Thanks for the replies, guys. Hattitude, I put some oil in the tank and unfortunately nothing came out of that dangling hose line... But I did trace it back to this square reservoir type of thing connected to the primary. I've posted a photo. I wonder what it is... I'm guessing it's some type of vent tube from the primary?

And it turns out the bike is a rebuilt. The front wheel said "Heritage Softail" so that's what I assumed, but the fact my province assigned it a VIN means it's been modded.

There is that one drain plug underneath the pistons, right over the crank (see picture)... I'm guessing that's not it though haha.

I'm getting frustrated. At this point I'm thinking if I can just drain the oil from the oil pan by removing one of the bolts, I'll do it... Any advice? I've posted pictures. Thanks for all the help so far. You Harley folks are awesome.







Can i drain from here?

The mysterious dangling hose...


Can i drain from here?

The only hose I can see exiting from the bottom of the tank. It goes to the oil pump looking thing under the pistons, right next to crank.

 

First off.... You have an EVO engine and EVO frame, not a Twin Cam. So your engine/frame is '99 or older... Because it's a custom build, you are going to have a hard time finding what you have, unless your province has any other info for that VIN plate.

Where the Harley engine number usually is located (on the case, primary side, between the bases of the two cylinders), you pic shows no engine number, but rather the letters "STD". Tht strongly suggests you have a custom bottom end, maybe S&S cases...?

DO NOT remove bolts from the bottom of your engine. This is a dry sump oil system. Unless oil has bypassed the check valve in the oil pump, all the oil should be in the oil tank. It IS NOT normally stored in the sump of the engine.

The "reservoir type thing" is the transmission cover. That hose is the transmission vent...

As I remember, there should be 4 hoses attached to the bottom of the oil tank.
1) On the cam chest side, rear of the tank is a fitting where the oil tank drain hose is attached. It usually goes down right from that spot, and has the plug in it to stop the oil from draining
2) Forward of the oil drain hose/fitting should be a fitting/hose that feeds the oil to the oil pump (mounted to the case just behind the cam chest cover).
3 & 4) There should be two fittings/hoses attached to the lower, front of the oil tank. One will be the oil return line to the oil tank, and another the vent line.

Obviously, if you can locate fittings 1 or 2, you can drain the oil from the oil tank removing the ends of the hoses attached to them. The fittings for hoses 3 & 4 have tubes inside the tank that empty up near the top of the tank. They won't allow the oil in the tank to drain.

I have to stop here on my info. I am certain this is an EVO engine & frame, and I can only hope I remembered the info I gave you is correct. It has been a few years since I had my hands on an EVO softail. This info was from the top of my head. I sold my EVO in 1992, and I haven't worked on one since then.

The EVO changed a little over it's run as the Harley Engine from 1984 - 1999. I suggest you make another post with these pics asking for help identifying what you have in the EVO section of this forum. There are many very knowledgeable EVO guys on this forum who are a lot smarter than I am, and have current experience with EVO engines.

Because of the custom nature of this bike, I would suggest you ask around and try to find an independent shop in your area that specializes in EVO bikes. If you plan to keep the bike, it would be worthwhile to pay them go over the bike and try to tell you the year of the engine/frame and other pertinent data they may be able to figure out by putting hands and eyes directly on the bike..

if it isn't a project you have the time, money, or patience to deal with... you should probably sell it "as is"...... A Custom motorcycle on a Harley EVO Softail frame with a modified Harley EVO engine...

If you have the time, patience, & money.... This could be a cool project if you can do most of the work yourself and can narrow down which factory service manual to get..

I hope some of this info helps you out...

 

Hattitude nailed it on the head, as he usually does. Decide what you want to do with the bike, first. If you're sure that you want to sell it, you 'll get more money for it if it's running/riding. The issue becomes what it needs to get up and running versus your ability to do so. I just put a '99 Fatboy (carbureted Evo like yours) back on the road after 7 years and had to do the battery, carburetor rebuild, tires, oils, and it will need brakes flushed and front master rebuilt. The tank had no rust in it, shockingly. You really should consider taking the bike to an indy shop with a good reputation (look at lots of reviews online) and paying them to get it back on the road and either broker a sale for you, or at least help you find a fair price. Selling a bike is different than selling a car. Do you let them test ride it? Are they going to pretend that the bike is less desirable for XXX reason? Do you need as much money as you can, or is it just time for the bike to get going? I see the dashboard is loose in the pic, is the bike in need of any other assembly?

If you were closer, I'd help you all day, but I'm way too far. These projects can be fun and they can also make you pull your hair out. Hopefully you have the opportunity to keep it.

 

Edit: See next post

Thanks guys for the replies. I'm actually somewhat mechanically inclined. I've replaced parts on my car before and changed oils. I watched a bunch of Harley service videos and made notes. I plan on changing all the oils except the fork oil since I don't have a stand that'll allow me to take the wheels off. I plan on putting a new battery in if necessary. I've got "the plan" in my head. It's just this oil drain plug that's the issue. I believe in my skills and it's something I want to fix on my own. It being my old man's bike, I'd feel pride starting it up on my own. I don't think I'll keep it but I'm intent on firing it up soon.

So I understand that even after 10 years of dormancy, the oil should still be in the oil tank, and not at the sump below the engine? One can drain their Harley's cold oil after 10 years and it should still come out?

I put about half a quart of oil in the tank, then removed the supply line going from the oil tank to the oil pump (see picture) and just some drops came out... Is that normal? Is the oil tank angled such that half a quart or so doesn't come out?

Can I just:
1)Remove fuel tank (I think its just 2 bolts)
2) Remove seat cover (already done)
3) Remove 2 or 3 bolts connecting oil tank to frame, lift it up, and drain?

