Hey Guys, I got a small issue and wanted to bounce it off you guys. Last summer I noticed a small leak from my bike. There would be a small amount of primary fluid on the garage floor the next day after a ride. I know it's primary oil because I use Amsoil Supershift in the primary. At first I could wipe it off and none would drip until the next time the bike got hot. It appeared to be coming from the primary drain plug. I tightened the plug (it was a little loose) and that did not resolve the issues. I just assumed it was the plug had gotten a little loose and knew I was going to service the bike over the winter so I left it. I did service the bike and got a new o-ring and installed teflon tape on the plug. I did some other things to the bike got ready and went to Daytona. I didn't notice anything while gone and I would usually see a small amount of oil on the bottom of the primary and a small amount of "blowing oil" on the swing arm and my swing arm bag. None is ever on the belt.

Problem solved? Maybe not.

Between the weather and other issues I haven't ridden since I got back from Daytona. I went for a ride yesterday and when I got back I noticed the signs again. I laid down and looked and it appears to be the primary gasket or even where the bottom bolt is? I did wipe it clean while it was hot and also checked the torque on the outer primary bolts. Two or three of them tightened maybe a 1/4 turn or so. I reached up behind the primary to see if the oil was coming from there and it was a very minimal amount and appeared to be just "blowing oil"? It appears the oil is being blown up from the road wind but I could be wrong? Since it was hot I wiped everything clean and decided I would see where it was coming from today. My thinking was if nothing was on the back of the inner primary it is the outer primary gasket. If it is indeed leaking from above then I would diagnose that route (main shaft seal?). I went out to the garage and there was nothing. In the past when the bike is hot it will weep a little over night. I was curious to see if it was the primary gasket or coming from higher up? Now I'm wondering? Did that small tightening of the bolts stop it? The weather has turned cold again but I going to try and get it out and ride just to get it good an hot again.
I wanted to run it by you guys and see if you had any thoughts I had missed in the mean time?

 

If the bolts turned, oil is going to come out. I have had my cover off 3 times and ever time I go back it amazes me it does not leak. My cover has 1/16" rock end to end. I always apply a little film of black rtv to the cover face. Then I tighten it using the correct pattern center out. I usually do it a couple times just using my 1/4 drive ratchet with the extension between my fingers. I let it set a day and when the rtv dries I pull the excess off as a string. First heat cycle I go around it again. Never had a leak. I always use Harleys three layer v-shaped gasket.

 

Update: The bike never dripped/seeped any oil and remained dry. I took it out for a ride Saturday and checked at each stop. Sure enough it was wet. Still on the bottom of the primary and due to road wind it was blown on the back of the primary and on the swing arm. Still no evidence of oil on the belt. The ride was around 150 miles so the bike was good and hot. When I got home I wiped it down to see if it would drip and again pretty much nothing. It's definitely primary fluid so other than the outer primary gasket what else "could" it be?

 

I bought a Rolling Sand primary cover and used their supplied gasket. Torqued the screws to 105 in lbs. I went for a ride that evening. The next morning I had a puddle of oil under the bike. The cheap *** gasket RS furnished was leaking. I went to the HD dealer and used their gasket and torgued to spec. Problem solved...

 

The H-D gaskets for primary and cam covers are pretty good and reuseable to boot. I have had both covers off several times without a leak.

 

Dealer says it's a primary shaft seal. He says it will only leak when riding and its pretty common. My issue is all this went on new not long ago and probably has 7000 miles or less on it.

 

I just replaced my primary shaft seal for the second time. The first time I used a James seal and it started to leak while riding after 100 miles. I then replaced it with a Harley Davidson seal. The HD seal fit better than the James seal but has started to leak as well. What am I missing here? Is there a special way to do this repair? This should be a straight forward fix.

 

You must have a bad bearing maybe allowing a shake. Did you replace the inner sleeve on the transmission shaft where it seals? How bought your transmission vent. Primary vents thru the inner clutch pushrod shaft to the transmission. Make sure you are doing correct oil level, not amount. With the correct amount, this shaft would not be under oil when off. You can get at least 1 extra quart too much in there. Drain plug also.

 

I am not convinced it is not your drain plug seeping.

 

I just had a leak similar to what you are descibing also, after a ride it would leak down onto the pimary drain plug and a few drips would be present after ever ride.

It ended up being from the lower bolt that holds the primary chain tensioner to the inner primary, botht he bolts were BENT and loose, if u look up on the back of the inner primarty u can see the hole goes right through the back of it, hense why you need the RTV, anyways i cleaned up, put in some new RTV and replaced screws,

no leaks!

hope this helps.