so i have a 74' that has been built with a custom oil tank, and an external filter. the lines and fittings are all new, and the oil. (prior to this i "think" the bike may of sat for a couple years before i bought it) the bike fired (it's kick only) relatively easy, but starts leaking through the breather on the crankcase. after idling for about ten minutes i check the oil and half of it is gone!. i caught what was coming out of the breather in a container and it looked a strange color as though it was motor oil mixed with transmission oil. -NOW, should regular motor oil of been used in the crankcase, and also, i was told to use 20-50 oil, is this correct? next i went to check the oil pump. (i'm following a clymer book) i unscrewed the oil pressure switch (there was no wire) and found the valve spring connected to the switch with no nipple. I'M assuming the nipple is necesarry, but please let me know, seems weird that the guy i bought it from wouldn't say anything. anyways, the ball did not come out with it, and i couldn't get it out, stuck a tool in there to spin it around and it seems ok, but without getting it out, hard to tell. any tips on getting it out? would this be the reason for no return? any help is greatly appreciated!!!!

You may want to scroll farther down and go to the ironhead section of the forum. They would probably be more knowledgeable about the specifics of those engines.

Take the oil pump all the way off. Be careful because they use paper gaskets. You may want to get a complete gasket kit and do a rebuild before you run it. You'll be able to sort your problems out there before they screw up the entire engine.

__________________
~HellCat~
1998 Sportster XL1200 Custom
"You say tomato, I say **** you"