If the steps above are fairly universal among Harley bikes, I'll just do that. Thanks again for the prompt responses, guys.

 

Alright guys, so I stuck my head in that space between the fenders and the oil tank to see what hoses are coming out from the bottom of the tank (bottom of the tank, so not talking about the vent and return lines). There is just that one hose going to the oil pump. I think, if i remember right from seeing some schematics, there should be a split in that hose so one line goes to the oil pump, and the other dangles down down as a drain plug. My bike doesn't have that. It's just that one hose at the bottom going to the oil pump.

So I dumped more oil in the tank and tried to drain again from that same line... Success. So I'll just drain it this way then. It's weird that the guy who modded it didn't just put a split in the hose for a drain line... Oh well. I'm just happy that I found a solution haha.

I'm still curious though... So Harley's are designed so the oil always stays in the tank? Gravity doesn't drop it into the sump below a few hours after cutting the engine? Wild.

Thank you gentlemen for all your help. Especially you, Hattitude. May the Lord watch over us during these troubling, political times.


I think this line should split, one end goes to oil pump and one comes down into a drain plug...

 

It's been years, but I had a friend with a first year EVO, and I had an '89 EVO. When this issue came up, I looked at the online parts finder for '97-'99 EVO oil tanks. I have not seen an EVO that split the oil pump feed with the drain hose....

I would love to get my hands on your bike, just to see first hand what is going on... But alas, I currently have two of my 4 Harleys apart in the middle of maintenance.... It's raining here so taking advantage of the bad weather...

That is a cool looking bike. If i were you, I would be tempted to keep it...


FYI... since you're curious..

The EVO engines have a check valve in the oil pump that keeps the oil from draining down into the sump (dry sumping) when the engine shuts off.

Of course, that check valve can get dirty, the seat worn, etc. Then, if you shut it down and don't drive it for awhile, you could get yourself into trouble... Many have checked the oil on a cold Softail engine, found the tank real low or empty, put a couple quarts in the tank, then started it up and went for a ride. A few minutes down the road, the oil pump scavenges all the oil from the sump back into the oil tank. It is now very overfilled... The oil cap gets blown off the oil tank like a gun, and warn to hot oil gets spewed all over your leg, and the side of the bike... That is why you never check the oil on a Softail when it's cold, always check it when it's warm...

The Twin Cams don't have a check valve. They use the tolerances in the oil pump gerotors to stop the bike from dry sumping, but as the oil pump wears, or even on a good oil pump when the bike sits for a long time, you can get dry sumping. Dry sumping doesn't hurt anything, as long as you don't add oil to a cold engine, and just don't run the bike hard until it warms up and everything will be back in balance...

Let us know how this plays out....

 

The bike is clearly a custom build with an Evolution engine. The engine cases are from a company called STD which is a reputable supplier of aftermarket Harley Davidson performance parts. I would be really curious to know what else went into that engine, ie: aftermarket flywheels, stroker crank, larger displacement etc. Did your dad build the bike or purchase as is? Be interesting to learn the history.

As for your engine oil, if there is no drain, and there may not be given that it is a custom build, get yourself a suction gun or vacuum oil extractor from Princess Auto or Canadian Tire and just suck the oil out through the fill cap. That would be the easiest solution. As mentioned, some of the oil may have drained into the sump if the bike has sat for many years. I don't see a drain for the sump (unlike twin-cam engines) so when you first fire it up, as mentioned previously, be careful as any oil in the sump will very quickly be pumped back into the oil tank and may result in an over-fill situation. Again. if you have a suction gun, no problem to simply drain some oil off as necessary once you get it fired up.

It looks like you inherited a pretty cool custom motorcycle. Good luck with getting it back up and running. Not sure where you are in BC but if you are anywhere in the lower mainland, Jarz Performance in Abbotsford would be my number one pick for independent Harley shops if you need any help.

$16.99 at Princess Auto

 

Hattitude, now I feel like getting my license and riding the bike haha.

Fellow canuck, I'm in Surrey. I'm not sure of the history of this bike. My dad just told me years ago that the guy he bought it from was an enthusiast and made changes to it. I was thinking changes as in throwing some shiny chrome on it but no, as you and Hattitude have explained, he put a new engine and everything in it. But I think I've figured it out now. I'm thinking of doing what Delboy did in his "full purge" of the softail.


Basically, I'll shut the petcock valve and pull the spark plug wires first. Then I'll pull the return hose coming from the oil filter to the tank, and keep cranking on the engine while topping up the oil tank until all the nasty old oil has drained out. This way, even if there would be too much oil at the beginning, it won't be allowed to return and overfill the oil tank so I should be good.

I also had a question about carburetors. I bought a James Gaskets Kit (JGI-27006-88) for my carburetor a while back because it says it's good for a bunch of models, including the 1990-1999 Evo and the 1999-2006 softail. However, now I'm not sure if I have a (stock?) Keihin Carburetor or a fancy S&S aftermarket one. Is this quite easy to figure out? When I remove the carb, is there some sort of etched number at the side or something that'll tell me what carb I have, and so what carb kit I'll need? I took a picture of the carb, showing "Harley Davidson" etched on the side, so I'm guessing it's a stock carb, and I should be good? Thanks for all the advice, guys.

 

See, this is exactly why I love this forum so much. Kudos to all of you for pitching in and trying to help this guy out. I don't know **** so I just stalked this post from afar- lol. Good luck with your project op, imo, that bike doesn't owe you a thing, you should get it rode worthy and ride it! So much fun, like life changing fun!

 

Haha thanks man. I'm just excited to get this beauty up and running.