I am new to the Harley and Shovelhead world and I am used to the metric water cooled bikes. My 82 FXE is running at around 215 to 225 degrees on a 60 degree day after going 20 miles down I 95 at 70 mph is this too hot? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Also when it gets warm I am getting a little bit of oil smoke from the rear cylinder not constant just when letting off the gas or when revving up engine only from rear and only when hot.

 

Are you using 50 WT oil ?

 

Just got the bike two weeks ago it spent the first week in the shop had all fluids changed was told they used 50 weight oil.

 

Thats a little warm but not too hot. Check for intake and exhaust leaks. Intake leaks can be detected by spraying, carb cleaner, wd 40 or something similar around the manifold o-rings while it is idling. If it speeds up or slows down you have a leak. You can feel an exhaust leak. Check the timing. You could also fit an oil cooler. They usually make a 20 degree difference.

 

not feeling any exhaust leaks no change in idle when spraying brake clean. Also just noticed oil weeping from head gasket area on rear cylinder. Looks like time to experience my first (from what I hear many) top end rebuild. Can anyone reccomend a good gasket kit? Thanks Dennis

 

Another question I have is should I isolate the primary from the rest of the oiling system?

 

I think your temperature is fine. Right in the zone. Cheap thermometer dipsticks vary a lot too. Shovels weep. If it isn't spurting, running hot (by the plug NOT the oil temp) and you can live with it wait and see before you go tearing into the motor. You'll need some special tools to torque it down properly and if you shave or machine the surfaces on one you should do both heads.

 

As long as the rear head gasket isn't blown ( sounds like a train old style train you know chu chu chu ) go with it If you haven't Open the primary inspection cover and see if you have a double row chain and hoses going to and from the back of the inner primary cover If you do go with it

 

Air cooled engines run a lot hotter than liquid cooled engines, they are designed to do so, the weeping on your rear jug is pretty common, just re-torque your heads, every time your engine warms up, its like a sandwich of 3 different metals all expanding at different rates, the heads expand the quickest, then the jugs, then the cases, then when its cooling down its the same order, through all of this expanding and contracting things tend to work their selves loose over time, just go through and re-torque everything you can, I do all of my bikes about every 6 months, its amazing how much they can be off over just 6 months. I am betting your going to be surprised how far some are out of spec on torque..

Hot for a air cooled engine would be around 425 degrees, over heating really starts about 450 degrees.. the numbers for liquid cooled engines dont apply to air cooled engines.. they are 2 different concepts of engine building.

The smoke you are seeing when you let off your throttle is more than likely valve guides on your back jug.. I am assuming its blue smoke.

Replacing any and all nuts aircraft nuts will help slow down this un-torquing and re-torquing process, and they are a great piece of insurance, especially on air cooled engines. Re-torquing is one of the things done on aircraft annual inspections, air cooled engines demand this bit of attention.. but it seems to be a nice secret, even on liquid cooled engines its required that they be re-torqued after about 6 hours of run time, and then again at 8 months.

Remember, aircraft nuts on everything, and red and blue loc-tite where needed and always clean the threads on both ends with carb cleaner or alcohol before applying loc-tite, and a QUALITY torque wrench are some of your best friends! (...and ice cold Grolsh! lol).

BTW.. Cylinder Head Temperature (CHT) gauges can be bought and used on bikes.. they are mainly for aircraft, and they are not cheap, but they are a lot cheaper than a new top end.. or if you want a cheaper way of seeing how hot things are you can pick up whats called a temp stick at welding stores, they come in different ranges, its like a crayon, you put a mark on the item you want to check the temp on, and the mark will turn white when it gets to that "X" number of degrees hot.. but, if your engine is running right, they are not needed.. its just something else to worry about.

 

Thats a matter of choice. Some swear by it, I don't. The reasons I don't like it is, if the oil gets too low, you will burn the adjuster shoe and ruin the chain in just a few miles. If the oil level is too high it gets on the clutch plates and causes problems.

The stock system will let you go over 100,000 miles or more on a primary chain.

The proponents of the sealed primary say they don't like the clutch dust in their oil. The way the cover is designed, it traps most of the sludge along the ridges in the bottom of the case and the oil return is higher than the sump near the drain. The oil has to rise to a certain point then gets pulled into the chanel in the outer cover before reaching the return in the inner. If it this was a problem for engine life, knuckleheads and panheads should have gotten the same mileage as evo's since they have a total loss primary. Knuckles and pans use the same pistons and rods and most lower end components as a Shovelhead and don't have any longer between rebuilds then a shovel.

Like I said, it's your bike and your choice. The secret to longevity in a motor is frequent oil changes