No, you really can't get the oil out of the case without it puking through the breather. That's just how it is.

 

That's what I thought Dr.

What about a later top breathing Evo, or a Twinkie? How do you drain those from a sumping problem?

Can you pull the return hose from the pump on the engine and get at least some of the oil to drain? Thinking how it works, I doubt it.....

 

Learn something new every day! That's why I posed it as a question. Strange that the PO of my ride said he had this happen to him twice in the few years he owned it. But I have yet to see it happen to me. Must just be because I actually ride it.

 

You have a touring bike which has the oil tank under the transmission so it'll never happen to you...nor I can't see how it happened to the prior owner?

Softails have oil tanks under the seat, same as knuckleheads, thus the oil is up higher than the sump so we need a check valve to keep the oil from draining from gravity into the sump when the engine is off.

 

No, Joe, the oil tank on DL's and my bike is behind the right side cover. That's why they sump and need the check valve. Not that it's that big of a deal. They've been doing it since at least the 1930's. When I used to go to sea for six months at a time, I would just plan on leaving a trail of oil out the driveway and into the street.

Don't know nothin' 'bout no top breathers or twinkies. I suppose if they sumped it's still the same, just re-route the breather hose down to a pan.

 

Ahh. My 95 RK Evo had it below the trans. I thought they did away with those side oil bags with the shovels. I stand corrected and a smarter harley rider, thanks Dr.

On the twinkie and my 95 Evo top breather the breather ports are up on the top of the rocker covers and lead to the air cleaner unless somebody's re-routed them. It would be no bueno if it pumped all that oil into the carb/fuel injection....

It'd be interesting to know, hopefully somebody will chime in. I could go look in the softail section but the Evo section has the best tech advice on this forum....

 

Moving the breathers to the heads seems to have helped the puking issues. At least my '94 Softail has never done it, even after sitting all winter. Yes, some of the oil will settle into the sump over the winter, but the engine seems to pump it back to the tank before it rises high enough to flood the head breathers. Been this way for 22 years.


I believe this was at least part of the reason H-D went to the head breathers.

 

Joe, the oil under the trans came out in '93, all previous big twins had an oil bag.

 

When I was looking at my '90 FLHTC, the PO talked about how it puked oil.

Dude put 10k miles on it in 25 years.

I've put 3500 miles on it in six weeks or so, and nary a puke to be found.

 

The 91 and 92 (first generation) Dyna's have the oil pan under the transmission. Maybe the testing ground for later Dyna's and Touring models?