Gas Gauge

Third week of owning the 2009 Ultra, (previous 2006 EG Classic). I ride to work everyday @4:30 A.M.

This morning as I was pulling into the parking garage I noticed the oil pressure gauge was falling to zero then returning to normal when I gave it the throttle. I parked the bike and looked underneath, there was no oil, and no signs of leaking.

Came back outside 20 minutes later and same thing, no drips no signs of leaking, checked the oil (on the jiffy stand) the reading was normal. The bike ran great and didn't seem hot or smelled oil burning. It is till under factory warranty, I will be calling the dealership at about 9:30.

Any ideas? I plan on riding to the dealership after work (opinions?) to get it checked out. Any advice is always appreciated.

Thanks!

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Gas Gauge

thanks hobbit, I am in the habbit of glancing at all my gauges at least once every five minutes or so as I ride and I hadn't noticed it until today (I could simply not have noticed). I have 6000 on mine, and you are correct, normal seems to be around 32.

I will let you know what the dealer says! Thanks again!

Gas Gauge

Thanks Jayson. Yea, mine is falling to zero, never did on the 2006 EGC, and like I said, never noticed it on this one. It sure gave me a start and is making me nervous, I am confident the engine has adequate oil and it isn't leaking.

Hoople

Just curious as to what grade/weight engine oil you are using. There may be a minimum oil pressure spec in the service manual. I thought I saw somewhere that 6 or 9 psi (can't remember for sure) was considered to be minimum. I have a feeling the dealership is going to say it is normal. Near zero and zero are too different things. I could almost live with 3 psi but not zero.

I would check it against a good expanded range mechanical gauge just to be sure what it was..

Gas Gauge

Hoople: not certain on the fluids, I traded my 2006 EGC three weeks ago to Caliente HD in San Antonio. Had the utmost respect for the manager who I ended up doing the final deal with and was treated with great respect. He told me they had just put full synthetics in, but I neglected to ask what kind (it was late and had a 4 hour ride back to Houston in inclement weather).

The oil I looked at this morning was very clean, I was planning on letting it run with what is in there and was going to change to Mobil-1, Spectro Platnimum HD 6-spd, and Formula + at the next scheduled change.

I will admit I can't say exactly what the gauge was falling to, I was alarmed to see the needle moving at all and saw it dropping to the very low end of the scale. I'm sorry if I mislead with the title of this string, but you are correct, it may actually only be dropping to 3-5. I just don't think it should be moving at all (or at least not more than 2-3 points on the scale in either direction from about 32).

Hoople

I only have a lite on my bike so I have nothing to compare it too. But I am now curious as to what it is and will check it the next time I do an oil change. My previous bike (yamaha) had very low oil pressure at idle (5psi) but shot up when off idle to 35-40 psi. I did not like it but was told it was normal and not to worry about it.

Hobbit, I would say as long as you have some pressure at idle (5psi) your not going to tear anything up. And like you say, the gauge can easily be off a few pounds at the low end of the scale. It sure would be nice to have 25 psi at idle but I think it may be a dream. Or at least a dream on an engine that has over 5K miles on it.

geezer

My gauge drops to 3-5 lbs at idle and I would like to see it higher but I think it was Chopper who said as long as the light doesn't come on I was OK.

Breeze3at

At full operating temp., the gauge on my '07 drops WAY down at idle. It scared me the first time I noticed it, but as soon as rpms went up so did pressure.

__________________
I don't ride fast, but I do ride far.

Gas Gauge

I just got off the phone with the service department at the dealer, and they said it was perfectly normal, it is designed to only pump fluids as required, and I probably just hadn't noticed since it was always normal when cruising. Which is what Hobbit eluded to, but like Breeze, it sure is disturbing when you first notice it. Seems counter-intuitive, and not how I've been accustomed to this in the past.

I wouldn't trade this '09 Ultra for the world, it has been amazing and a great pleasure in the short time I've had her, now I guess I just have to get used to her. Thanks everyone for your replies!

Gas Gauge

Yea Hobbit, you are absolutely right, never say never!!!! I don't think I could afford the CVO, but you got such a great deal (once in a lifetime).

What I really meant was: I love this '09 Ultra! I also got what I considered a once in a lifetime deal both on the price for the '09 and what they gave me for the '06, but trading up is always worth it when you don't have to go upside down, so....

Yea, if I got a good price for my current and got a deal for equal or below what the new was worth, I'd trade everytime!