Engine vibration and noise

SOURCE: low oil on dip stick

no, in my opinion there was no harm done to the engine. if the dipstick had oil on it when you checked it, then its fine. any time you change oil and filter, let the bike idle until its hot then shut it down and wait a couple minutes and then check oil level.. and add if necessary.

SOURCE: I changed the oil in my 2000 XLC 883 Sportster and

To begin with, the capacity of your Sporty's oil tank is 3 quarts, not 3 liters. A liter is slighly more than a quart and the oil tank on the bike is designed to hold three quarts of hot oil. Oil expands when it gets hot. If you notice the marks on the dipstick, the lower mark is "full cold" and the upper mark is "full hot". Never overfill a Sporty.

Now, if the bike had been sitting for a while, they have a tendency to "oil sump". Oil sumping is a condition where oil seeps past the check valve in the oil pump and builds up in the bottom of the crankcase. Any Sportster and any Big Twin prior to the Twin Cam that has the oil tank located higher than the engine will do this. That's why the older Harley's would "puke" oil out of the breather when restarted after sitting for a while. If you had a half quart of oil in the bottom end and then poured three quarts into the oil tank, you were overfilled. That's one reason to always start the bike and run it until it's at full operating temperature before you change the oil. The warm oil drains easier and there is none left in the bottom end to play a nasty trick on you. This event happens quite often. You are lucky in the fact that the oil plug didn't blow off while you were riding down the road. When that happens, you get covered in oil. Not something anyone would like.

Good Luck and Ride Safely
Steve

gavin jones

• 1508 Answers
• Posted on Jun 15, 2010

SOURCE: i've had it put up for a year. i checked the oil,

Yes definately change the oil.
Get in the habit of checking the oil before each ride.
Engines use some oil, and require topping up between changes.
It will destroy the engine if it gets too low.

SOURCE: I keep getting oil on my air intake filter. I was

The only way for the oil to get to the intake is through the carberator or intake manifold, so it has to be coming from the cylinders and blowing by the intake. You should have this looked at by a trained technician who can get his eyes and hand on this to take a look at why oil is getting to the air filter.
Too much oil builds up pressures that can cause it to blow by like I described, do a double take on your dipstick to make sure your reading it correctly. Oil may not be registering on the stick because it is so full it is going too far up on the stick and way past the marks.