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While I haven't had any more problems with oil mist on the bike since I followed Kevin's, with DK advice I decided to redo the routing of the breather tubing and lose the catch can.
I used a piece of 3/8" aluminum tubing I bead blasted and clearcoated to help hide the tube leading from the air cleaner to the hose. I matched the angle of the fins, and the pushrod tube. The rubber tubing is routed down behind the cover with the oil lines, and in front of the cover mounting boss, so there is no way the tube can contact the front pulley.
I routed the tubing thru a hole on the frame and attached a breather I had lying around. I will keep an eye on any oil coming out of the plastic breather as it is in front of the rear tire. I can't see that there could be enough coming out at one time to cause any problems. But I'll watch it.
All in all, I think it turned out pretty well, hard to see which is what I was after.
derp derp edit: "I routed the tubing thru a hole on the frame and attached a breather I had lying around. I will keep an eye on any oil coming out of the plastic breather as it is in front of the rear tire. I can't see that there could be enough coming out at one time to cause any problems. But I'll watch it." sorry
derp derp edit: "I routed the tubing thru a hole on the frame and attached a breather I had lying around. I will keep an eye on any oil coming out of the plastic breather as it is in front of the rear tire. I can't see that there could be enough coming out at one time to cause any problems. But I'll watch it." sorry
so what is the other rubber hose?
The tan colored piece is the plastic breather. It is a fitting inserted into the tubing with a loose fitting cap on the end to allow it to vent. I think it came off my Jeep differential vent tube I replaced a few years back. It allows it to vent but water/dirt/bugs can't get into the tube.
The other rubber hose is the vent from the battery I guess. Not really sure.
Funny thing, I went the complete opposite. Much earlier this year I had a setup similar to yours where I modified the SE AC to route the hose out the back and down to a breather filter I had located adjacent to the frame rail behind the derby cover. The problem was after about 3500 miles the filter was saturated and I had oil under the bike from the filter on back. Not to mention it would leave it's mark when parked. Wifey not happy with Sporty leaving a spot where ever it sat! So I recently ordered a catch can from DK Customs and shortened up my hose to just under the AC.
Funny thing, I went the complete opposite. Much earlier this year I had a setup similar to yours where I modified the SE AC to route the hose out the back and down to a breather filter I had located adjacent to the frame rail behind the derby cover. The problem was after about 3500 miles the filter was saturated and I had oil under the bike from the filter on back. Not to mention it would leave it's mark when parked. Wifey not happy with Sporty leaving a spot where ever it sat! So I recently ordered a catch can from DK Customs and shortened up my hose to just under the AC.
My hope is, the vent will allow any oil mist that does get thru the breather bolts to constantly be blown out instead of into a catch can or K&N type filter allowing it to collect and possibly drip. That's the plan at least...
The next few weeks I will be keeping a close eye on any oil residue buildup on the vent on the end of the hose.
One piece of info for you, I went with a piece of 1/4" copper tubing inside the catch can instead of a piece of rubber hose, slide in like it was made for it. I cut it about 1/8-3/16" short so it didn't contact the bottom of the can and slightly flared the top so I could just drop it in from the top, and the flare held it in place.
I didn't have any further oily mess on the bike but I thought I'd try this setup. If this doesn't work out I guess I'll go back to the catch can.
I like that idea of the copper tubing with the flare for the catch can, very clever. BTW, really nice job on how you routed the line from the back of the AC housing.
Took the bike out this afternoon and rode about 20 miles, including about 10 miles on the Interstate at 70 mph.
I checked the vent on the hose under the bike, couldn't actually feel any oil but my fingers smelled like oil. So it is venting, but obviously not a large amount, but again I will keep an eye on it for a while. The hose does contact the cover which gets pretty hot, no sign of melting or heat damage.
Looking like this setup will work out fine. (fingers crossed)
derp derp edit: "I routed the tubing thru a hole on the frame and attached a breather I had lying around. I will keep an eye on any oil coming out of the plastic breather as it is in front of the rear tire. I can't see that there could be enough coming out at one time to cause any problems. But I'll watch it." sorry
While I haven't had any more problems with oil mist on the bike since I followed Kevin's, with DK advice I decided to redo the routing of the breather tubing and lose the catch can.
I used a piece of 3/8" aluminum tubing I bead blasted and clearcoated to help hide the tube leading from the air cleaner to the hose. I matched the angle of the fins, and the pushrod tube. The rubber tubing is routed down behind the cover with the oil lines, and in front of the cover mounting boss, so there is no way the tube can contact the front pulley.
I routed the tubing thru a hole on the frame and attached a breather I had lying around. I will keep an eye on any oil coming out of the plastic breather as it is in front of the rear tire. I can't see that there could be enough coming out at one time to cause any problems. But I'll watch it.
All in all, I think it turned out pretty well, hard to see which is what I was after.
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External breather redux...
