I tried firing up my '85 FXRP today. It wouldn't fire up and I heard a gurgling sound. I looked down and saw some oil leaking out of a hose. Started it again and saw oil spitting out of the hose which is where the gurgling sound was coming from. Sounded like it was trying to suck in oil. Pulled the service manual out and looked at the oil circulation picture. There are 4 hoses going into the engine, one from the tank, one to the oil filter, one for the vent to oil tank, and the last one runs to the air cleaner. The one I'm referring to is the one that goes to the air cleaner. I have an S&S carb. There is a fitting for a hose to connect onto but the hose coming off the engine is no where long enough to reach the air cleaner. If you have an S&S carb, do you need that hose connected to the air cleaner? I've seen a couple pics of FXR's, some have that hose and some don't. The ones that have the hose don't have an S&S carb.

 

That hose is a vent hose & it is gurgling because when your bike sits for an extended period, the oil from the resovoir will find it's way into the lower engine case. This is known as sumping. When your bike fires up, it will send that oil back to the resovoir & your vent will stop puking oil.
You can also buy a filter for your vent & run a hose from your vent at the engine case to a hidden spot on your bike where it can breath but not blow oil near your rear tire!
Hatch.

 

Thanks for the help Hatchetman. The bike has been sitting for about 5 months now. I'll try firing it up again and see what happens. I noticed that the plugs are fouled with oil on them. I'm hoping I don't need new rings.

 

My bike has the hose routed to below the exhaust to a breather filter, this passed weekend we rerouted my buddies on his fxr to under the tranny to a breather filter.