Okay, I know this horse has been kicked a few times but I'd appreciate going through it again...
The rear base gasket is leaking on my '93 FLHTC (again). In the late 90's I had the Harley shop change them for leaks and at the time I recall the tech telling me that the new gaskets were far better than the original (stock) gaskets. My take on it was that, due to the way they are constructed, if they started leaking again there would be no real risk of them blowing out. He said the original paper gaskets could fail and blow out causing significant issues but the new one's are reinforced in a way that, even if they do leak, they won't fail.
Does that sound right? Fact is, I'm not in a good position to swap out the gasket at the moment but could and would if it needs to be done now. Otherwise I'll wait till winter. I don't mind wiping up a little oil after a ride and I don't see any gasket pooching out around the base (like I did with the original gaskets) so I'm inclined to "fly it and watch it."
Any thoughts? Thanks!

 

Significant issues? I doubt it. Wipe up the oil and change it in the winter. I wouldn't worry much about it. I had one seeping for about 40k with no problems. It was a factory "upgraded" gasket as well. Use James or Cometic when you do the work, and it won't leak again.

 

I looked at a used Ultra, only about 4 years old with 250, yes 250 miles on it at a Honda dealership on consignment. Looking closely, there was very mild weeping, not leaking or dripping in the same area you describe. Sometimes I think the synthetics creep through...but I'm no wrench. I have the same thing on my 2000 WG with 5200 miles...no dripping at all, just a very minimal weep and no gasket bulge.

 

Welcome to the site.

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Your tech told you right. I've owned my 1990 Glide from new and that did much the same as yours. I had the bike stroked some years later and rebuilt with aftermarket gaskets and it didn't leak again. As with many things in life, even gaskets don't stand still and if you use a current set you should be fine.

 

I did the base gasket on my Evo approx. 50K miles ago, and the rear cylinder (primary side) is weeping again. That is the area where the leak happens most because of the return passage. Next time, I will use a combination of James gasket and the Hayden oil fix. There are several options or combination for this fix:

1. Use good base gasket
2. Machine surface flat and use good base gasket
3. Use Hayden oil fix or Pigtail type (both do same thing) and good gasket

Until you have the funds or time to do this, you can apply a small amount of flowable silicone just to bandaid the oil seep/leak. Doesn't hurt to run it with this for quite a while. Just one area of weakness on the Evo, that was addressed and fixed on Twin Cams.

 

It doesn't become important until it starts pouring out, a seep doesn't count.

A friend of mine let his seep for about 8 years before he blew a head gasket then we went in and changed to Cometic gaskets, SLS (single layer steel) base gaskets and MLS (multi layer steel) head gaskets and it sealed right up.

Just make sure you get the right size gaskets for your motor.

 

As I've pointed out, you can also use that stuff to did a leaking stator plug.