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[HD Street Performance]

Now tell us about the octane booster, why?
If you are running no booster there is oil in your combustion. If the intake tract is clean the source is likely the valve seals / guides, intake side, exhaust side will just carbon up the port and send oil out the pipe for the most part with the stock cam.

[CVORoadKing2013]

I did use some octane boost on the trip. Most of he gas out and back was 91 octane ethenol so I did use the octane boost to make sure I did not get pinging

Is that what caused the reddish/brown color

[joe_lyons50023]

Yep.  When I see octane boost I always ask the customer about it and a lot of them say "it gives my bike a boost of energy" but I think they are just boosting the economy lol

[60FLH]

Mine sucks more oil than normal with all the downhill coasting in the hills. I wouldn't be alarmed anyway at a pint in 4000 miles.

[joe_lyons50023]

Ask people who own Cadillac CTS with the v6 about oil consumption and you will hear some stories.  1 at every 3000 miles is OK by caddi and there is no oil level sensor for those guys. Lol

[grc]

Yep.  When I see octane boost I always ask the customer about it and a lot of them say "it gives my bike a boost of energy" but I think they are just boosting the economy lol

    So much misinformation out there, and the purveyors of bogus additives take advantage of all that misinformation to make huge profits.

If the gas was labeled 91 octane minimum, R+M/2, then it doesn't matter if it contained ethanol or not, it still met or exceeded the antiknock requirement recommended by Harley for the engine.  With a modern closed loop engine management system, it's not necessary to worry about the alcohol creating a slightly leaner mixture which can lead to pinging on an open loop bike.

Next time, save your money.

Jerry

[Rooster]

Assuming those speeds were in 6th gear, 70-80 mph isn't exactly high rpm so I don't think the speed is the issue.  However, the longer distances at sustained highway speeds can increase the oil temperature and thin the oil, and that will tend to get worse as the oil gets more miles on it (depending on the actual oil of course).  If the air temps were also high during your trip that would also affect oil temps.  Thinner hotter oil is more prone to increased consumption.

I assume you change oil at 5k intervals, and if so you aren't even close to having to add between changes.  If it were me I wouldn't even consider spending money to "fix" something that really isn't broken yet.  If you start obsessing over the truly normal stuff, you will drive yourself nuts with all the other real problems Harley includes on their bikes at no additional charge.   As prodrag1320 mentioned, get it on record with the dealer that you have seen an increase in oil consumption, but Harley isn't going to do anything at the current level of consumption.  Then just watch it and see if it was a fluke due to the conditions of your recent trip, or if it gets worse. 

JMHO - Jerry

This is why I love reading Jerry's post, besides the good info there is something like this that makes me smile. Thanks Jerry.

[CVORoadKing2013]

All good information guys. I have it topped off and will ride it like I had been. Mostly 35-65Mph and see if it goes back to not using any oil and go from there. I will update in a few weeks when I get some miles back on it. the weather hasn't been cooperating this week.

[Buckeye_Tuning]

All good information guys. I have it topped off and will ride it like I had been. Mostly 35-65Mph and see if it goes back to not using any oil and go from there. I will update in a few weeks when I get some miles back on it. the weather hasn't been cooperating this week.

It is MY feeling you have internetitis... everyone gets this a time or two, and usually the ONLY true cure is spending huge amounts of money.  Internetitis is when we all see problems on these forums and over worry about them... thinking OUR bikes have these self same issues as the other posters do.  Usually this is NOT true.  Most, on the internet, only whine about problems, and we then become infected that we, too MUST have problems.

Don't fall victim to this.  Save yourself some unnecessary pain and lightening of wallet.

1)- 1/2 quart, hell even one quart down is NORMAL, and is simply something folks blow off after awhile, and YOU never hear of it.

2)- Do NOT use additives.  They do NOTHING for you.  In fact, if the bike pings excessively, what you NEED is a tune, fix once and done kind of thing.  Most bikes, even 100% stock perform better, going down the road, once the EPA mandated lean ass tune is replaced with a decent tune.

[CVORoadKing2013]

I dont think I do have internetitis

The bike for 9000 miles used no determinable amount of oil. On this trip it did. You get 2 schools of thought from people on the forum. Some say they use oil some say they dont. I can accept the misting or blow by due to highway speeds I was running at and that it was different from my normal riding and this is what caused the oil use. I am good with that.

Yes I wanted to make sure the bike did not ping and tried octane boost. Did it do anything for me. I don't think so and it will not be used again.

Do I need to get it in my head that these engines at time and under certain circumstances use oil "yes"

I dont think there is anything wrong with making sure when something changes that it is not a problem that is what these forums are for.

[HD Street Performance]

Nothing is wrong that will strand you related to oil use.

[hawgzilla]

I seriously keep thinking this thread was meant to be funny.  We're talking a pint in over 4000 miles??? Get real and worry about other things!!

[CVORoadKing2013]

Again asking a question about something shouldn't be an issue. The bike didn't use oil at all and on the trip it did all I wanted to know is if it was an issue
People have given me a valid explanation of what it might be

If you think the thread is a joke don't read it

Again there are several people who think the bikes shouldn't use oil at all and some feel its fine to use a little.
It's a $36k bike I would rather catch something early if it is an issue than later

[Chief2505]

I have a 2010 Chevy Equinoz that burns 2 quarts in 4,000 miles and GM tells me that is normal!

Funny though that after two years of being told this is normal, last week when in for its normal oil change the dealer informed me that they would be reringing the engine when they get the parts in and all for free!

65,000 miles worth of drinking oil and now they are going to try to fix it!

[HD Street Performance]

The fix won't happen with factory parts, sorry to say. I already explained.