Oil Light Question

Hey all,

When I twist the throttle full or near-full while riding about 30mph or faster (usually in the higher gears), I have noticed the oil light comes on, then goes off as soon as I let off a bit. I don't know how long this has been going on since I can't normally see the tach or dummy lights through my chinbar.

I seem to recall that early V-Maxes had their oil sensors towards the front of the oil pan, thereby giving low oil warnings when accelerating hard. I thought this was fixed by the time my 96 model was made, but not sure.

My clutch does slip at large throttle openings at higher revs, so I'm not accelerating as hard as I possibly could, but could it be that it's still enough to starve the sensor?

I checked the oil when I first discovered the the light coming on - it looked ok in color and was at approximately the halfway point in the oil sight (still a little amazed that there's no dipstick, all my other bikes have had them) on the engine when on the center stand. I added about 1/4 quart, not wanting to over do it. This helped a bit, but more aggressive input still gets the light on.

It'll be raining all weekend (yes, it DOES rain here in SoCal. Just not often!) Anyone have any ideas or suggestions?

That is normal on all models, there wes no change.

You need to fill it to the top mark, anything below, the light will come on.

mine does the same just like rhoy says. i top it off just like 85vmax says and the issue goes away

I don't do anything with the oil level in mine. I got used to the light coming on.
Now I just look at the oil level indicator as an oil level/accelerometer light unk:

Damn, I should have labeled that on the new instrument cluster plate. :bang head:

Nothing like a pressure gauge to glance at and tell what is reaqllly going on. I think filling to the top mark (not the top of the sight glass) like was said, will make it less frequent. Mine always comes on when I nail the throttle. The DD mod made it come on more often. The light is pretty useless ,unless you need to know there is no oil in your bike at all, which would be usefull I suppose.
Steve-o

KJShover said:

I don't do anything with the oil level in mine. I got used to the light coming on.
Now I just look at the oil level indicator as an oil level/accelerometer light unk:

Damn, I should have labeled that on the new instrument cluster plate. :bang head:

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Yep, "ACCELEROMETER" would look sweet on the dash! Point of conversation for sure!

If it doesn't come on when you accelerate hard, theres something wrong

Dr.n2o said:

If it doesn't come on when you accelerate hard, theres something wrong

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The Mod Monkey just hasn't gotten a good grip on you yet.

SpecOps13 said:

The Mod Monkey just hasn't gotten a good grip on you yet.

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Me ? I see that light all the time......sign of a healthy max :biglaugh:

Heh, I'm glad to hear it. Maybe it's been happening all this time, but I am usually NOT looking down when I twist the throttle.

Any red light on a "dashboard" gives me concern, I guess I'll have to get used to this one being more of a "ludicrous speed" indicator:eusa_dance:.

Theres poor windage design in the oil pan on max....when you crack it, all the oil flies backwards where the pump pickup is so theres nothing to worry about....the sending unit for the light is up front

Ok, so where is your level at idle while on the center stand? Mine looks scary low, but when it's at rest it's within 2mm of the top line.

Check with bike level and engine off. I run mine about two thirds of the site glass. When the motor is running, the pump is sucking it up into the motor so no way to check it running

Good to know I'm not nuts. Thanks. I'll just not worry about level when running.