I have a 04 Sportster XL 883 with 3700 miles. I had the H-D shop change the oil and do the 1000 mile check up on it last year. Since then I changed the oil one other time myself at 3200 miles. Just recently I noticed a slight oil film on the side of the oil tank cover. First I have seen this since I changed the oil 500 miles ago.

I check the oil level on every gas fill up and I know I did not over fill the oil tank. It has been at top level during normal operating temp. I got nervous and checked the air filter for the first time and found that the air filter had a small amount of oil build on the bottom filter fins. I have since washed the filter in warm water and soap.

Could the oil blow by been caused by aggressive riding? Could excessive heat on one of my longer rides cause this? How much damage to the engine could be caused by this oil blow by?

Lots of questions sorry…

 

its part of harley life! dont sweat it.....put a tampon....yea thats what i meant, in the bottom of the air cleaner to soak up the oil. when it starts to drip or blow on the engine, you just change the "thing with the string"

 

Travis,

First Welcome to the forum. Your problem has been reviewed many times on the forum. This is a common problem experienced by almost all of us at one time or the other. Somewhere along the line your breather hose has spit some oil in your air cleaner. Could be a pintch too much oil, aggressive riding or the fact that any oil blow back is fed directly into your air cleaner. Talk to your dealer. Sometimes they reroute the hose to the ground with a filter on it. Carry a rag until you get it taken care of.


Terry

 

Damn Mike,

You mean Lisa has been using a genuine Harley Part all these years. Can you just flush them when you're done?

Terry

 

oh hell now according to the EPA ya gotta properly can them up and send them to the trash in a vehicle with proper hazmat markings!

 

Like Terry said you can reroute the breather tubes that go into the breather intake. It's an EPA deal to vent the crankcase to the engine breather intake and let the motor burn the oil mist instead of it going to the atmosphere. I like to route them to a catch can instead of the ground, because, I don't want any oil having a chance to get on my rear tire. There are several Mfg. that make a breather vent to the can system or you can make your own. PM me and I will send you a picture of ones we have done with the Ness big sucker and Kuryakyn makes a system that will do it as well. It's a known fact you will get a little HP increase when you do this, just don't tell the EPA.

Or you could just do the Mikey trick with the Tampon, but explain it to you wife first, why she is missing some of them, or she catches you in the act of getting one out of the box.[sm=trust_me.gif]

John TN

 

My harley is not using no damn tampon.[&:]

Damn good idea though.

David

 

A suggestion in the past has been to run about a half a quart low...this seem to solve the problem and will not damage the engine in any way.

Mac

 

If there is not a high flow of oil....would just a panty liner be ok? I wount be swimming or riding a horse..........................

 

So are tampons a hazardous material now....LMAO Tim