Before we look at a brief history of Harley "marking it’s spot" I will state a few rules that the thinking mechanic always follows. Please forgive my rambling, but the preaching must be preached.

Rule 1: Always examine the last thing touched on your bike if a problem develops. For example; a short has developed in your bike’s wiring system. Last thing touched was a replaced battery. Remove the battery and see if a wire was inadvertently pinched during installation.

Rule 2: Always examine when a problem developed and try to determine why it started then. Like why did it start at a certain time or mileage and not at another time or mileage. As an example, your beloved Shovelhead has started to smoke oil through the exhaust with only 5000 miles service. The engine was broken in correctly and the oil has been changed religiously. Last thing touched was a pesky leaking rocker box. No correlation with this repair and a smoking problem….or is there? Lots of non-dissolving silicone seal was used to seal the gasket to prevent further leakage. Only so much will fit on the gasket surface and the rest is squeezed off to the outside and to the inside of the engine. A glob of this resilient and effective sealer has blocked the oil drain from the top end. Oil fills the top end and has nowhere to go but down the valve guides into the combustion chamber to be burn

Rule 3: Fix the cause not the symptom. If a problem develops at a certain mileage…is that normal? If not…look for the cause. If the cause, instead of the symptom, is not discovered and remedied, then the same problem will only develop again. If an engine gradually begins to smoke at 40 or 50,000 miles it is logical to assume the internal parts are wearing normally. Using the example in Rule 2, where smoking is not indicated by wear, what would be accomplished by replacing the valve guides and rings when they aren’t worn? It will only have to be taken apart again to find the real cause for the smoking which is a blocked return oil passage.

Beware of fixing symptoms and not causes. Symptoms lead to the cause, which leads to a permanent solution.

There are certain axioms that the thinking wrench learns over time. There are many simple solutions to seemingly complicated problems. A mechanic who is worth his or her salt will effectively dial in on common situations that frustrate those who hesitate to think and charge blindly ahead in the wrong direction with expensive, ineffective fixes…that do not work.

If there are oil deposits coming from the venting system, oil caps exploding off the oil tank or oil coming through seals that are thought to be sealing properly….always, always check that a vent is not obstructed in any way. Remember that there is more than one vent. The engine is also vented to the oil tank and sometimes to the primary system.

This brings up another axiom to always follow in order to avoid frustration and extra-unneeded expense.

Always go from cheap and easy fixes to progressively more complicated and expensive solutions.

One of many defining characteristics of the Harley riders’ psyche is to invariably assume that an oftentimes simple problem requires the most complicated and expensive fix. As an example; I can’t tell you how many thousands of Harley motors have been rebuilt because the owner heard a knock from the spring loaded compensating sprocket in the primary case and assumed it was a worn bottom end in the engine.

Now let’s go back to generalities to further understand your problem.

The pistons, in their separate cylinders go up and down at the same time although they are on different strokes of the 4 cycles that constitutes one 720 degree revolution of the engine. Yeah, I know a revolution is one circle, which is 360 degrees, but a 4 cycle engine like Harley needs 720 degrees to finish the job.

On the upstrokes, one piston will be on the exhaust stroke while the other will be o