Last week i bought a 12 sportster 883, riding to work today i noticed an oil leak coming from the rear cylinder pushrod tube, this bike only has 2300 miles on it, what could be the culprit behind the leak

 

take it to the dealer, two year factory warranty.

 

nope it was titled in 10/2011 therefore the factory warranty is expired

 

Most likely a bad O-ring seal in the pushrod tube.

Replacement will require dis-assembly of the rocker box to be able to remove the pushrod and replace the O-rings in the tube. It's not difficult but it is time consuming. You only need to replace the rear that's leaking.

Alternatively you can cut out the pushrods and use adjustable pushrods. It's quicker and you don't have to open the rocker boxes.

If the air cleaner is Stage-1 (open), make sure it's not oil dripping from the air cleaner cover. Oil transfer from the head breathers is common, and can result in drips that may be mistaken for leaky gaskets.

 

wouldnt it also require taking the cylinder head off

 

those O-rings almost never go bad...do you have an after market air cleaner, and is it possible that the breather system has a blockage (this may cause the o-ring to push out)...I am not sure (as I have an older sportster and have only worked on pre 01 sportsters)..but on those bikes they have one piece push rod tubes so there is no cutting the push rods, soooo, if I am correct, you will need to remove the rocker cover to replace the o-ring....not to tough of a job if your are inclined that way...

 

No the cylinder head stays in place. You only have to disassemble the rocker box. Much easier than removing the cylinder head.

 

can overfilled oil do this, its not soaking the air filter, however i decided today to check the oil before i ride it to the dealership i bought it from. Cold it was just barely on the stick, hot on jiffy stand it was between the two marks and standing straight up it was way above the dip stick, it seems to have slowed down since some of it has leaked out

 

the oil should be no higher than 1/2 up the dipstick. clean off all the oil residue, clean out around the air filter area. I'd bet your oil is coming from the breather area and dripping on the engine. your air filter may have oil in it as well. youll need to clean it or replace it so that wont eventually run from the filter and drip on to the engine. with all cleaned up and proper oil level, run it for a 100 miles or so keeping an eye on any new oil surfacing. also the rocker boxes were good about leaking as well but you should be able to see if that was it. good luck

 

i sprayed the air hose around where oil was laying and am going to ride it to work tomorrow, which will equal about 40 miles. I rode it tonight and it seemed to not be leaking oil like it did over the weekend cause my oil tank and such was covered, so im hoping someone just overfilled it