so, I went out on my bike last Thursday (2013 Fat Boy Lo), came home parked it up...today I went out and found this



I don't image the apartment complex managers are going to be too happy with me but at least it's clean oil (only done 200 miles since the last service). I looked around under the bike but couldn't anything obvious until I pulled back the braiding on a hose and found the culprit



this hose seems to lead directly through a frame cross member to a plug. Am I correct in assuming that this is the plug for draining the oil?

I didn't have a good look to see where the other end connects to, but hopefully it's an easy job to replace the hose.

 

Yes, that's the hose that goes from the oil tank to the drain plug... should be a fairly easy fix...

NOTE: They are usually connected with an Oetiker clamp (#5 in pic below) from the factory... yours has a screw-style hose clamp on it... so it's been messed with at least once before...

The hose is #18 in this pic..




Good luck with the repair...

 

yup..all replaced. 30 min job. I suspect a previous owner didn't have the tool to remove the drain plug and so decided it was easier to disconnect the hose and replace the single use oetiker clip with the hose clamp. The hose is in pretty poor condition all along it so I don't think it would have been too much longer before it failed somewhere else. At least it failed at home and not 200 miles away on a trip

 

Clean up, use baken soda poor it on the spot then poor on coke (soda) and it will clean it up.

 

Better to find/fix this at home then 500 miles from home. Glad you got it fixed.
Fatboy should have a simple hex plug underneath (?).
Hopefully that isn't FUBAR and they were pulling the hose instead b/c the plug is stripped/damaged/other.

 

the bike was serviced at Harley just a couple of weeks ago (oil and filter change, new front and rear tires, brake fluid, front rotor) and they surely would have mentioned it to me if they had spotted a damaged drain plug....I hope so at least....because it would have been an opportunity to charge me!!

 

Glad to hear all is well.
BTW since it was serviced at a Harley dealer you sure are a lot more composed than I would be.
Good luck

 

There's a real good chance it wasn't the dealer tech who was messing with that hose & OEM fastener... probably a prior owner...

Most times I change the oil on my softails.... I don't notice that hose, look at that hose, or bother to inspect that hose... It just doesn't come in to play when changing the oil, and is kind of out of the way unless you specifically look for it...

I suspect that unless you mention to the service writer you think there's a problem with that hose, a service tech won't notice it either...


NOTE: Just noticed the OP said the prior owner used that clamp & hose to change oil instead of the oil drain plug.... some people...

 

Oh yeah, my mistake. Wouldn’t it be nice if a Harley tech noticed something like that and saved the day.

 

They ARE out there... I've met a couple over the years.... but it sure seems like they are a dying breed.....