Head breathers
Head breathers
Picked up a non runner '02 883 back in February, got it working easy enough but have been fine tuning it all summer. Here's a pic of where I'm at with it so far. A few cosmetic changes, lots of engine and carb work.
Previous owner had the stock intake on, and there was a decent amount of oil buildup in the intake, I think the breathers have been misting for quite some time. I put some Lowbrow head breather bolts on it that a buddy gave me when I changed up the air cleaner setup, but I'm getting sick of wiping up the oil mist in the area, and I don't like that the bike is venting excess pollutants to the air. I picked up some banjo bolts for the breather, and I'm going to route 2 hoses from the breathers into the air intake (filter side, not direct to carb inlet). I'm running a Uni high-density foam filter, and will plan on changing the filter out as it gets too dirty or degraded, I'm assuming routing the breathers into the intake won't be kind to the filter. Uni filter was pretty inexpensive, and I have a whole sheet of it.
Are there any engine issues I should keep an eye out for, with breathers that mist excessively? I know excessive misting can be a side effect of poorly seated umbrella valves, which I'll address when I tear the top end down this winter when I do a 1250 kit. Just curious if I need to keep an eye out for any major issues in the meantime with breathers venting to the intake.
Previous owner had the stock intake on, and there was a decent amount of oil buildup in the intake, I think the breathers have been misting for quite some time. I put some Lowbrow head breather bolts on it that a buddy gave me when I changed up the air cleaner setup, but I'm getting sick of wiping up the oil mist in the area, and I don't like that the bike is venting excess pollutants to the air. I picked up some banjo bolts for the breather, and I'm going to route 2 hoses from the breathers into the air intake (filter side, not direct to carb inlet). I'm running a Uni high-density foam filter, and will plan on changing the filter out as it gets too dirty or degraded, I'm assuming routing the breathers into the intake won't be kind to the filter. Uni filter was pretty inexpensive, and I have a whole sheet of it.
Are there any engine issues I should keep an eye out for, with breathers that mist excessively? I know excessive misting can be a side effect of poorly seated umbrella valves, which I'll address when I tear the top end down this winter when I do a 1250 kit. Just curious if I need to keep an eye out for any major issues in the meantime with breathers venting to the intake.
Post was asking "Are there any engine issues I should keep an eye out for, with breathers that mist excessively?", I've looked around at aftermarket breather kits plenty already, but thanks for the suggestion.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Aug 2017
Posts: 7,539
Likes: 12,183
From: Indianapolis
Do this and get the breathers completely out of the airbox.
Attachment 615113
And route/vent them under the bike.
Attachment 615113
And route/vent them under the bike.
Thanks for the pics! Super clean setup and routing. My post shows I'm not running a stock airbox, your routing wouldn't work for me. But nice work on yours! Very clean. Also my question wasn't how to route the breathers.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Aug 2017
Posts: 7,539
Likes: 12,183
From: Indianapolis
You were expressing concerned about oil in the air box/filter is why I mentioned routing them completely out of there.
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