen one bit of proof, just like the bearing skate crap.
Whooh say that three times real fast.
Got 80k+ on the bike uses about one quart per 5k.
Just got back from 1100 miles this weekend with two different syns, and 6500m on the oil. (Mobil 1 and toped off with a quart of NAPA syn,)
Guess I should change it.

[frisco-rigid]

Hey Buzz

A road trip without bags..?????
I Always carry a quart and lotsa other stuff on a trip..

Hey T

I've pulled spoke wheels off on the trail.. You just look for the usual crap lining the road.. Pallets, old tires, milk crates, small boulders (Large rocks)..
Put the "jack" next to the frame, grab a hand-full and set the sickle right up on it.. Actually it's fairly easy with a rigid frame which is all I've ever built..
OR.....
Lean the sickle over and slip the "jack" under the high frame rail..
Then lean it over on the "jacked side" and slip another "jack" under the other frame rail..
Done it alone, waaay before cell phones.. --- 2 makes it almost easy..

However,, that's exactly why I'm replacing all my spoked wheels with forged tubeless.. Shoving in a plug seems almost like cheating..!!

[Tbone]

Originally Posted by frisco-rigid

Hey Buzz

A road trip without bags..?????
I Always carry a quart and lotsa other stuff on a trip..

Hey T

I've pulled spoke wheels off on the trail.. You just look for the usual crap lining the road.. Pallets, old tires, milk crates, small boulders (Large rocks)..
Put the "jack" next to the frame, grab a hand-full and set the sickle right up on it.. Actually it's fairly easy with a rigid frame which is all I've ever built..
OR.....
Lean the sickle over and slip the "jack" under the high frame rail..
Then lean it over on the "jacked side" and slip another "jack" under the other frame rail..
Done it alone, waaay before cell phones.. --- 2 makes it almost easy..

However,, that's exactly why I'm replacing all my spoked wheels with forged tubeless.. Shoving in a plug seems almost like cheating..!!

You described exactly what I have considered would be the last ditch effort to continue if all other attempts failed. I did pick up the back end of the bike once and lived to tell about it but it's not something I would want to do on a regular basis. I haven't been checked for new hernias since then either.

[texan321]

Originally Posted by botzman

Usually throw a quart in the bags on a road trip. Thats about it. Botz

Same here - if I am going to a 3 or 4 day trip? Check the oil in morning before I head off - part of the "pre flight"

[ptschuma]

Buzz -
If your refering to the Street Rod - if its anything like mine, the only time I touch oil is at oil changes only. Mine never burned a drop.