This has been discussed multiple times, I know...
People say they always leak, new China stuff is back, the holes in the fittings are too big, etc...
I have run a couple sets long time ago with no complain, but removed them because of all the other issues above

Fast forward 2017 and my 82 FXR with OEM fittings... these suckers start leaking after a couple hundred miles with new rubber grommets are installed, every time
My next fix was to use a vacuum hose and cut it slightly longer as somebody suggested here, but since I had one set of braided lines on hands, and another installed on a 78 shovel, I decided to take a look
See the attached picture... the single fittings are the one on my 82, smaller hole fitting on the case and bigger on the rockers, as it should
All the braided lines that I have (on hand and on the 78) have the 2 holes the same size, VERY close to the smaller hole on the OEM fitting

My question is: if I want to install the braided lines, can I drill the 3 holes bigger (1 on the long line, and both on the short one) to mimic the OEM setup?
What's the risk of debris staying inside the line?

Thanks

 

you'll ge the shaving out - you could always pack grease in the line - drill - then reverse flush - first with mineral spirits - then use starter fluid spray blast - there is always plenty opinions on these tubes and diameters - people often forget that the oil filling the tube has weight - so those larger tubes (the big-**** ones) are probably not the best of ideas - like what they teach in physics - the lake at the top of the waterfall is potential energy - or the physics of force and gravity with height and area - you could actually calcualte the increase in force needed to pump oil up those fatter tubes - but I bet it is negligible - the arguments of the orifice are different - with smaller orifices causes faster flow under pressure - but remember that you have to flow more to get the same volume as a larger orifice - I am not a chemical engineer though - I swithced to chemistyr after the jackass professor in CHEME 101 gave us a test on the syllabus the second day of class

 

Actually never considered the fact that the ID of the braided tubes would be bigger than the solid ones... mmm... thanks fergerburger
Anybody else here?

 

I don think the volume in the braided lines is excessive - the tubes I was referring to are the big-**** ones you see on eBay that are like a 1/2" OD - over on the ironhead boards several people complained about lack of top end oiling when using those big tubes - anyway - many folks have run the braided lines with no issues - I have noticed that some have different inlet ID sizes though - I wonder if you tried a different bend angle for the top short line between rocker boxes if that would not fix the problem - I'm pushing 40PSI right now up top (cold here - 30s at night) and no leaks at those fittings

 

Has anyone ever tried the use of a viton o-ring? They take the heat a lot better and are less likely to deform when in contact with a petroleum based fluid...
I'm only suggestion the use of the o-ring with the OEM oil lines....

 

you will not be able to crush them enough - the compression fitting bottoms out - some aftermarket fittings actually bottom out before comprressing the OEM seals - you could machine the compression nut skirt - I have a complete drawer of those fittings and pick through them to find sets that actually work as intended - the drawer swells with worless fitting each year as bikes come and go

 

Fitting with the smallest goes on the cases the 3 on the rocker boxes or the crossover tube/hose ID doesn't matter after that. If you are having issues with the rubber grommet crushing out on the cross over it's either badly out off alignment and at an angle when you try to tighten the nuts or the tube itself is a hair short