I have over 21k on my bike
Has not been to the shop yet except for tires
Possibly will upgrade the oil pump

 

Great thanks, that's good to know!!!

 

Depends on the year. First few years of new engine for Harley always has issues.

As far as I know, the oil pump was addressed, not sure what year though? I have a 2022 with the 117" and it's had no engine problems for the past 17K miles.

I didn't read the article to see what was mentioned.

 

Many thanks for responding. Yep no worries, this article is 1 of many. A lot seem to say the oil pump is most prevalent, but there's never any numbers shared for how prevalent 🤷‍♂️

 

I was a bit worried about the oil pump issue after purchasing a used 2019 Softail Sport Glide recently but after digging around all the forums my take ( do your own research ) is possibly the early touring M8's had a oil pump issue that was addressed mid 2019. But my research suggest that oil pump issue was limited to the touring bikes? But I question did both touring and softail not use the same oil pump?
i'm not sure exactly how find out IF my bike is one in question?
When it comes to the 2024 we all know about first year ( engine redesign or new model ) possible troubles...

 

Thank you! Good questions. There seems to be quite a lot of smoke & mirrors out there. Fingers crossed the one I'm buying is ok!

 

The M8 oil pump has been through a few different iterations. If you buy a bike built after March of 2019, I believe you will have the latest effort. Also, the first wave of M8s did not have the vent in the primary. That was added to the early bikes as a recall.

If you do your own work, you'll likely put a cam in it anyway, so just put the S&S or Fueling oil pump in it when you do!

 

If you do your own work, you'll likely put a cam in it anyway, so just put the S&S or Fueling oil pump in it when you do!

The latest Harley oil pump is all you need.

 

Thank you!

The oil pump issue is clearly a concern that's being discussed, but risk = effect (known) + probability (not known).

It would be good to know if it's just 5% of M-8 engines that will experience this problem, or more like 50%.

The same goes for other significant reported problems with the engine.🤔.

In any event, I've decded to buy a later edition road king, so we shall see. Fingers crossed its trouble free 🎉

 

15k and no problems, just chugs right along

 

And long may that continue 😁

 

Early production 2019 Slim here and no issues with the oil pump on mine. I don't ride a lot, but I've never had an issue and certainly have never had the oil leak coming out of the breather that some report.

 

My 22 Roadglide Limited has roughly 17k no issues with the M8. I do believe the common issues were sorted out by 2020.

 

I have owned 3 HD M8s in the past 7 years... I have had problems with all 3. 2019 Heritage Classic 114 had many leaks due to poorly machined parts and it burned an excessive amount of oil. 2020 Trike 114 had bad lifters, which ate cam at 8000 miles. at 8500 miles the engine sumped and imploded. it was also an oil burner. 2023 Street Glide 107 has been my best one yet. eats very little oil. however, it throws a P1510 code occasionally, which has something to do with throttle by wire setup. it has a minor surge in 1st gear when cold and then goes away. the stealership charged me one hour of labor at $170 and could not find a problem. go figure. HD motorcycles to me are not as reliable as the Japanese cruisers, which I have owned several. this will be my last HD.

 

My 2023 M8 114 had to have the cylinders, pistons, rings, breathers replaced at 5k miles. Since then its been fine.
My 2013 TC 103 was bullet proof, not a single issue in 30k miles. I wish the ins co didn't total her...

 

Three M8s thus far.

2020 107 pinged till I put a tune on it. It also used 2qts of oil every 5k. Harley says 1qt every 1500 is in spec. I disagree. Sold it to the dealer at 17k

2022 114 used a little oil, ran good, sold to a friend at 16k. He has 25k on it now.

Have a 2024 114 now with 8k on it. Does not use oil, runs great.

 

to burn that much oil its got to be HD brand,anything else will be better

 

I am on my second touring 2020 M8 and feel the hiccups have been resolved.

 

As previously stated, I'd spend the money on a 117 M8 an eliminate your 2nd thoughts. You can do more with and spend less than the other M8's. For $ 500.oo U can put a fuel pack on an out perform most of those with cams and do not have to any thing else to the motor.

 

HUGS my Softail 107 M8.

 

Same stuff has been written about late model Iron 883s. Mine has been trouble free.

