Oil consumption? and air filter

[00BUCKSHOT]

I seem to be losing about a half quart every 3k miles. Seems to be coming out the overflow, and spitting at my air filter. I keep adding to the full line and checking about every other tank of gas or so. This much coming out the overflow normal?
Im running M1 20/50 full synthetic in my engine and primary.

I am sure it is on here somewhere - but, what type of oil do you recommend?

Steve: are you adding to the full hot point with the engine cold?if so your over filling i never go above 5/8 the up the stick with the engine cold

Eagle:i know you directed your question to glider but heres what i think
my choice is MOBIL 1 20w-50 v-twin oil, now there are ALLOT of synthetic motorcycle oils out there that are just as good like Spectro is great maybe better or Lucus,AMS oil,royal purple the main reason i stick with mobil1 is because its easy to find if i get far away from home and need 1/2 a quart of oil as long as i can find a wal-mart or a auto-zone i can get my oil....although any of the oils mentioned above will mix and lub your engine just fine ...so if you were running spectro and needed a little oil and topped it off with AMS oil i don't think you would have hurt a thing but i like to stick with one brand just my opinion lol

 

[Eagle Rider]

Eagle:i know you directed your question to glider but heres what i think
my choice is MOBIL 1 20w-50 v-twin oil, now there are ALLOT of synthetic motorcycle oils out there that are just as good like Spectro is great maybe better or Lucus,AMS oil,royal purple the main reason i stick with mobil1 is because its easy to find if i get far away from home and need 1/2 a quart of oil as long as i can find a wal-mart or a auto-zone i can get my oil....although any of the oils mentioned above will mix and lub your engine just fine ...so if you were running spectro and needed a little oil and topped it off with AMS oil i don't think you would have hurt a thing but i like to stick with one brand just my opinion lol

Thanks Buckshot - I ran AMS in my old bike and it worked well. I am always interested in other people's exeriences with various products. You make a great point about the convenience of Mobil1.
Thanks again.

 

[SpringerSteve98]

Consumption is not terrible, but probably more than you want. Not drooling out somewhere and puddling up on the ground, or blowing all over the engine/tranny, right?

How many mile on the bike? EVO, right? Has the nose cone ever been off and if so, what was done? Could the breather timing have been fiddled with? Is it still the plastic one (worn)?

Do a compression test to see how your rings are doing:

Compression Testing - Harley Davidson Community

TQ

Bike is an 80ci EVO. 17k miles. No oil is blowing out all over the engine, and none is puddling but i have the occasional drip from the air filter assembly. Nose cone has never been off to my knowledge. Haven't checked the breather timing. A compression test is a good idea... When i overfill it i occasionally get a puff of smoke when i first fire it, worn rings perhaps.

 

[glider]

Check the breather itself aside from the timing. The earlier ones were plastic and can be damaged by anything circulating in the oil. There's upgraded metal ones available.

 

[SpringerSteve98]

I have a metal breather plate. Just tore the carb down again to fiddle with the pilot jet. Fine tuning (been a lot of hit and miss guesswork with my carb). Takes off idle a ton better, still a little lean at the very top end it seems but anyway... my oil. I have a small leak at my stator plug, not enough to drip even once over night, but enough that i notice. About every other tank of gas i'm adding a bit of oil. Checking it right, while hot, to the line... But two tanks of gas later its not on the dipstick. Just after i add i do see oil drips on the oil tank, and occasionaly around the points cover area.
Thinking it might be a valve i went ahead and ran a little seafoam thru the carb with a cough medicine syringe hoping it might break up any carbon build up in the valves from the previous rich running condition. I can't really afford to break down the top end of my engine and redo the valves atm. I'm gonna see how it runs now... When i added the seafoam directly through the air intake it smoked like crazy and even killed the engine a time or two. I topped off the tank after changing the pilot jet again to check fuel economy. I was getting an average of 37. I'm hoping for 40.. Its running better than with the 44 pilot in it, i went back to a 42.5 and reset the mixture screw just a tad lean. The bike has fairly open drag pipes, but i cut off a baffle end and bolted it down in both pipes for a little air descrepency. I don't expect to get more than 40mpg with drags on it, but i can tell when its running right or not. Seems to be jetted fine, but the oil consumption seems to be a lot... Might just be me, its my first harley.

 

[glider]

As far as your leaking plug, take a look here...

Stator Plug Leaking - Harley Davidson Community