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Not that it's a problem, but prob be seeing more of this on the 23 CVOs and on any other bike that has eliminated the head breathers...
Originally Posted by Ssitruc
I believe they are just vented from the transmission vent (with the crankcase vent in it) back to the intake on those now, instead of the head vents to the intake.
I didn't realize the bike in question was a CVO with the VVT 121" engine......
Interesting...
The moisture rises to the heads, but in the VVT 121" engine there are no vents in the heads anymore. So instead of venting out the head breathers, it may tend to collect more moisture in the heads on those transmission venting engines... That would require longer running at engine operating temps to vent all moisture..
Not a long term problem, as long as the bike isn't perpetually used for short distances. Maybe we are just learning about a quirk of the new trans venting engines....
I have a Trask trans cover and kept the stock breathers in place. Ever since I installed the Trask cover, I have zero oil in the throttle body from the stock breathers.
I didn't realize the bike in question was a CVO with the VVT 121" engine......
Interesting...
Note that I don't think the bike in question is a 23 CVO. I was just speculating about bikes without head breathers or those that have been bypassed (trask etc).
Note that I don't think the bike in question is a 23 CVO. I was just speculating about bikes without head breathers or those that have been bypassed (trask etc).
Oh, not being an M8 owner, I had no idea which M8 I was looking at... I thought you spotted something in the rockers that gave it away...
Having been living in SoCal since 1978, I haven't seen anywhere near that kind of condensation in any engine, since my car fixing days back in upstate NY... So I couldn't say if that is normal for a Harley back in the cold weather areas or not...
At least you got me thinking.... not always easy to do, just ask my wife...
Water boils at 212° at sea level. But oil and water don't mix, so you don't need oil temps to reach 212° to boil the water out of the oil. You just need the water to "evaporate" out from the internal engine passages...
Water (sweat) evaporates off your skin, and doesn't need 212° to do that...
The evaporation will be affected by the current relative humidity, and the temp. The lower the humidity, and the higher the temp, the quicker the evaporation of water. The pulses internal to the HD engines causing air movement that vents from the crankcase, that will also help with evaporation, or at least expelling the water vapor from the engine.
I don't know of any scientific tests that tell just how warm or how long you need to run your engine to remove a certain volume of moisture from the oil.... But it seems fair to assume that the warmer and longer an engine runs, the quicker the evaporation will be.
I suspect that short runs in a cold, high humidity environment will build more moisture in the engine than the same operating cycle in a warmer, dryer climate.
I don't worry about it out here in SoCal. When I was living back in upstate NY, I wouldn't start my bikes in the winter unless I was going to run them up to operating temps for at least 15 to 30 min. So they sat unstarted, unless I was going for a ride...
Was that enough? I don't know for sure... but I never saw water contamination in any of my bikes..
Last edited by hattitude; Jan 7, 2024 at 11:02 AM.
Thanks for all the responses. I've always known that there is always moisture present and going through the system but because I had never removed the rocker covers before and because I almost always intentionally make longer rides out of short ones, I was surprised at the amount that was there. But at the same time, I really didn't know what was normal and this may very well fall into that category. That is why I asked the original question and I am satisfied that everything is as ok as it can be.
Don't worry - my "spokes aren't twisted". It's just that when there is nothing in a statement to indicate that it isn't directed at anyone but me, my curiosity will be up and I naturally am going to ask how you know these things. All's good.
I really don't know but seems to me keeping this out of my motor and injectors would be better for for my bike. Maybe not? I don't think it's hurting anything by catching it. This was from about 300 miles this summer.
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