 

My 2016 883 Iron ran flawless with over 25k miles until Hurricane Helene flooded it with salt water.

 

What a nightmare! I hope you get it sorted.

We lived in Hong Kong for many years. We saw a couple of T10's ('super' Typhoons) and a good few T8's spin through. We were lucky, no major damage. One blew water straight through the brick, tiled and plastered wall into our bedroom. Somehow our windows held out. Other's were not so lucky.

The weather where we live now is thankfully not quite so extreme, though we did loose part of our roof to a storm that rolled in over the mountains in 2016. Not fun!!

 

the rings used by HD are small and inferior to aftermarket rings


no they are not inferior to aftermarket rings. They are Mahle piston and rings. Top of the line stuff.

 

I wonder how many engine issues arise because the person who bought the bike new did not follow the proper break in procedures. They are outlined, in the owners manual, for a reason and I bet most are not even aware of them.

 

I have a 2019 Slim bought new in June of 2019, with low mileage to be honest, but I have never had a single issue with it.

 

Yeah, you've got to love hd bikes, to own one! What year is that road king? Most of them have problems, that you read about. (The ones that don't have problems, are on the road!) I suggest if you are new to hd, look up problems on your particular model, then watch videos on YouTube, of how to fix yourself.
The good thing about hd's is; there are over a million aftermarket parts you can get, that are trusted manufacturers, that have taken out the problems with original designs. (Like S&S, Fueling, to name a couple of them.) I rode bikes other than hd's when I was young, but hd's are so much fun with the v-twins torque!
Be safe!

 

Morning! Yes agree, it's fundamentally different to other bikes i've owned and ridden. I've been grinning like an idiot ever since I picked it up from the garage!

The Road King is a 2017 classic with 9k miles on the clock. It's had a fix for oil sumping, but not the upgraded oil pump. Nothing else outside servicing. I put 200 miles on it yesterday, much on straight fast roads. It pulls well and runs like a dream.

I'm happy.

 

Ok gotcha. Now I understand. My bike has the vent to stop oil migration to the primary, but not the oil pump swap to stop sumping! I'm learning... slowly. Many thanks for this!

 

This was/is their fix for the sumping. It seals the pinion bearing off to keep the motor from breathing into the cam chest. Honestly, you might as well do a cam, cam bearing, lifters and lifter cuffs if you decide to go in there.

 

Hmmm. A very clear explanation. Yes the loss of power effect makes sense. I shall do some reading.

Without going into detail (I couldn't keep up!), how does your system lubricate or am I misunderstanding?

 

They updated the oil pumps starting in 2019 and on, so that explains it.

Hmmm. A very clear explanation. Yes the loss of power effect makes sense. I shall do some reading.

Without going into detail (I couldn't keep up!), how does your system lubricate or am I misunderstanding?

It does not add any additional lubrication than the existing system is capable of, but rather, theoretically helps the existing oiling system to function to its fullest by keeping the case under vacuum, which, among many other things, will keep the aeration out of the oil. Think about what happens when you introduce vacuum to a container of thick, viscous liquid that has been shaken up and is holding air bubbles- the bubbles are pulled out. Crank case vac pulls the piston rings tighter against the cylinder walls too, reducing combustion chamber blowby down past the rings on the compression and power stroke, and crankcase blowby up past the rings on the intake and ehaust stroke. Piston moves down, the air in the case tries to compress, piston moves up, the air tries to go to vac, but the other piston is moving as well, so its very turbulent in there. pulling vac on the breather ports should allow the umbrella valves to open sooner, and when they open, the vacuum will forcibly pull out any pressure, slamming the umbrellas shut again and leaving the case under more vac than it could attain otherwise. The result should be less oil consumption between changes, cleaner oil through its 5k mile service life, more of the unburned fuel that may get past rings being evacuated through the breathers and into the holding can, along with the water vapor being collected in the same manner, a clean intake tract, clean piston tops, ring lands and clean combustion chambers.

 

Thanks I think I understand something. It links to a discussion I had this morning with my old man on the movement of oils, pumps, feeds and comparative air pressures across connected cavities, but I would need to spend time walking through the workings of a v twin to attain clarity!