I want to ride this bike in the spring. Now that I got it running, I want to get a feeling for the health of the engine. Bike seems to puff smoke out of front cylinder, but I haven't let it run all that long nor have I ridden it.

I pulled the plugs and would like an opinion.
Thanks
Nick



Front/Rear

 

You can't tell much from the plugs without running it up to operating temp and then riding it. But looking at the left plug, if it's dry soot it may be too rich. If it's wet soot it's oil. What color is the puff of smoke- black or blueish?

 

This is taken from a 07 twin cam HD service manual. The basic principals would still apply to your year bike.

Hope that helps.

 

Separately, I decided to try and find a leak I had up front on driver side. I decide to put the bike on a jack and let her run so I could try and find the leak. After I let it run and shut it off, I found oil flowing out of the bottom of the push rod tube and running down the front. When I saw where it was leaking from and the discoloration of the wrap adjacent to it, i noticed the same discoloration at the top of the exhaust pipe.



So looks like there is an issue where oil is leaking both outside and inside, since there is white smoke coming out of the front pipe.

Aside from pulling the wrap/pipe and taking a closer look, what should I check next?

The last compression test I did was 100 in the front and 95 for the rear. Oil pressure is around 10 PSI at idle.

 

What's the history on the bike? Sounds like it may have been sitting for some time?? You may just want to try running it for a while, just watch oil consumption and levels.

The pushrod tube is no big job to replace seals there. After that if big oil use seems apparent, its time to get into it. At least the top end.

 

I bought it as a non-runner that sat for about a year or so from what I was told. The compression was decent so I took a chance on it.

I'll have some time later this afternoon so I'm going to try and re-seat the blue seal on this push rod tube. I'm also going to pull the battery and check all of the oil lines to ensure they are correct and verify oil level, etc.

 

Today I took the pipes off to get at the kick starter cover and as I was removing the front pipe I found oil on the front part of the frame. It looks like that oil leak at the base of the push rod tube was throwing oil up there and that is why the warp is oil colored vs. my original statement that it was leaking. Maybe I should wait before posting stuff so I don't sound like an idiot...

 

Your good... You'll find most that reply here want to help.

I looked more closely at your oil leak pics of the exhaust wraps. You may have two external oil leaks. One at the pushrod, the other could be a rocker box gasket just above the front pipe. If so, you may want to consider pulling that front rocker cover. This would allow for repair of both leaks. Get a service manual before attempting this or have someone help that can do this.

 

Thanks Taggs. I have a pdf version of the service manual which should do for now. I'm going to try and find a parts manual next.

 

I finally had a chance to inspect the front cylinder exhaust pushrod tube where the oil was leaking. I lifted the tube up and cleaned the lower seal area. When the seal was sitting in the recessed area, it looked like it wasn't covering the entire area so I measured it and compared it to the intake seal. They are both the same size.

What I found when I went to put it back together was that when I pressed the tube down to see how the seal sits, the seal was distorting under the tube and not sealing flat like the intake tube. It felt like it was slipping under it.

I'm thinking about picking up a new seal and tube to fix it. Hopefully that fixes the leak.

Thanks
Nick