bike = 2012 EG ultra 103 19,000 miles synthetic oil

My last long ride I noticed I have oil weeping from the base of my front cylinder on the left side. It is enough to blow along the engine case ... but not enough to worry about a low oil situation on a long ride. Just makes a big mess.
I've researched the crap out of this on the forums and figure I might try dino oil as I read some said that stopped it .... or I will tear it down before spring and replace O-rings and blue loctite the case surfaces etc.
If I tear it down I will also do hone & rings.
( I bought a service manual on ebay .. being shipped now)

The one thing I never found out about .. and thus my question is :

can I get the cylinders off with the engine in the frame ?

Also can anyone endorse this ..."the oil fix" ?
http://www.haydensm6.com/tof_single.htm


thanks for taking the time to read this,
Mike

 

yes you can pull the cylinders off with the motor in the frame.

this is the time to consider any head or cam work- as the labour is being done anyway.
and you'll need the manual
basically...tank off, intake off, heads off, cylinders off


but first:
make sure of the source of your seep...oil can crawl around pretty good esp at speed.
the stator plug is a likely suspect...or a loose fitting at your filter or oil cooler...

or even oil spilled on the last filter change

one way to find seeps in a flourescent dye added to the oil and a black light

or go to the 99¢ store and buy a can of spray on foot powder.
clean the suspect area.
spray on the foot powder...let the bike sit overnight...check for dry

if dry, run the motor up to temp ( use cooling fans) and see if teh powder washes away revealing the source.

if not, try riding the bike and see what happens.

low tech/ low buck


your motor is designed for synthetic oil- the twin cam motor sprays oil under pressure from jets directly at the bottoms of the pistons and cylinder bore to remove heat.
conventional oils may break down under these conditions.

To use an inferior oil would be a mistake.

( and I do use dino in my older machines, they are designed for it- I use synthetic in everything I have newer than 2001)


mike

 

Yes you can get the cylinder off with the motor in the frame. The rear cylinder head may be a bit tight, but it will come off if manipulated correctly.

 

No extended warranty? Oops, I may of opened up a can of worms!

 

Bet if you clean it up, it's coming from the oil filter, probably just from where it ran down and hid after a change. Seen it get into the outer protective sleeve over the clutch cable and make it look like the cable is leaking from the transmission. The cylinder base can leak, but if it is leaking enough to make a mess, something is broken. It's not the oil type that would cause a leak here. A modern Harley does not leak because of SYN. An old Harley that leaks SYN also leaks Dyno. Only saying this that you make sure where it's leaking. It's silly to rebuild at 19K for no reason.

 

I agree that your leak may not come from where it appears to have come from. Oil is sneaky stuff and can travel far and wide, as soon as you take your eye off it! I would give your engine a thorough clean with your favourite engine cleaner and carry on riding it for a while, to see if there is a repeat.

 

Thanks guys ... that answered my main questions ..

No Dino oil...
Yes I can get the cylinders off ...

When I first noticed it ... and it was a mess I had just got back from a 400 mile ride.

Don't think the oil is coming from anywhere else ...
cleaned the engine with brake cleaner and did a 50 mile ride and saw some signs of seepage by the cylinder base but not bad.
It could have been residual but that doesn't answer where it came from in the first place.

Looks like winter is here now so I'll spend some time going over it real close and see if anything shows .. thanks for the ideas of where to look.
(never would have considered clutch cable) (foot powder ... who would have thought of that ? great tip ! )

I have no problem tearing into it if I have to but would rather not.... plus if I did, as some of you said,
that would be the time to do other things and they all cost $ ...
of which I have a big shortage of right now.

 

The ESP may work out for you, but each rider has different requirements.

The ESP is perfect for high mileage riders who will keep the bike stock and not do anything which might violate the exclusions.

Many of us make minor mods with violate those exclusions- real quick.

so spending a $1000+ to add coverage beyond the 2 year factory warranty may not be the best use of money for all of us.



Had i bought the ESP ( disregarding modifications/ exclusions) the amount of work required on my 09 has been $0.
oil, gas, filters, tires.
brake switch, gas tank mount and front tire recalls.


In the case of this thread- what the OP thinks is wrong is least likely of about 7 possible causes.




Mike

 

that's a good tip- if the tranny vent is clogged ( mud dauber wasp), pressure can push tranny fluid up the clutch cable* and it can come out of the adjuster.

also grease can drip down from the steering neck when hot.

even a blowed out fork seal...


find the source

mike

* another funny clutch cable thing is if you see smoke coming off of it...that means that the ground strap from the inner primary to frame has come off...and the motor is now grounded through the clutch cable

 

Do you know if the heads have ever been pulled for any reason. Technically, removal of the head requires a new base gasket and have seen where that step was overlooked.

2010 Limited with some stuff!!