I purchased a used 2007 1200 Harley Sportster about a month ago MY FIRST HARLEY . After riding it back and forth from work for a month I noticed a small leak on the rear rocker box cover. My boyfriend is pretty talented with fixing things on motorcycles so he changed the gasket today. He took her out for a short ride and it is still leaking. On this cover there is a weird bubble in the chrome could this be a defective rocker box cover or are leaks pretty common. His response to me when I asked what we should try next and he said sale it. I really don't want to sell her as she is 100 times better than the Vstar I had prior and I really just want to fix her and don't have the cash just to take her in and let the Harley shops mechanics try to figure it out as they are not very helpful with question. Any suggestion ?????

 

Probably just like this one, its repair will be a winter project. Yours is not the first one where the fix didn't take the first time.

 

sounds to me that he is still lacking in talent. get another boyfriend. j/k Try a small film of gasket sealer on both sides of gaskets when putting them together.

 

Shoot I cant open your attachement

 

check for flatness on surfaces, make sure 100% clean and make sure proper torque / sequence.

 

Did he repair the upper and lower?

 

Lots could be wrong here including:

Didn't clean surfaces perfectly before applying new gasket
New gasket might be defective
Rocker box covers not torqued down properly
Defect in the box cover, but he should have seen this if he was paying attention.

 

Don't sell it!

Rocker box leaks are very common.

Get a factory service manual and/or do a search on rocker box leaks on this forum.

Follow advice in other posts above.

 

I know this thread is old but just thought I'd throw out there that I have an 07 1200 low. Just noticed that mine is leaking from the lower rocker box. I noticed after an oil change. I use synthetic. I heard from a Harley mechanic that alot of the 2007's leak. I'll get to fixing it eventually, doesn't look to challenging.

 

There is a possibility for Sportster XL1200 Custom to be equipped with Chrome Rocker Box. Unfortunately, the chrome rocker box leaks! It leaks even when using HD original half-synthetic dyno oil. The rocker box has been redesigned 4 times, and the latest has rubber gasket. But it still leaks.

This phenomenon is common, no worry. It can easily be repaired. The first gasket (upper cover gasket) can be replaced without taking off the fuel tank, or, with a little of Gasket Maker Silicon-based RTV sealant (High Temperature resistance, 650F), you can repair your leaking gaskets without replacement of the new ones. It works! Observe where yr leak comes from. Don't need to replace all gaskets.

What you need:
- silicon sealant, 1 hex key (4 screws in upper cover) and 1h working
Cost of material:
- less than 1 $US

Here is a procedure how to repair the first gasket (upper cover gasket)



Here is for second gasket (inner cover). No repair, only replacement. Remember one thing, when removing the inner rocker box, the corresponding valves must be both closed, you cannot remove the cover when valves are open (rocker arms pressed).

https://www.hdforums.com/forum/tech-...eplacment.html

The third and fourth gasket are not rocker box gaskets and leaking problem is not related to the Chrome Rocker Box.