I am changing the primary oil in my 1983 FLHT. 80 cu in shovelhead engine with a 5 speed transmission. How much do I put in? Thanks

 

Unless your primary has been modified it is lubricated using your engine oil. Oil is supplied to the primary and siphoned back through the back side of your inner primary case. DO NOT add oil to the primary case if it is stock configuration.

 

thanks for your response. There are three places for oil. the engine, transmission and primary. I have only had it for two and a half years so I don't know what kind of modifications but it does say that in the manual except the amount of oil to use. It takes 10 oz.

 

HDs from the factory, through 84 ran a dry primary drive clutch assembly. Shovel FLT models use 4 US quarts for the oil tank and 1 US pint for the transmission. When they first went to the wet clutch, it took 1.5 quarts for the primary (up until 1990). I see nothing about adding 10 oz of oil to a dry clutch assembly.

Your model uses an enclosed rear chain, though I am not sure how much oil it takes. But to check that the bike should be in the upright position, remove the oil level plug (rear of drive chain enclosure near the bottom) and the oil level should be at the bottom of the plug opening. Maybe this is what you are referring to?

 

What are you referring to when you say "Primary"? The primary chain, which is enclosed and runs from the engine sprocket to the clutch hub sprocket, is oiled with engine oil from the primary chain oiler. The oil on the primary chain is recirculating with the rest of the engine oil. The final drive chain is another story and the two are segregated. If you have a fully enclosed drive chain, (a.k.a "oil bath chain") then that oil is NOT in the engine oil circuit, even though it uses the same oil as you add to your engine. You should have a cap on the top of the chain cover and a plug near the bottom on the side of the chain cover. Remove the plug and add only enough oil to reach the BOTTOM of the chain cover. It won't be much at all. More than that and it will sling and make a mess.

 

The previous owner had taken off the enclosed chain case so I run an o ring chain and hope to be protected by the saddlebag if it ever breaks. There is a magnetic drain plug in the bottom of the primary case and as far as I know everything else is stock with the exception of a police style windshield replacing the original bat wing fairing.

 

Do you know if the previous owner decided to block off the oiler to the primary chain and modify it to make it an enclosed primary?

FWIW...without the enclosed rear chain, there is no oil lubricating the rear chain (unless prior owner modified primary chain oiler and re-routed the line to act as the rear chain oiler).

 

WOW! That wouldn't be a good plan. If you route an oil line to the final drive chain, you MUST have a drain back to the oil sump. Otherwise, the case would just continue to fill with oil. The primary chain case has a return drain at the bottom so that the oil that is applied to the primary will recirculate back to the crankcase.

Those enclosed final drive cases are intended to act like a differential case on a car. It is sealed, but the it's just an oilbath concept. You add a fixed amount and check the level occasionally. Add when needed. They were OK when new, but now that they are 30 years old, they are a real pain-in-the-***! The leak all over. The best thing to do is replace the chain with a new "O" ring type chain so that you can run it dry.

 

Check my last comment. Just saw you are using an "0-ring" chain so there is no need for the rear to have an oil line to it.

OP stated the enclosed chain set up has been removed so there is no enclosed drive case to fill with oil.