[Freddie]

Hey all, sorry for having to ask how to check oil, but....

I have about 2k on my current oil change on my 2017 roadmaster. Used the kit that came with 1/2 Q, so it must have been the 5.5 kit and filter.

Anyway... checking on side stand, there is only maybe 1/2 inch on the dips still.. way below add on on this dipstick, but I don't think this dipstick is stock.

checking with bike upright, not getting anything on the dip. I could swear after changing oil, I was oil level way up on this dipstick above the add line.

While on the side stand, oil is no where near the bottom of the thread of the dipstick hole. No leaks, can't imagine it burned that much oil in 2k miles. What am I missing? Am about to drain this thing and add back 5.5 Q.

Just do this and call it a day. When you put in 5.5 qts. it is full. This bike has a sump, in other words basically 2 chambers. That said, the dipstick isn't as reliable as one would think. Whatever you do, don't overfill unless you want oil all over your air breather and possibly other places. Once full, run the designated miles and change again with 5.5 qts. along with filter. Also, as in manual, put in 4.5 and run for a bit alternating rpms up to 2000 rpm and then dump the last qt. The reason is you must move to the sump with initial 4.5 qts. I run mine 5K once I broke in. Hope this helps. Just don't overthink this and ride, ride, ride!!

 

[SlidePicker]

If the engine was made after February 2019, it holds 6 quarts.

 

[lugnut1009]

Does anybody remember Larry's response to this same question on his 2014 Chieftain that was still running strong at over 500k miles? Basically the same procedure as above, except he said he didn't use a wheel chock but a block of wood. Parked it in the exact same spot, same block of wood under the kick stand, and checked it cold. Sounds almost identical

 

[DDBCK]

I changed oil on my ‘17 RM a week ago. All miles are mine. Lost approximately 1qt=4729 miles. As of today I have 98,603 mi on the engine. Dip stick? I am not always in my garage/home when I need to check oil and I never see the same results while on the road. I don’t have an answer except that I’ll most likely go to 3500-4000 mi. max for oil changes due to engine mileage. Always used OEM.

How did you measure how much came out? That is definitely not normal.

 

[Leather Face]

here the offical Indan produced video on checking oil

the problem that you and everyone else has with the above process is the level on the stick is namby-pamby subjective.
Basically with teh above method, everything from above add and below full is considered "good".
What is worse is the above reading is not reproduceable - if you run the bike for 5 min vs 3 you get a completely different reading from one taken the prior morning. Basically all the official method is good for is proving you are in a "safe" zone (or not) Completely lost in the offical method of checking oil is the concept of "I have I lost 6 oz since last oil change - or not". which is what most of us that check oil are trying to learn.

my advice, is you have no choice but to use the official method to check oil until you hit your next oil change.

HOWEVER, upon your next change are in a "golden" state to do something magical.

it helps to know that a hot bike held vertically overnight will have its oil settle into the various chambers the exact same way every time - no exceptions for any make model or year. this includes my bike and yours.
to hold the bike vertical you will need a wheel-chock, wheel-dock, ps-1500 or similiar

Upon your next oil change you will know with 100% certainty the oil level in your bike is perfect.
so go for a ride to bring bike to temperature then park overnight in your wheelchock/wheeldock/ps-1500/similar.
Next morning with the bike still held vertical make note of where on the dipstick the your oil level falls.
this mark, wherever it is on the dip stick, your your bikes personal "full" mark on that area of your garage when in that wheel-chock/wheel-dock/ps-1500
on my 16' chieftain, that mark is stem of the letter "L" in the word "COLD"

further "magic" occurs if you are in the habit of always parking your bike in that same wheelchock/wheeldock/ps-1500

now you can check oil any random morning you wish. Because you you are now knowing your bike's "full" mark.
now when you check oil you can easily see if your bike is 3 ounces low (or not).
If you find it low then you may now safely add those ounces to bring back to the "full" mark and know with 100% certainty you are not over-filling the bike.

I'm glad I found this... I watched that video on youtube and @#$@$@#$ doesn't show on the dipstick where the 'acceptable' level is...
It's a little too nebulous for me to go along with 'just above the add line and you're good'...

I've had other bikes that - to say the least - a simpler way to check and to understand where the #@@# the middle ground level is/was..

There's another video I saw where the guy adds so much oil into the bike, run it, check it, then fill some more... Seems like a lot of work - and again
confusing for the average guy/not an engineer/not total gearhead to understand...

I've tried, and modified @OracleDba version to take the bike out for a run, come back and put the bike upright as close to upright as I can do ( and yes, even tried a torpedo level on the seat,etc...) and let the bike sit for 1/2 hour to let the oil settle out for a reading. So while the bike is still warm - Lo and behold it's still just a frickin' hair above the add line...

Is this good/bad/ugly or am I just freaking out over absolutely nothing?

I don't want to over fill the bike, but I'd think an oil level in the middle of that sticks range would be a more correct level... I've not had this bike long enough to change the oil from where I got the bike... And they showed me the same thing after I ran it around their parking lot/pad in the back...

Think of this as a combination confession and pathetic plea for some sort of common sense >> thanks in advance to all...

 

[OracleDba]

@Leather Face
I think it is important to have a process wherein if one checks oil on 3 back to back dates you obtain the exact same reading on dipstick every time. This 100% reproducibility is what gives you the ability to "know" if you are 4 ounces low - or not.

