2001 Softail 27k miles and running strong. Got the bike last year, and decided to begin repairs with brake rotors and pads and go from there..

After a few good 2hr rides I noticed a little dime sized oil drip coming from the primary drain area, onto the garage floor.. I dried it up, and ordered a new gasket.

Resealed everything with black rtv including the bolt threads.. (a little insurance from small block chevy 101)

Took another ride and the leak returned. Seemed to only leak after the bike had been run..

I figured it must be coming from the inner primary seals and ordered a reseal kit. The inner primary reseal was an easy job except for the starter.. PITA! unless you want to remove the oil tank and all that jazz.. Anyway all back together and still leaking.. Is it effing possessed!?

I used "Cometec" gaskets and seals from JP Cycles. Am I missing something? Are there better seals on the market?

Bike is way too beautiful to leak at all dammit!!! lols

Any tricks or stuff I hadn't thought of will be most appreciated.. Thanks!

 

It could be leaking from the transmission...

Drain the primary and fill it with automatic transmission fluid (any type will work fine).

Now you will be able to tell if the primary is leaking, or if you have to go deeper into it.

 

If it dosnt have an o-ring on the plug, It may be that the drain plug is shot, or has been run it to far, and wont seal.
Just a thought.

 

Hey Roy, Good to see you posting.

When we looked at it, we couldn't see where it was leaking from, it only appears to be from behind the primary. At first we thought the plug was leaking and there was a missing o-ring but that has since been remedied but still leaking.

Pretty much the only thing I can see that could be leaking is the trans or the engine case somewhere. There is a breather tube that could be doing it as well but I don't think it would be such a consistent leak.

 

I have the same thing, I am thinking it might be the seal for the shift shaft. Only seems to leak after a ride, not when sitting. I haven't pulled mine apart to see where it is, yet...

 

Hi Al! Fancy meeting you here!

When I had the inner primary apart I saw what I thought might have been a leak coming from the starter jack shaft seal. I thought with as high up as the shaft is, it would have to be really humming along to even get wet but hell anything is possible.

I see no evidence at all of fluid travel from the trans and the drain plug is dry.

It looks like someone had it apart before I got it and used a pick or a screwdriver to "bubba" the outer primary off at one time. This left tiny little imperfections on the seal surface of the inner primary. I sanded them a bit smoother all three times I had it apart but I wonder if it just wont seal even though these marks are minimal..

If that be the case Its time for a new inner primary case and this Time I'll go chrome.
(Prolly what this evil old girl wants anyway) lol

 

It's always begging for more shine.