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First a little bit of history. I"m an OLD HD biker. I've had them all at one time or another.
I am the original owner of a 76 shovel that is my hands down favorite. I have ridden this bike around the world twice, and my wife and I were married on it!!!
In fact, I only own the shovel now and sold all the others except for a 1200 cc 100 anniversary sporty I keep for the grand kids.
I don't ride as often as I used to now simply because of age, but I do ride. I bypassed the primary return years ago and havn't had an issue till now.
Sadly, she sits for months sometimes without being fired up. As to be expected, oil seeps past the ball check valve into the crank. So upon cranking, oil is puked out the breather. Pretty standard for old Harleys.
This last time it was pretty bad. When I took her out oil drops were like a trail of crumbs behind me.
The ball check valve is new, and quite frankly, those ball valves always leak over time.
I am actually thinking of putting in an oil shutoff valve on the supply line from the tank.
If you decide to do this, do something that means you'll open the valve before firing the bike. Maybe a flag that attaches to the valve handle, or better, a line that attaches from the valve handle to the ignition switch. Then ... don't get lazy!
I feel that if there was less **** in the return path, the thing could actually return oil properly..
But.. They all will puke a bit if left in the shed very long..
nice bike by the way.i would not do it.im just about to start my lowrider after sitting for 4 months but done so before with no issues.that said on another hd forum site one guy did with success and he tie his ignition key to it so he would not forget to turn it back on
Last edited by john lee; Jul 14, 2019 at 08:49 PM.
Oil Shut off valve