I would caution against a process where you check oil at anything other than ambient temp. The reason why is hot oil has air whipped into it. Whereas ambient temp oil does not have any air whipped into it -it has all dissipated away. Furthermore if you switch brands of oil the new oil might have better (or worse) antifoaming agents. This variance means if take a reading when oil is "hot" that reading at the "same" temp - your new brand of oil can read differently than your old brand of oil.

Conversely stated by taking your readings at ambient temp the quality of the anti-foaming agents of the oil does not matter. All oil, good or bad anti-foaming agents will read the same. Furthermore the "ambient" readings are identical regardless of outside being snowy or rainy or hot-summer.

lastly we know 100% of the words and symbols printed on the dip stick are printed on that dipstick to support a process of checking oil that we are not using. As such, those words and symbols do not apply to us. We do not care if our 100% full mark is above or below a pre-printed "add" line.

 

[Leather Face]

@OracleDba Thanks for the come-back... I'm expressing my concern as there isn't a simple way - but I was using cherry picked pieces of your method - well sort of... to get an oil level.

My owners manual says 5.7 quarts - the Kit you can buy has 6.0 - and I saw a post or two where any engine after 2019 should have 6 qts. All said... I'm just confused as there is a very nebulous answer to what that dipstick level ought to be... Confusion on the total capacity of oil... But your system/method is something I'm going to try fully now...

Almost want to see a real Indian Engineer or some such come out and tell us for sure how much oil capacity - though I'll get flamed as now 6.0 qts is the mantra, and of course where that lands on a dipstick...

Thx @OracleDba for your answer...

 

[OracleDba]

I feel your pain...
If your's was my bike and my manual said 5.7, then next oil change I would do just 5.7, go for a ride, park vertically overnight, and next morning note the level on stick so that on a go forward basis one knows the bike's personal "I-am-full-when-here" mark. I find it helps to own a wheel chock such as a ps1500 or similar and use it daily. I find most maintenance tasks are easier when bike is held vertically, the bonus feature is being able to do oil checks with zero advance notice too.
good luck.

 

[Leather Face]

Thanks @OracleDba I'm going to give that a shot... I'll report back at some point...!

 

[Lighter37]

So weird, did my first oil change on this 2019 111 Chieftain Limited, 6 qts after all the add 4qts upright run 30 sec add 2 more qts, still nothing on dipstick? going to just ride. Hard to convince myself.....

 

[Lighter37]

So weird, did my first oil change on this 2019 111 Chieftain Limited, 6 qts after all the add 4qts upright run 30 sec add 2 more qts, still nothing on dipstick? going to just ride. Hard to convince myself.....

 

[SlidePicker]

Yeah, mine didn't show on the dipstick with 6 quarts either. I kept adding small amounts, running it for a minute or so, shutting it down, letting it settle for a minute, unscrewing and wiping the dipstick, screwing it back in, screwing it back out and checking it. Kept doing that till I got all the way to the FULL mark. I was barely shy of 7 quarts. 7 wouldn't have run it over. I had about 6 1/2 in when it was at the ADD mark. You can see in my sig line, but I have a 2021 Springfield 111.

 

[Lighter37]

Thank you.

 

[Berserker]

Delete

 

[EvilMonkey]

@Leather Face …

Here’s the Team Tip about oil capacity and using 15w60 in all engines…

 

[Leather Face]

Yeah, mine didn't show on the dipstick with 6 quarts either. I kept adding small amounts, running it for a minute or so, shutting it down, letting it settle for a minute, unscrewing and wiping the dipstick, screwing it back in, screwing it back out and checking it. Kept doing that till I got all the way to the FULL mark. I was barely shy of 7 quarts. 7 wouldn't have run it over. I had about 6 1/2 in when it was at the ADD mark. You can see in my sig line, but I have a 2021 Springfield 111.

The question is @SlidePicker - if you 'over fill' at some point, you get residual oil up around the air cleaner... do you have that? I get mine to 'barely' (means barely) to touch the bottom knuckle on the dipstick...

I really wish Indian would come out with some sort of real definition on what is a proper check.
I think we all get tired of 'hold the bike this way', or 'when the bike is 165 degrees with a baby zebra crossing the street on leap year' sorts of measurements.

Not to rant at zero-six in the morning... but here's indians' version of how to do it from Youtube...

Enough! It's time to go riding on whats going to be a very pretty Sunday! L8TR G8TRs

 

[Leather Face]

@Leather Face …

Here’s the Team Tip about oil capacity and the using 15w60 in all engines…
View attachment 875674 View attachment 875675

@EvilMonkey as always your sagacity in all things Indian is appreciated!!

 

[lugnut1009]

I remember reading where the legend himself, Larry, checked his cold, parked in the same place, with a 2x4 under the kickstand to give it a more upright position. He said he would check it cold after the oil had been changed and just make sure it’s the same spot everytime.

something like that anyway.

 

[Leather Face]

I remember reading where the legend himself, Larry, checked his cold, parked in the same place, with a 2x4 under the kickstand to give it a more upright position. He said he would check it cold after the oil had been changed and just make sure it’s the same spot everytime.

something like that anyway.

@lugnut1009 I'm going back to trying that... Maybe Indian Larry is calling out to us...!

 

[lugnut1009]

Not Indian Larry, Mr. Larry that had the 14 Chieftain and put over 500k miles on it before he hit a deer. Bike still ran great.